Kwetu fest unites diverse cultures
Sep 04, 2008
THE brochure said the festival would be scaled down due to unforeseen circumstances, but the Eighth Kwetu Fest was a big event.
By Ganzi Muhanguzi
THE brochure said the festival would be scaled down due to unforeseen circumstances, but the Eighth Kwetu Fest was a big event.
The four-day annual event, organised and hosted by the Ndere Centre, united diverse cultures. This year’s festival stood out because it was interactive. It was officiated upon by the First Deputy Prime Minister, Eriya Kategaya.
The festival kicked off last Thursday with the Ugandan Night, featuring outstanding performances from Pallisa’s Gogonyo, Ngoma from Kasese, Acholi’s Watmon and St. Monica from Kabong. MD Troupe from Rakai stole the show with their royal mujaguzo and amagunju dance.
The guests were taken down the memory lane on a tour of Uganda’s diverse cultures with dances like larakaraka and runyege while the Gogonyo dance group excited revellers with their akogo (thumb piano) instrumentals.
Friday was even more captivating with storytellers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda blending African drums with folktales at the fireside.
The stories took revellers back to the golden old days when grandparents told children stories around a fire.
Then came the International Artists’ Concert in which Sokoera from Holland collaborated with Gogonyo and Ndere Troupe to dramatise a Dutch poem, A Fly Is a Fly, which was translated in English and Luganda.
But the jewels of the crown were the teenage ballerinas from Dallas Black Dance Theatre in the US. With the oldest ones aged 15, the girls pulled off what seemed like music stars Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie, Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Chris Brown’s Forever, in one performance.
They also did an adaptation of West Nile’s larakaraka that left Ugandans wondering whether the dance originated from Dallas!
The MC and Ndere Troupe’s founder, Stephen Rwangyezi, warned his boys that he would not take anything less from them and they heeded his advice. A duet by the troupe’s Rhona Rwangyezi and Amooti, left everyone in awe.
There was a children’s hour in which the y were treated to dances led by Rwangyezi, stories by the PACFEA Storytellers and a birthday cake.
THE brochure said the festival would be scaled down due to unforeseen circumstances, but the Eighth Kwetu Fest was a big event.
The four-day annual event, organised and hosted by the Ndere Centre, united diverse cultures. This year’s festival stood out because it was interactive. It was officiated upon by the First Deputy Prime Minister, Eriya Kategaya.
The festival kicked off last Thursday with the Ugandan Night, featuring outstanding performances from Pallisa’s Gogonyo, Ngoma from Kasese, Acholi’s Watmon and St. Monica from Kabong. MD Troupe from Rakai stole the show with their royal mujaguzo and amagunju dance.
The guests were taken down the memory lane on a tour of Uganda’s diverse cultures with dances like larakaraka and runyege while the Gogonyo dance group excited revellers with their akogo (thumb piano) instrumentals.
Friday was even more captivating with storytellers from Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda blending African drums with folktales at the fireside.
The stories took revellers back to the golden old days when grandparents told children stories around a fire.
Then came the International Artists’ Concert in which Sokoera from Holland collaborated with Gogonyo and Ndere Troupe to dramatise a Dutch poem, A Fly Is a Fly, which was translated in English and Luganda.
But the jewels of the crown were the teenage ballerinas from Dallas Black Dance Theatre in the US. With the oldest ones aged 15, the girls pulled off what seemed like music stars Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie, Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Chris Brown’s Forever, in one performance.
They also did an adaptation of West Nile’s larakaraka that left Ugandans wondering whether the dance originated from Dallas!
The MC and Ndere Troupe’s founder, Stephen Rwangyezi, warned his boys that he would not take anything less from them and they heeded his advice. A duet by the troupe’s Rhona Rwangyezi and Amooti, left everyone in awe.
There was a children’s hour in which the y were treated to dances led by Rwangyezi, stories by the PACFEA Storytellers and a birthday cake.