Giyani Lusha 2009 took place in bright sunshine with a slight breeze on Sunday the 26th of July: for the first time we did not have to worry about the hot stage for the dancers bare feet. Behind the stage were swaying tall palm trees, behind them the surf and the blue shining sea, and above that a blue crystalline sky.

Choreographers Musa Hlatshwayo and Sifiso Khumalo had worked for ten days with young dancers from Uyaba Dance Company, Stonebridge Cultural Project, The Young Ones, CMV!!! Igugu Lubasha (Claremont), iGugu Lubasha (Saturday group), Dudlu Ntombi (Umlazi), Siyakhula (KwaMashu), Hheshe Nsizwa (Umlazi), God’s Golden Acre, Durban Children’s Home, Minette de Klerk Dance Academy

On the stage first the drummers from the Field Band, with their fresh, exuberant and catchy tunes, and then two groups of dancers, fusing into one, strutting their stuff: energetic, full of excitement, giving their absolute best, conveying their delight in dancing, for themselves, for their fellow-dancers, and for their audience. Said audience was rhapsodic; many had come because they remembered last year and the year before that. The good humour and sense of cameraderie and contentment at the Amphimarket when KZN DanceLink performs Giyani Lusha, builds towers of optimism for South Africa.

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