Photo by Fungai Tichavangana

Kubatana recently went Inside/Out with Brian Geza, dancer, choreographer and boozer soccer player!

What does your background experience in choreography and dance consist of?
My transformation from being a dancer to a choreographer includes moving from being a Tumbuka dancer to choreography.

Describe yourself in five words?
Sociable, fun loving and friendly.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Never take shortcuts in life.

What are the most important elements that somebody can get out of choreography and dance?  
Thought provoking moments that can invoke debate.

Brian, what is your major source of inspiration?
My late father and mother.

What is your most treasured possession?  
My family.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
When my freedom of expression is blocked.

Do you have any strange hobbies?
Yes, I play boozers soccer.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
My potbelly.

What is your greatest fear?
Fear of the unknown.

What were you like at school?
Besides being talkative I was an average student.

What are you doing next?
Keep on keeping on with my work.

It’s our war, a women’s war! And we are going to win!

These are messages for the currently ongoing protest. Stripping is now an official means of protest even in Zimbabwe. Like the recent stripping in a WOZA protest in Harare and that done by another woman in Mutare during American ambassador’s visit to the town. A group of radical feminists declared the 4 April as International Topless Jihad Day and they urged women to take the topless protest to any Tunisian embassy in their country.  Parading topless with protest messages scribbled all over their bodies these women are touching on issues to do with governance, human rights and religious and in some countries they have persecutions and arrests.

The trend of poor service delivery by the local authorities and public institutions in Zimbabwe has reached alarming levels such that it has become a normal situation to get things like tap water from council after weekly intervals. It is now an acceptable trend to have excessive electricity load shedding every day and receive high bills at the end of the month. Boreholes and wells are now common features in every household and the sound of a generator is no longer a nuisance but music to people’s ears. When it rains be prepared to get an extra charge on commuter fares from the commuter omnibus operators. To get medical treatment for your loved one from the few doctors left in local hospitals a token of appreciation does the trick otherwise you will have to deal with long queues in the crowded corridors of short staffed hospitals. Customer care no longer exists in many shops as the non-refundable and no exchange disclaimer reminds you that what you are buying is inferior. But to many people to be shortchanged is not a normal situation.

Just a few weeks after Professor Lovemore Madhuku showed some interest to form a political party criticism came in different forms across the Zimbabwe. Some people accused him of trying to dilute votes in the next election and some went further claiming that the Professor is trying seek attention from his former allies in the MDC party. The three parties in the government of national unity know that Madhuku could be a force to reckon with regardless of a poor showing in the just ended constitutional referendum. Small threats like these led to the dilution of votes in the harmonized elections of 2008 when the Mavambo/Kusile party was launched.

After falling into a deep slumber for the past five years of basking in the glory of the government of national unity the MDC woke up to the shocking voting patterns in the recent constitutional referendum.

This surprise wake up call brought shivers to the MDC executive and recent media reports suggest that the Prime Minister is now trying to resuscitate broken relationships with former Comrades to forge an alliance ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for this year. The biggest worry is whether this is a unity of purpose or a strategy to silence critics. After the results were published the rural areas commanded a large turn out as compared to the urban areas. Recent the MDC has been shooting down research findings carried out by independent groups. They believe that they still command a large support base. The MDC should 1) lobby the rural electorate 2) weed out corruption amongst its leaders 3) stop wasting resources wining and dining in Harare to please ex-cadres.

It is un African and morally incorrect in the spirit of Ubuntu to call for a death wish for someone. Regardless of how much you hated that person or whether it’s a peaceful death you wish for, African cultures condemn such action. A misplaced wish for Mandela’s death by University of the Free State Vice-Chancellor Professor Jonathan Jansen sparked outrage when he told students that he wished the former President of South Africa would die. At 94 the health of the former state man has been getting a knock and he has been in and out of hospital recently as messages of speedy recovering continue pouring in from world over.