People Dancing

Ten strangers, residing together on a farm 20 minutes outside of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe whilst rehearsing an innovative version of Romeo and Juliet under the watchful eye of TV director Polly Magraw's camera lens felt at times more like an African twist on the psychological experiment of tolerance that is Big Brother than an artistic endeavour. Melanie Nix a freelance dancer and dance writer tells us why

The project, initiated by Caroline Clegg, Artistic Director of Feelgood Theatre Productions, Manchester brought together Siyaya Arts, an African dance and music ensemble from Bulawayo and Over the Edge, an acting company from Harare in addition to four freelance British artists of which I was one, to put together what she hoped would be 'a brilliant mosaic' of theatre, dance and song.

Romeo and Juliet, rehearsed in Zimbabwe and performed in Bulawayo, Harare and Manchester as part of Cultureshock and the Commonwealth Games Spirit of Friendship Festival aimed to transcend cultural boundaries to create a mainstream production worthy of both countries. 'Working with artists of different colours and backgrounds is not as difficult as one might think. It is all about a common interest and a willingness to learn, share and create. These values have no skin colour.' says Wiina Msamati, artistic director of Over the Edge.

Not only did we have to overcome differences implied by the colour of our skin, but more importantly, differences in working techniques. Siyaya Arts had no previous experience of Shakespeare and the read through on the first day did not look promising. However, both Romeo and Juliet were cast from Siyaya, and Over The Edge promptly set about reducing the strange language into something they could understand. We shared skills as far as the short creation period allowed us to and within that time we learnt a little of African dance and drumming.

Siyaya Arts use a technique whereby the drummer gives a warning cue which signifies a pre-arranged change of step whereas Western dance relies on counts, enabling the dancer to remain constant performance after performance. Anthony Gwarimbo, Siyaya Art's principal drummer and a phenomenal musician, developed a method whereby he would learn our counts and give Siyaya Arts their cue to ensure that we all changed step simultaneously.

Due to the political climate our residency in Bulawayo provoked much curiosity and suspicion from the community and authorities alike. We were entertained by political leaders representing Mugabe's ZANU PF party and questioned individually as to our connection to the Commonwealth Games. Members of the army visited the farm several times, despite our attempts to keep our location secret and war veterans occasionally dropped by during rehearsals. 'Because of the political situation I had a heightened sense of the responsibility to the artists in bringing about this collaboration and the risks that we were all taking.' says Caroline.

Britain was also intrigued by our cultural exchange and a team of reporters greeted us upon our arrival at Manchester Airport. They had not always been so supportive however. 'I was frustrated that no-one in the national media wanted to address our collaboration as a positive 'good news' story. Had something negative happened whilst we were in Zimbabwe it would have made national news, but building bridges and celebrating differences cannot compete with a footballer's broken metatarsal or a TV presenter losing 10lbs.'

So was the collaboration a success? It certainly was not problem free. Time, or lack of it, was probably the biggest drawback and what we managed to create in the two and a half week rehearsal period only scratched at the surface of our potential. However there were a great many pros to very few cons.

'We took a small step towards understanding. We dared to dream, meet, sing, dance, eat and work together.' Says Caroline. Wiina Msamati agrees. 'People from three seemingly disparate backgrounds were able to create art that transcended these differences. Over the Edge gained a deeper understanding of the failings and triumphs of human and creative communication - and learnt how to shake our asses and not look stupid!'

For further information email info@melanienix.co.uk

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Animated: Autumn 2002