Zimbabwean artist Julia Tsitsi Chigamba will collaborate with members of the Oakland Youth Chorus to create Bembero Mudenbu, (The Celebration of the Basket), a new multidisciplinary presentation of Zimbabwean music and dance that traces the history and diversity of the Shona musical tradition and its journey into the modern world. The performance will weave Chigamba’s traditional music and dance with new musical arrangements and choreography to relate the story of her life growing up in the village in Zimbabwe, her transition to life in the United States, and her struggle to balance between traditional and modern culture.

Chigamba writes, “My way of speaking is through the traditional Shona dance and music, and that is how I would like to tell my story." She is the daughter of the highly respected gwenyambira (master mbira player) Tute Chigamba, and will be accompanied at Mythic Journeys '06 by her husband, educator and musician Duncan Allard.

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