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Tamara Dondo could not contain his excitement about his first trip to China. The 16-yearold is the youngest member of the Zimbabwe Youth Dream Troupe and said he had to keep pinching himself to ensure he wasn’t dreaming.
“It is quite beautiful here. The modernization and rapid development in Beijing and Chengdu gave me quite a shock. I particularly value this opportunity， even though it is only for 10 days，” he said.
The troupe consists of dozens of amateur performers from Zimbabwe and came about in 2014， when the Zimbabwe Federation of Overseas Chinese organized a talent show in the capital of Harare.
The talent show， funded by Chinese businesses， was renamed Dream of Zimbabwe in 2015， and spread to include auditions in nine cities across the country attracting many youths. “It only took less than 10 days to have this 30-performer group [established] after we got the invitation from the Chinese Ministry of Culture，” Zhao Ke， head of the troupe as well as a member of Zimbabwe Federation of Overseas Chinese， told ChinAfrica.
Anything is possible
Zhao has already organized the talent show twice. “There are many talented youths in Africa， but there is little chance for them to realize their dream for financial reasons.”
Zhao said that the purpose of such initiatives was to increase communication with the locals， and enhance mutual cultural recognition and understanding for Chinese and Africans.
Shingai Mokina， a well-known moderator from Zimbabwe， and Leonard Mapfumo， a local professional musician， came onboard as talent show judges. Mokina is also responsible for promotion and said the initiative has become so popular in Zimbabwe because it was given such extensive coverage by the media.
However， initially there was much skepticism about the talent showcases as many impoverished families didn’t believe their children would get the opportunity to ever visit China.
The biggest obstacle facing the talent show is insufficient funding as it is difficult to find sponsors in Africa. Zhao was lucky enough to find a company in Sichuan Province that sponsored the troupe’s airfare and garments. Coincidentally Zhao’s troupe attended the International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Sichuan Province in September.
On stage in China
On September 9， the 30-member Zimbabwe art troupe set foot on Chinese soil for the first time. They performed 11 shows at the China Chengdu International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage， National Center for the Performing Arts and several Chinese schools. Despite not being professional artists， their infectious energy and enthusiasm delighted Chinese audiences.
“I had never heard of the troupe. I come to see the performance and found that they are all young African performers. I didn’t expect that they[would] sing the Chinese songs so well， for example Little Apple - that impressed me a lot！” said Li Jing from Beijing， who watched their last show at China’s National Center for the Performing Arts.
The tour was tough on the performers， with endless airport terminals， back stage rehearsals， bus rides and long days. “Ours is a scratch team. Our arrangements are not perfect. We have to enhance our performing skills. But， we tried to fix everything including lighting， costume and makeup，” said Zhao. Zhao added that they blended different Chinese elements for each show and made adjustments according to audiences’ feedback. “Those children cherished the performance opportunity at the National Center for the Performing Arts，” he said.
Zhao said that even though the music lyrics for the song Lake Baikal were only received a few days before the show， the troupe pulled together in rehearsals to get it right. “Thanks to their efforts， we had a successful performance，” he said.
Life experience
The China tour broadened the troupe’s horizons.“Before coming to China， the farthest place they had visited was the capital of Zimbabwe，” said Zhao. In China， they were also shocked by the work efficiency of Chinese staff， where backstage staff would take only 8 seconds to replace stage props and backdrops in between shows， whereas in Zimbabwe it could take up to 20 minutes.
Dondo loved the Sichuan dramatic art performance of face-mask changing and is determined to learn the skills. He was more excited than the others to be on tour as he was initially not chosen as part of the troupe. It was only after months of unremitting effort that he was eventually selected and his successful B-Box performance （creating rhythm and sounds anyway possible by using the mouth） won the applause of Chinese audiences.
The trip also enriched the life experience of the young performers. Zhao said they leaned about team spirit and pulling together to achieve a result. He sees the public performances only as a stepping stone. “I would like to try to improve chances of [making] profits by cooperating with Chinese art groups so as to help Zimbabwe children realize their dreams，” he said. “I also hope that more people discover and appreciate the uniqueness of African culture， which will help such natural art form find a place in modern Chinese society.”
Zhao is willing to build a cultural industry chain to offer more opportunities for talented Zimbabwe children. Zhao’s troupe will cooperate with local channels in Zimbabwe and co-produce programs on their talent shows， of which the TV station may continue regular broadcasting.
“It is quite beautiful here. The modernization and rapid development in Beijing and Chengdu gave me quite a shock. I particularly value this opportunity， even though it is only for 10 days，” he said.
The troupe consists of dozens of amateur performers from Zimbabwe and came about in 2014， when the Zimbabwe Federation of Overseas Chinese organized a talent show in the capital of Harare.
The talent show， funded by Chinese businesses， was renamed Dream of Zimbabwe in 2015， and spread to include auditions in nine cities across the country attracting many youths. “It only took less than 10 days to have this 30-performer group [established] after we got the invitation from the Chinese Ministry of Culture，” Zhao Ke， head of the troupe as well as a member of Zimbabwe Federation of Overseas Chinese， told ChinAfrica.
Anything is possible
Zhao has already organized the talent show twice. “There are many talented youths in Africa， but there is little chance for them to realize their dream for financial reasons.”
Zhao said that the purpose of such initiatives was to increase communication with the locals， and enhance mutual cultural recognition and understanding for Chinese and Africans.
Shingai Mokina， a well-known moderator from Zimbabwe， and Leonard Mapfumo， a local professional musician， came onboard as talent show judges. Mokina is also responsible for promotion and said the initiative has become so popular in Zimbabwe because it was given such extensive coverage by the media.
However， initially there was much skepticism about the talent showcases as many impoverished families didn’t believe their children would get the opportunity to ever visit China.
The biggest obstacle facing the talent show is insufficient funding as it is difficult to find sponsors in Africa. Zhao was lucky enough to find a company in Sichuan Province that sponsored the troupe’s airfare and garments. Coincidentally Zhao’s troupe attended the International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Sichuan Province in September.
On stage in China
On September 9， the 30-member Zimbabwe art troupe set foot on Chinese soil for the first time. They performed 11 shows at the China Chengdu International Festival of Intangible Cultural Heritage， National Center for the Performing Arts and several Chinese schools. Despite not being professional artists， their infectious energy and enthusiasm delighted Chinese audiences.
“I had never heard of the troupe. I come to see the performance and found that they are all young African performers. I didn’t expect that they[would] sing the Chinese songs so well， for example Little Apple - that impressed me a lot！” said Li Jing from Beijing， who watched their last show at China’s National Center for the Performing Arts.
The tour was tough on the performers， with endless airport terminals， back stage rehearsals， bus rides and long days. “Ours is a scratch team. Our arrangements are not perfect. We have to enhance our performing skills. But， we tried to fix everything including lighting， costume and makeup，” said Zhao. Zhao added that they blended different Chinese elements for each show and made adjustments according to audiences’ feedback. “Those children cherished the performance opportunity at the National Center for the Performing Arts，” he said.
Zhao said that even though the music lyrics for the song Lake Baikal were only received a few days before the show， the troupe pulled together in rehearsals to get it right. “Thanks to their efforts， we had a successful performance，” he said.
Life experience
The China tour broadened the troupe’s horizons.“Before coming to China， the farthest place they had visited was the capital of Zimbabwe，” said Zhao. In China， they were also shocked by the work efficiency of Chinese staff， where backstage staff would take only 8 seconds to replace stage props and backdrops in between shows， whereas in Zimbabwe it could take up to 20 minutes.
Dondo loved the Sichuan dramatic art performance of face-mask changing and is determined to learn the skills. He was more excited than the others to be on tour as he was initially not chosen as part of the troupe. It was only after months of unremitting effort that he was eventually selected and his successful B-Box performance （creating rhythm and sounds anyway possible by using the mouth） won the applause of Chinese audiences.
The trip also enriched the life experience of the young performers. Zhao said they leaned about team spirit and pulling together to achieve a result. He sees the public performances only as a stepping stone. “I would like to try to improve chances of [making] profits by cooperating with Chinese art groups so as to help Zimbabwe children realize their dreams，” he said. “I also hope that more people discover and appreciate the uniqueness of African culture， which will help such natural art form find a place in modern Chinese society.”
Zhao is willing to build a cultural industry chain to offer more opportunities for talented Zimbabwe children. Zhao’s troupe will cooperate with local channels in Zimbabwe and co-produce programs on their talent shows， of which the TV station may continue regular broadcasting.