Dancing Routines
Dance has been used over the ages as an expression of the deepest aspects of life, of the dancer's relationship with the Earth, the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and, perhaps most importantly, the connection with the Divine. In tribal societies dance is a natural means of communication: it expresses joy, sadness, love and hate; it instils power in the invading tribe; it pleads with the gods to provide food, rain, sun; it celebrates all the meaningful stages of life: birth, poverty, initiation, marriage, death.

Hohodza concentrate on dancing styles from the general Southern Africa area. We have also adopted dances from Zimbabwe’s provinces. Each province has its own dance. Some of the dances we perform are as follows (click on the names to go to its description):

Mhande
A dance performed by old people for the ancestral spirits when asking for the rains.
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Jiti-Chinungu
It is a dance mainly for the youths, used to celebrate the arrival of a daughter-in-law or at a wedding and ceremonies such as appeasing the ancestral spirits. Jiti is a fast-paced, recreational type of drumming and dance.
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Shangara
The name of Shangara creates a happy, versatile, and expressive nature, with good business judgment and a fine sense of responsibility, which should enable you to establish congenial relationships in positions of trust where you are dealing with the public.
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Zihwere
Played in the evening by ladies as a way of expressing their feelings to their husbands.
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Madanha
A courting dance used to demonstrate the artistry of the forefather. The dance is used to display such things strength and flexibly. It’s done throughout the year and was mainly done by man doing to please their partners.
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Chinyambera
It’s a hunter's dance originating from Bikita and Chipinge districts. This is sung by hunters before going into the bush and played by elderly men and women.
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Muchongoyo
This is a social dance originating from the eastern border town of Chipinge (Ndau) and also performed by the Shangani people/tribes, dressed in traditional regalia known as "zvihlabhu" and "zvichakati". It is a competition dance in which the winning prize is a designed cloth. The cloth rotates among the winners whom in turn brew beer to convene a competition.
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Chimutare
A dance adopted by Zimbabweans from Malawi. It is used by women to provoke
men. It’s like a parading dance after which men choose their would-be partners.
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Ingwenyama
A dance performed by the Ndebele people. The dance shows elements of strength, which is likened to that of a crocodile.
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Mbakumba
The Harvest Dance. The dance tells of different social events in life. Two couples dance, the women carrying a reed basket or a clay pot on their heads and rattling the instruments tied to their calves. The man dressed in animal skins with feathers on their heads.
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Shield Dance
A dance performed by Nebula warriors to celebrate victory. After a successful raid, a party would be thrown and this is one of the dances performed. It is a war dance that demonstrates fighting skills.
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Jerusarema (Mbende)
A dance performed at night by men and women of marrying age. It is performed in pairs any time of the year. The dance is basically an exhibition of sexual prowess. The women show their flexibility while the men show their strength. Individual men and women boast of their sexual prowess and challenge each other to a "contest". They then dance the sexual encounter and, more often than not, the men are defeated by their mates and they stagger away, ashamed of themselves.
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Spiritual Dance
This dance was done as a means of communication with the ancestral spirits. They use this practice to help lost "soul parts" return home, and bring about the ecstasy of spiritual wholeness. It was performed by elderly people when confronted by problems.
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Most of the historic texts above were written by Ngwadzai Mhangira, from the African Heritage.