Information & Videos Of An African Traditional Dance From Zimbabwe (Mbende, Jerusarema)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post presents three videos of a Zimbabwewan traditional dance called "Mbende". That dance is also known as "Jerusarema".

The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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With considerable regret, I have disabled the comment feature on this blog (and on my other blogs except for https://pancocojams.blogspot.com, because of the large number of spam comments that I received on those blogs.

Comments for those blogs can be sent to my email address azizip17 dot com at yahoo dot com for possible inclusion in a specific post on those blogs.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE MBENDE DANCE
From http://ahenbadance.piczo.com/dancesandmeaning?cr=1 African Dances And Their Meanings
Dances from Zimbabwe
Mbende
"Mbende also known as Jerusarema, comes from the Zezuru people of western Mashobaland of Zimbabwe. Originally, this dance was performed exclusively during the marriage ceremony of a chief's daughter but it is now open to all men and women of marrying age. The dance movements are "sexual in nature"; mimicking courtship and sexual encounters but at the same time exhibiting sexual prowess of both men and women."
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Additional information about this traditional Zimbabwean dance is found in the summary statement of the video given as Example #1 of this post.

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FEATURED VIDEOS
(These videos are presented in chronological order based on the date of their YouTube posting, with the oldest dated videos posted first.)

Example #1: The Mbende Jerusarema Dance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltiDSchYzwY
unesco, Uploaded on Sep 28, 2009
Embedding disabled by request

UNESCO: Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity - 2008
URL: http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/RL/.
Description: The Mbende Jerusarema Dance is a popular dance style practiced by the Zezuru Shona people living in eastern Zimbabwe, especially in the Murewa and Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe districts.

The dance is characterized by acrobatic and sensual movements by women and men, driven by a polyrhythmic drummer accompanied by men playing woodblock clappers and by women handclapping, yodelling and blowing whistles. Unlike other drum-based East African dance styles, the MbendeJerusarema does not rely on intricate foot stamping or a large number of drummers. Instead, the music is performed by one master drummer, and no songs or lyrics are involved.

In the course of the dance, men often crouch while jerking both arms and vigorously kicking the ground with the right leg in imitation of a burrowing mole. The dances curious name reveals much about its vicissitudes over the centuries. Before colonial rule, this ancient fertility dance was called Mbende, the Shona word for mole, which was regarded as a symbol of fertility, sexuality and family. Under the influence of Christian missionaries, who strongly disapproved of this sexually explicit dance, the dances name was changed to Jerusarema, deriving from the Shona adaptation of the name of the city of Jerusalem, to endow it with a religious connotation. Both names are commonly used today. In spite of its condemnation by the missionaries, the dance remained popular and became a source of pride and identity in the struggle against colonial rule.

The dance is changing its character and meaning as its enactment as an exotic animation for tourist audiences becomes more widespread. It is also increasingly used at political party rallies, where it is removed from all its original intentions. The mitumba drum, rattles and whistles, which used to accompany the dance, have successively been replaced by instruments of poor quality, contributing to the loss of the uniqueness of the Mbende music.
Country(ies): Zimbabwe
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Notice an example of belly bucking (in Portuguese "umbigada") in this video at 1:29 and at other times. That dance movement is also found in the Mabelo folk dance from Martinique, West Indies. Click http://zumalayah.blogspot.com/2013/04/videos-of-mabelo-folk-dance-from.html for a post on Mabelo dances.

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Example #2: The Best of Jerusalema Mbende - Proudly Zimbabwean



Zimbabwe HOPE TV, Published on Jul 23, 2015
The Best Drumbeat, The Best Dance, The Best Dancers of Zimbabwe Traditional Dancing; Proudly Zimbabwean

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Example #3: Murewa - Jerusarema Crew


eldridgemash, Uploaded on Nov 3, 2011
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Notice that all the dancers are elderly.
Examples of belly bucking are found at 5:43 - 6:05 and at other times in this video.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND THANKS
Thanks to all those featured in these videos. Thanks to those who choreographed these dances and those who provided information about this dance. My thanks also to the producers of these videos and their publishers on YouTube.
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