Tuzinne Festival
Human rights are a pressing issue in Uganda and East Africa at large, as they are routinely and systematically suppressed and taken away. Given the power of dance to attract and unite people, bring awareness, stimulate thought and discussion, and facilitate change, the two will be paired in this unique festival.
After observation of the contemporary and traditional dance scene and conversations between various collaborators and numerous dance artists, Tuzinne Festival: Where Human Rights Dance aims to position itself to address the urgent need for professionally trained artists within the contemporary and African traditional dance contexts, who are capable not just because of technical prowess, but also because of knowledge of the industry and the different players therein.
Tuzinne, meaning “let's dance” in Luganda,
- has focused on delving into and celebrating the performance of all types of contemporary and traditional dance, and using them to address human rights issues. Performances have been selected by choreographers who’ve created a human rights dance piece, and proceeded by workshops in the aforementioned styles of dance. We will also recognize achievement and ability with Young Artist Awards.
- We presented the Tuzinne dance awards during the festival to outstanding individuals in a variety of categories. This is an unprecedented venture in that Uganda currently has no arts awards that emphasize dance.
Award winners were selected by a panel of diverse and accomplished judges in the field. The overall aim is to celebrate creativity, encourage innovation, exalt excellence, and promote dance as a vehicle for change in a way that will collectively raise the standard of the Ugandan dance community and show gratitude for those who have paved the way for others.
Tuzinne designed as a 3-week intensive training and performance project that hosts people from different East African countries and beyond with a focus on contemporary and African traditional dance work, as well as collaborations with interested dancers from around the East African region.
The overarching goal of the project is to contribute to the development forum for dance artists and encourage learning and research in contemporary and traditional forms in the East African region, specifically showcasing how dance can be used in human rights advocacy.
Thus, this project will contribute to the discovery of dance artists and activists in the fields of contemporary and traditional dance.
The goals center on knowledge-sharing, performance, and acknowledgment with the most important goal being to provide an exchange and networking platform for dance artists and
Advocates by:
- Creating opportunities for cross-border promotion and demonstration of advocacy through the arts through performance of contemporary and traditional dance works which focus on human rights
- Creating opportunities for learning, skills training, and capacity-building
- Creating opportunities to interact with communities
- Creating a platform for recognizing dedicated young artists in the field of dance