In2it International Dance Festival is a dance festival run by Tendai Makurumbandi, a professional dancer and choreographer from Zimbabwe, who now teaches in Norway. Norwegian, French and UK companies get invited to the boundless festival that prides itself on cultural exchange and excellence.
Tavaziva were lucky enough to be invited last year, and again this year! Bawren and dancers Nicole, Harriet and Asmara will create a new version of Izindava with the integration of 23 Norwegian dancer. The Tavaziva and Norwegian dancers are training this week and performing on Sunday the 30th of September!
We asked Tendai three questions we’ve all been desperate to know, and his answers were so interesting! Check them out:
What is your favorite part of the festival?
My favorite part of the festival is when the program is rolling with artists closely sharing their work through performances and workshops.
How did you come to start running the festival?
Well, on a daily basis I work as a dance teacher within several culture schools in the region Møre Romsdal County. So dance has been the starting and ending at the culture school level, so I started the festival to break that cycle and bring in professional dancing to the region promoting cultural understanding, innovation and excellency! Our mission is to build cultural bridges though dance.
What are the Norwegian dancer’s backgrounds?
It will be 5 dancers from my company (Compassion 2Dance), 3 dance students from Sunndal Culture school, and 11 dance students from Kristiannsund Opera Ballet centre.
My company dancers came to be a part of the project because I would like to collaborate with Tavaziva in the near future, this will be a good starting point to create a working relationship.
As my intension is to develop dance in the region, so I have to invest in the upcoming dancers, the younger generation who has a huge interest in dance. I would like to further expose them to the dance world, meeting different experiences, share work and stage with professional dancers, create role models and inspire.