Nhemamusasa (nay-mum-sah-sah): among the oldest songs in the mbira repertoire of Zimbabwe, it means "temporary shelter". Nhemamusasa encourages a sense of repose among the vicissitudes of life.
-Spiro/Williams
North: "Were you ever out in the Great Alone, when the moon was awful clear,
And the icy mountains hemmed you in with a silence you most could hear;
... While high overhead, green, yellow, and red, the North Lights swept in bars?--
Then you've a hunch what the music meant . . .(a) hunger and night and the stars."
-Robert Service
We are pleased to invite you to Nhemamusasa North 2010, a very special opportunity to gather together in community and immerse yourself in the music and culture of Zimbabwe.
"It was the highlight of my summer. I loved the 'feel' of the event: camping out, eating communally, having workshops under the trees, talking with the fabulous Zimbabwean musicians about their lives. Great!" D. P.
This year we will again gather at O.U.R. Ecovillage on Vancouver Island, a sustainable learning centre and demonstration site about 45 minutes north of Victoria near Shawnigan Lake. There we will come together over six days to share in the deep and nourishing musical and cultural traditions of Zimbabwe.
"Something that I can only describe as magical. This year I learned parts to four new mbira tunes, and sang more than I ever have in my entire life. I'm already looking forward to next year." G.M.
Nhemamusasa North offers daily workshops in marimba, mbira, hosho, dance, drumming and singing at beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. (For a sense of how Nhemamusasa North's daily activities are structured, view the 2006 schedule)
"It was truly an inspiring time, my head is still spinning!!" W.S.
Confirmed teachers at Nhemamusasa North for 2010 (subject to change) are Musekiwa Chingodza, Julia Chigamba, Garadziva Chigamba, Paul Mataruse, Kurai Blessing Mubaiwa, and Tendai Muparutsa.
Musekiwa Chingodza was born into a family of great mbira players in Mwangara village, Murewa, Zimbabwe in 1970.
He began playing mbira at the age of five and is self-taught. Through listening to other gwenyambira, or great mbira players, he developed a strong attachment to and love for mbira music. He says,"Our music is both medicine and food, as mbira has the power to heal and to provide for people. Mbira pleases both the living and the dead."
In 1991 Musekiwa was a key member of the band Panjea, founded by Chris Berry. He composed the hit Ganda on Panjea's Zimbabwean album.
Musekiwa is an excellent singer, dancer and drummer and plays both mbira dzavadzimu and nyunga nyunga.
Julia Tsitsi Chigamba, Master Dancer, Singer and Instrumentalist from Zimbabwe, grew up in the rich cultural traditions of Shona music and dance.
Daughter of highly respected "Mai Chigamba and Baba Tute Chigamba", she's a long time member of the Chigamba family's internationally known Mhembero Dance Troupe, under the direction of her sister Irene Chigamba, a former member of the Zimbabwean National Dance Company.
Since 1999, Julia has perfomed and taught widely in the USA and Canada and has made Oakland her home away from home. Julia is the founder of the Oakland based Chinyakare Ensemble and Tawanda MuChinyakare, a network of musicians, artists, teachers, and community organizers created with the purpose of weaving ancestral wisdom and creative expression with contemporary education and community work through the medium of African music and dance.
A musician since age five, having learned from both his father (mbira master Tute Chigamba) and through his own love of music, Garadziva embodies expression as a prolific composer, soulful singer, dancer and master musician on marimba, mbira and ngoma.
He has travelled worldwide with Mhembero, performing in China, Japan, the U.S., Canada, Malaysia, Libya, South Africa and Zambia.
Now living in Canada, he is the respected director and leader of the high-spirited group Jambanja, with whom he has recorded two CD's. Chigamba has been teaching and performing Zimbabwean traditional music and dance in various schools and to independent students in Canada for several years.
Paul Mataruse learned to play marimba with his twin brother and a few neighborhood friends from the age of six. His musical style is as much derived from his father as it is from jam sessions in a small room with two soprano instruments, two tenors, and a baritone. Paul often describes these sessions as the best musical education he ever got, and to this day he encourages his friends and students to jam on the marimbas.
In the more than 20 years since he started playing marimba, Paul has taught in schools in and around Harare and Mashonaland West in Zimbabwe, as well as in North America. He currently lives in Santa Clara CA, while commuting to his other job as musical director of Whidbey Island-based Ruzivo Marimba.
Kurai was born in 1977 in the village of Murewa in Zimbabwe. He began playing the mbira at the age of six, learning from his father, his uncle, and other village elders. He has been singing and dancing since the first moment he could talk and walk, growing up in the rich cultural environment of his father's village. He often played mbira and drums and danced in traditional ceremonies and other public gatherings.
In 1994 Kurai moved to the city of Harare, where he joined the cultural group Savannah Arts. There he continued with mbira, singing, and dancing, as well as learning to play marimba and training as an actor.
In 1998 he toured West Africa and Europe with Zimbabwe's Chiwoniso Maraire, and afterward went to Reunion Island (France) to work with Theatre Talipot in the physical theatre production Passage, which toured Reunion, South Africa, and Scotland.
After leaving Theatre Talipot in 2000, Kurai returned to Zimbabwe where he continued to perform as a musician and as an instructor facilitating mbira, marimba, and dance workshops. In 2001 he began an apprenticeship with Garikayi Tirikoti, a master mbira craftsman, where he learned from Garikayi's 30 years of experience making mbiras.
Since arriving in Canada in the early 2000's, Kurai has become a mainstay in the Vancouver music scene, where he currently teaches and performs with his band ZimbaMoto.
Kurai's rural and urban experiences, his upbringing in Zimbabwe, and his extensive travels have resulted in a unique fusion of many different styles, including traditional Shona, blues, funk, reggae, and West African.
Tendai Muparutsa is a trained school teacher and graduate of the University of Idaho with a Masters in Music, specializing in Music Education. He is currently a PhD student in Ethnomusicology at the University of Alberta, Canada.
Tendai plays mbira dzavadzimu and nyunga nyunga, marimba, ngoma, hosho, guitar, sings and dances.
Tendai makes a return to Nhemamusasa North with "vivid memories of the excellent time of music making and learning" he enjoyed during his previous visits. "Let's all converge at Nhemamusasa North and let music be the winner."
Camping is the main accommodation at the Ecovillage. Coastal weather is always variable, so please be sure to bring an all-weather tent and sleeping gear. Hot water and bathing facilities are available. A limited number of dorm style and private rooms are available at an additional fee - contact us for availability and pricing. There are also motels and B&B's available in the nearby communities of Shawnigan Lake, Mill Bay, and Cobble Hill. Three delicious meals a day will be provided, with plenty of vegetarian options. We cannot accommodate special dietary needs, so please be sure to make your own arrangements if needed.
Fees for Nhemamusasa North are all-inclusive, and include admission to all workshops, evening activities, 3 meals (and snacks) per day and camping.
Discounted tuition if paid by May 28th, 2010
Full time fee • Adults $475 • Children/Youth $300
Daily fee • Adults $125 • Children/Youth $90
Tuition after May 28th 2010
(Please note that registration will close Friday, July 23rd)
Full time fee • Adults $550 • Children/Youth $325
Daily fee • Adults $150 • Children/Youth $100
A 50% deposit is required with registration (balance due upon arrival at camp). Those wishing to pay the entire fee in advance will be gladly accommodated. After May 28th, all deposits are non-refundable. Before May 28th, a $50 processing fee will apply to all refunded deposits. Fees are in Canadian dollars. U.S. funds are accepted at current exchange rates. Please note that children under the age of 16 attending Nhemamusasa North must have a designated chaperone on site with them. Please include contact information for this person on the registration form.
O.U.R. ECOVILLAGE is a sustainable learning center and demonstration site which focuses on ecological ways of living involving permaculture design. "We are dedicated to researching and modeling ways that are rooted in social, cultural, spiritual, economic and ecological well-being."
O.U.R. ECOVILLAGE acts as a bridge between the rural and urban experience. They offer a protected green space and a healthy, supportive community learning environment for residents, participants in programs, and the wider local and global communities. As well, they actively create partnerships with groups and organizations from all walks of life who are interested in living in community and living lightly on the earth.
The Cowichan Valley was originally named The Warm Land by the Quw'utsun'(Coast Salish). The Cowichan First Nation peoples have inhabited these lands for 10,000 years. Here rich farmland, old growth and successive forests, rivers, mountains and ocean mingle in Canada's only Maritime Mediterranean climactic zone.
The nearby village of Shawnigan Lake contains two small general stores, three restaurants, several beaches and various small businesses. The Village is a well-known venue for arts and craft shows, and hosts a small but excellent museum.
For those interested in the First Nations heritage of the area, the Quw'utsun' Cultural Centre in Duncan offers on-site interpretive tours, traditional artwork, and native food.
The Cowichan River, a provincial Heritage River flowing 47 km. from Lake Cowichan to a large ocean estuary at Cowichan Bay, is known for it's river tubing. Float for hours on it's gentle current past fields and forest (inflatable tubes available for sale in Duncan). There is also a 20 km. hiking trail along the riverbank.
The valley is also home to a cidery and a dozen wineries (tours available), as well as farm markets and many and varied artisans.
O.U.R. Ecovillage is located on southern Vancouver Island, a 50 minute drive north-west of Victoria on the Trans-Canada highway.
From Victoria:
From Duncan/Nanaimo:
Useful contacts:
Ferries to Victoria:
From Victoria to Mill Bay/Shawnigan Lake:
Pick-up from Shawnigan Lake or Mill Bay can be arranged with prior notice.
To register, please PRINT the PDF registration form and POST (along with cheque payable to Nhemamusasa North) to address on form.
Check-in will begin at noon on July 28th. Camp will end at approximately 1 pm on August 2nd (bagged lunch provided).