The Personal meets the Political in Bawren Tavaziva’s work.
(Adapted from an article first printed in Dance UK in February 2009)
Jeanette Bain-Burnett, Director of ADAD, talks to the Choreographer and Executive Director of Tavaziva Dance, a company that is no stranger to work that reflects global issues.
Characterised as ‘controversial’ in a preview in The Observer and ‘daring’ in a feature in The Independent, choreographer Bawren Tavaziva’s piece My Friend, Robert is making waves within and beyond the dance world. The piece, which chronicles the rise and fall of Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe and the country’s current economic and health crisis, is a part of Tavaziva Dance’s current touring production Heart of Darkness.
Tavaziva, who was an ADAD Trailblazer in 2003/04, is no stranger to making work with a political dimension, ‘I work with what I experience in life - this is what the situation is like in Zimbabwe or in Africa and so I raise those things that I can relate to and say honestly.’
In 2003, he became a Place Prize Finalist with a piece about the AIDS crisis in Zimbabwe dedicated to his sister who died of AIDS. The personal meets the political in his work. In fact it is partly the impact that President Mugabe had on him as a child that motivated him to make My Friend, Robert. In his own words he wanted ‘to talk about things that are never discussed about Robert Mugabe - just my own experience of being a Zimbabwean, growing up there and what I gained from his government and also about how now all of that is completely destroyed.’ According to Tavaziva, it was through Mugabe’s regime that educational opportunities were opened up for young black boys like himself. ‘Even now I appreciate that, but the current situation there is total disaster. The younger generation is suffering and it is now time for a change. The piece talks about the positive impact of Mugabe and the downfall of Mugabe.’
Tavaziva has freedom in the UK to express opinions that would be completely unacceptable in Zimbabwe, however exercising that freedom means a personal sacrifice of not seeing his family for the foreseeable future.
‘If you say anything negative about the government, you will be in trouble. Even though I am appreciating the positive and then talking about how bad it has become, I could be in trouble for saying that. If you say anything bad about the government or that Mugabe should step down, you’re in trouble. I would not take that risk to go home now. I usually go home every year, but this year I didn’t go and probably next year I won’t go.’
Even before its premiere, the piece received significant attention in the press being featured in a number of major newspapers and on BCC World radio. This came as a surprise to the company’s Executive Director, Iyshea McKay, ‘We had no idea that My Friend, Robert would attract so much publicity. I think it’s really putting us on the map in the dance world. It’s been a very positive and exciting time for the company. For me it’s interesting to work for a company that is focusing on quite striking issues. Venue managers can’t wait for the piece to arrive. The flip side to that is protecting the members of the company. The piece is being pushed as a news article rather than a dance piece. We could also get negative publicity and Bawren’s family here and in Zimbabwe could be affected. Yes, we are a dance company dealing with political issues, but we’re not activists. So it’s important to strike the balance.’
Iyshea also hastens to add that My Friend, Robert is one of four pieces that make up Tavaziva’s current touring production Heart of Darkness. The production also includes two other pieces choreographed by Bawren Tavaziva: Sinful Intimacies, which deals with the denial of the existence of lesbian relationships in Zimbabwean society; and Kenyan Athlete, an ode to ‘the beauty and physicality of the Kenyan people and their surroundings; as well as Silent Steps by guest choreographer Harriet Macauley.
