Chichiri Prison Cultural Troupe in Blantyre has become a household name as far as showcasing traditional dances is concerned.
It is a cultural troupe that has stunned audiences with their performances and they are simply at par and even much better than some of the well-known troupes in the country.
And just like Zomba Prison Band which went all the way to make history for the country by earning a Grammy nomination for their album I Have No Everything Here in 2015, things seem to be moving in the same direction for Chichiri Prison Cultural Troupe.
Many event organisers have fallen in love with the troupe and their energetic performances last for some time.
Being inmates, they started on a low note with some quarters giving them no attention.
But today they are even invited in well-known events including festivals and whenever they are performing, they always drag people to the dance floor.
Using money which they get during performances, the group has managed to buy costume and other paraphernalia for various traditional dances.
“We have travelled places in the country and we are happy that people love what we do. I have been here for so many years but performing in this troupe has changed my life,” says one of the inmates.
The troupe is dominated by males and some of them dress in female attire which includes wigs and zitenje during some of the traditional dances.
The audiences to some extent mistook the males for females.
Their latest performance was at the Chichiri Museum in Blantyre where there was a free event and they killed it once more.
“I am impressed; this is my first time to watch them. I was just hearing that there are inmates who do well in traditional dances and they are indeed good. I am also happy that through this they have been transformed and this is what prisons should be doing,” said Frank Tembo.
One of the traditional dances which the troupe usually serves from the Northern Region is vimbuza.
Inscribed in 2008 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, vimbuza is a healing dance popular among the Tumbuka.
It is also popular among the Tonga where it is known as masyawi.
For the Tumbuka, vimbuza has artistic value and a therapeutic function that complements other forms of medical treatment.
The troupe performs vimbuza in the same way it is done by the Tumbuka where they even bring a patient who is treated by a traditional healer through thier healing rituals.
From the Central Region, Chichiri Prison Cultural Troupe brings the great dance of the Chewa – gule wamkulu.
Gule wamkulu is a secret cult and ritual dance performed at initiation ceremonies, funerals and other important occasions.
The dance normally uses character masks and the inmates of Chichiri do it well.
They have managed to acquire all the masks to manage gule wamkulu performances better.
The way they execute gule wamkulu which comes in different forms including makanja and animal characters – monkey and crocodile – shows that the inmates understand the importance of preserving these traditional dances.
“We have found fun in displaying these traditional dances. Through this troupe, we have been challenged to do more in terms of performing different traditional dances and we aim to give out the best,” says one of the inmates dressed in female attire.
And Chichiri Prison Cultural Troupe usually signs off with a traditional dance from Nsanje in the Southern Region which sees some members playing the traditional instrument known as malimba or valimba which produces different sounds.
Public Relations Officer Mike Mpopo says they started the troupe long time ago with an aim of exposing talent from the prisoners.
“We are happy with the support which people give us as you know this is a troupe made up of inmates and prison officials. We started this troupe in 2011 and we have been entertaining people for some time,” Mpopo says.
He says this is a programme which is happening in all prisons in the country and is aimed at empowering the inmates as well as transforming them.
“There are other programmes taking place such as carpentry but we thought of doing something different and that brought us to doing traditional dances which we are doing so well,” he says.
He says through the initiative, inmates have transformed.
“With the troupe, some of the inmates after their release would use their dancing skills to join some of the troupes out there while others would even start their own groups,” the PRO says.
The troupe also works with Blantyre-based theatre group Solomonic Peacocks in a prison reform programme where they combine traditional dances and theatre.
“As a drama group, we thought it wise to work on this programme because we noticed that there is talent in there. Of course, they are inmates but they have a right to showcase their talents, so we rehearse together and have been hosting shows together,” Solomonic Peacocks Director McArthur Matukuta says.
Matukuta says, through this project, the inmates are able to tell their stories through traditional dances and theatre and that this has also helped in enlightening their lives in prison.
They are inmates, indeed, but through the troupe, they are on the move to conquer through showcasing different traditional dances as part of preserving culture.
Chichiri Prison Cultural Troupe is for now one of the groups audiences are longing to embrace and watch the space, they are on the rise and ready to conquer the world and show what Malawi is made of.
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