Irene Chigamba

Dancer

Irene Chigamba is an immensely talented traditional dance practitioner. Growing up in a musical family, she performed traditional ceremonies with her parents from an early age. She toured the world with the Zimbabwe National Dance Company from the age of 19 and later continued to tour with groups she directed, as well as performed with.

At age 8 Irene started dancing and she is the oldest child in a family of dancers and musicians. Her parents were the biggest influence in her chosen career of dancing.

Shortly after Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, Irene travelled to Mozambique to perform with Ephat Mujuru’s group Spirit of the People during a week-long celebration of Mozambique’s political solidarity with Zimbabwe during the nation’s liberation struggle. The opportunity arose when Ephat was looking for another female dancer to fill out his group and he was referred to Irene by one of her neighbours in Highfield, where she was renowned as a dancer.

Back home in Zimbabwe, Irene’s performance with Spirit of the People also earned her a place in the nation’s newly formed National Dance Company. Only nineteen years old at the time, she now had the opportunity to learn dances from various regions of the country.

In her spare time, Irene soon began teaching the new dances she was learning to her younger siblings at home, paving the way for the family to form its own dance company. Through her sterling efforts, the Chigamba family became renowned as a family of traditional dance practitioners.

In 1990, the National Dance Company was dismantled during Zimbabwe’s entry into an Economic Structural Adjustment Program designed by the World Bank. Building on her work with her younger siblings, Irene founded her family’s first performing group, which she called the Young Zimbabweans.

Given the high-level connections Irene had developed during her time with the National Dance Company, the Young Zimbabweans were regularly asked to perform for high-level government events in Zimbabwe. They were also able to start touring abroad almost immediately.

After several original members of the Young Zimbabweans left for permanent employment with the Zimbabwe Republic’s Police Band, Irene trained a new group of performers, and renamed her group Mhembero, or “Celebration.” As the group’s artistic director, Irene has trained several generations of Zimbabwean artists, including members of Zimbabwe’s Air Force Band, as well as several artists now living abroad in the US and Canada.

During her time with the National Dance Company, the Young Zimbabweans, and Mhembero, Irene has performed in many countries, including Canada, the United States, Australia, England, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Romania, Russia, Yugoslavia, South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, China, Korea, Japan, and Malaysia. Besides performing, Irene is also an accomplished traditional dance adjudicator. She has been very instrumental in ensuring the practice of traditional dance in Zimbabwe. Her dancing prowess is also complimented by excellent Mbira playing skills.— NACZ.