Rwandan Dance Troupe Lights Up Beijing Night
Shout-Africa – BEIJING – The biggest ever cultural exchange between Africa and China is currently ongoing. “Africa in Focus” is held in African countries every odd year and in China every even year since 2008.
Now touring in China is Rwanda’s Song and Dance Troupe. Our reporter Zhang Song was among the audience members who watched the distinctive performance of Rwanda at PLA Theater in Beijing on Saturday night.
It’s not a dance for the timid. As the tradition goes, it’s how the people of Rwanda celebrate a triumph. In ancient times, only those who had brave hearts were qualified to perform the warriors’ dance. The movements have been passed down from generations, who got the inspiration from their fight for survival.
There’s nothing better than African drums that can strengthen the vigor. The drum beating is also a way to deliver a message or emotion. Singing and dancing are also the essential parts of the nonverbal expression system. Rwandans are born with a talent for singing and dancing.
As the expert of the country’s Ministry of Sports and Culture, Mutabazi Mukundente says, even today, you can still find how young people shot the cupid’s arrow through singing and dancing. Without music, a life in Rwanda isn’t complete.
Sitting at the hub of Africa, Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills and the place where Africa comes together. Rwanda is the bridge between the jungles of the Congo basin and the great rift valleys of the east.
China and Rwanda established diplomatic relations in November 1971. Since then, the two countries has been carrying on a series of cooperation and communications. The Song and Dance Troupe of Rwanda has visited China every year since it made its debut in 2007.
After Beijing, the performers will stage another show in the capital’s neighboring city of Tianjin before it heads to the Shanghai World Expo.
