Borwa leaves audience impressed
Dumisani Ncube | Tuesday December 20, 2016 14:32
Borwa is inspired by the labour migration in the 1960s when men in societies such as Bakwena, Bangwaketse, Bakgatla, Batlokwa and Balete would leave their homesteads to work in the South African mines.
The action is depicted through dance with Mophato Dance Theatre members engaging in various contemporary dance moves conveying the message. It starts with men carrying their belongings saying goodbye to their wives as they leave for South Africa. The mood on the scene is emotional with the wives weeping that their men are leaving them behind.
All this is done in contemporary dance moves with Kalima Mipata leading the pack. The men eventually get employed at the mines; they quickly adjusted to the whole system. This is seen when they teach each other the gumboot dance also known as isicathulo, which is believed to have originated in the South African mining settlements.
The act gets intense midway as the miners get to see the night life in the mining settlements where they end up at a bar full of women with some afro jazz music. They join the women in dance as they pulled different dance moves.
With the men hustling in South Africa, back in Botswana their women and children waited patiently with hope that one day their loved ones will come back. This is seen by emotional contemporary dance moves of people that have lost hope in life.
The men finally come back home where they meet up with their loved ones and share moments once again. Unfortunately some men never came back home to their families due to different reasons.
Poetry by Mmakgosi Anita Tau helped with translating the storyline and emotion of every scene on the theatrical dance act. A live band also brought realism to the whole act.
They jammed various songs such as Stimela’s hit track Go on and the music and poetry added spice to the whole production. Each scene came with different energy levels that moved the audience’s emotions in different manners.