They replaced the trio of Phil Rotz, Vincente Baker and Tshepiso Khan whose participation this year have been obstructed by social and academic commitments.
The new and young performers are Lesego Nchunga, Kaone Kamanakao, Cookie Lesetedi, Joshua Machao, Abimbola Ole, and Ntirelang Berman. The spacious Maitisong theatre proved the right place for such a show as indicated by the good turn up.
The poetry company also took advantage of Maitisong further by displaying their DVD recording outside for sale.
All eyes must have been on the new faces that were unveiled on the evening. According to Moeng the six new faces were selected after auditioning a group of 30 poets.
First to introduce herself was Kamanakao, with her poem entitled Black people. She seemed to follow the popular style among Exodus Live poets' female folks such as Dema and Chuma. Their style of delivery is mainly influenced by the pioneers of spoken Word poetry-African Americans like Maya Angelo. Kamanakao's"Black People", like early spoken word works, carried a message about black consciousness, anti-slavery, racism against black people.
Nchunga introduced herself with a rather short delivery, Robala lerato, and one hopes that when she reappears on April 7,at the next session, she will come with a bag full. Ole, who happens to be of the US origin was impressive on the evening with her mastery of the art of spoken word. Like Kamanakao, you could still hear themes about blacks crying for justice.
The toast of the evening must have been Berman. He is not new to poetry followers, as he has been featuring in Exodus Live poets' sessions. Berman is a young man who is in love with traditional katara music. Through constant interaction with arts gurus at Maitisong, Berman has been able to take both his singing and guitar playing skills to another level. He is also a Tswana poet and has in the past participated in the annual "My African dream" talent show, sponsored by River walk.
He was in his element as he delivered his poetry in guitar and song. His Tswana performance seemed to have found a home in the hearts of the audience as they cheered on. Berman also had something for the urban music followers. He invited a man known as the Beat box in Exodus Live Poets sessions. Kefhentse aka KK is a walking keyboard. Somehow he manages to produce some funky beats with his mouth. How he does that is so sophisticated that you would think he carries loads of music instruments in his system.
With his mouth, K.K the Beat box delivered a hip-hop beat to the amazement of the audience. Berman put his guitar aside and melted into the beat with some impeccable Tswana rap. Before long, the hip-hop lovers could be seen banging their heads rhythmically to Berman's lyrics and the Beat box's beat.
Berman further caused the crowd to clap time and again as he delivered some familiar dikatara tunes in the beginning. He performed "Mahipihipi, a familiar tune that plays on Radio Botswana's Sunday programme, Dipina le Maboko with gusto, to the satisfaction of the audience. Then he combined with Motlogelwa as they performed a classic George Swabi composition, Dikeledi.
This song has also been performed in the past by jazz singers such as Punah Gabasiane, a testimony that there is a wealth of creativity in traditional Tswana guitar music.
Berman later combined with Motlogelwa again to deliver another Tswana guitar classic composition by Stiger Sola Molefi.In this composition, Stiger, as he is affectionately called, mocks loud-mouthed wife and appeals to carpenters to borrow him tools so he can make a wife that does not cause trouble in the house.
By the time the duo finished their performance in the first half of the show with Mampodi, a composition by both Berman and Motlogelwa, the largely Tswana audience appeared quite fulfilled.
