Seen are some of the African Music and Dance students performing at the Jazz Centre.African Music and Dance Students Perform Ceremonies of Hope Concert
African Music and Dance (AMD) students from the School of Arts (Music) recently presented Timhamba “Ceremonies of Hope” concert at the Centre for Jazz and Popular Music (CJPM).
This semester’s lunch hour concert was conceptualised under the “Africa Month celebration”. The title Timhamba (Ceremonies of Hope) is a Tsonga term that describes different types of ceremonies, from initiation, weddings, to welcoming a newborn baby or the evocation of spirits.
According to AMD student Phiwayinkosi Biyela, ‘Timhamba pays tribute to all African nations undergoing social, political and economic crisis, devoting its strength to the underprivileged populations around the continent that have lost or abandoned their homelands due to wars and other natural calamities.’
Two traditional children’s songs were performed with an accompaniment of an instrumental ensemble of several uhadi and umakhweyana bows and imitshingo (harmonic pan flutes). A percussion piece, inspired by the Sabar drums, was performed along with a traditional dance of the Makonde people from the north of Mozambique.
Through the sounds of bows, flutes and pipes; exciting melodies and dance steps driven by the pulse of intricate rhythms drawn from South Africa, Mozambique and Senegal, the African Music and Dance Ensembles took the audience into a memorable performance of African music and dance while appealing through Timhamba, for the restoration of the lost values and human dignity in Africa.
Photographs: Nomcebo Mncube