Since the dawn of time, dancers have utilised their bodies to tell stories, demonstrate rhythm, express ideas, and generate sounds. People who wish to pursue a profession in dance rarely consider the discipline required and the length of courses and rehearsals, even on weekends and holidays. This level of commitment is exactly what 21year old Shekinah Chongesha, from Lusaka, Zambia has had to maintain in order to achieve her dream of being a professional dancer.
Shekinah says she started dancing a while back, so far back that she can’t remember but narrates that she professionally started dancing in 2018. “I started off with an already established group so it wasn’t hard to make it a progressive career” added Shekinah
Shekinah describes her style of dancing as “fun and entertaining”. Shekinah admitted she does not go the gym nor does she do any workouts she added “I’d be lying if I said I do workouts or got to the gym to keep fit. I want to believe dancing itself is a workout. In that sense, even as I practice, I’m keeping fit.”
At just the age of 21 Shekinah has graced some of the biggest events in Zambia including the Oktoberfest, Kalandanya music promotions launch and among others. Shekinah said atht “The biggest artist I’ve performed for would be Cleo Ice Queen. Even though I’ve worked and shared stages with artists like Nez long, Slap Dee, Yo maps, Macky 2, Chef 187, Drimz, Rich Bizzy, Elisha long, Drifta trek, only but to mention a few.”
Shekinah told Zed360 that “My best performance yet was my performance with Cleo in Ndola. What I learnt from it was that if you’re going to do something, it’s worth doing well.”
Shekinah believes that the most important traits a dancer should have are honesty, reliability, being a great team player and the top most important traits are respect, innovation and creativity. The 21year old dancer admitted that a few times, she had definitely forgotten moves while performing however the Shekinah added that “But as dancers we’ve learnt the art of just going with the flow once that happens. Continue from where you ended.”
When asked what her take on people’s opinion that dancers sleep with artists? Shekinah told Zed360 that “my perception is, people mustn’t attach a certain type of behavior to an art. Most of us do it for the passion. For the love we have for it. It’s been and always will be our safe and happy space……to say the least, that’s too huge of a perception to change in a blink of an eye. But as dancers we believe that even if it is and will be a gradual process, such primitive thinking will be changed. We have slowly started seeing people support the art so we know there’s a lot of room for change.”
The 21 year old Lusaka based dancer admitted that Zambian dancers face many challenges, some challenges faced by the dancers are payments course. She added “because many times more than once, dancers who are literally ‘the life of the party’ tend to be sidelined. They NEED them there but will be treated like a want.”
Shekinah added that “another challenge would be not acknowledging a dancer’s schedules. To them how long they keep you working doesn’t matter. I won’t dispute the fact that there’s people who actually appreciate the art and pay good money though.”
Most young dancers in Zambia and indeed across many African countries find it hard to enter the world of dancing but they often do not know how to star tor lack the support for both family and the community in general however Shekinah “what I’d tell an aspiring dancer is, just START! Even if there’s one person supporting you. I learnt from my mentor that it’s from the decisions you make today that will determine what kind of person you’ll be tomorrow. If you decide to start today, you could potentially be one of the best dancers in the industry. Don’t wait for people to clap before you start performing. Show them what you’re capable of!”
