Hloseni Arts Ensemble

My name is Miles Ncube. I am a professional dancer born and bred in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe currently living in London. Hloseni Arts are a premeir Zimbabwean and Southern African cultural dance company based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. As an ensemble we hold 4 NAMA Awards which is the National Arts Merits Awards for best dancers; outastanding dance company and 1 International award form Algeria for outstanding combination between music and dance, in which out of we 35 countries we came 2nd. One among many of our highlights is the 2010 World Cup, South Africa, where we engaged in cultural exchanges with participants from neighbouring and international countries. This company was formed in the late 90s as an intiative to impart relational skills, support and education to less priviledged children in high density surbubs of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. In those days most of the children living in these areas could not afford to go to school as result of poverty and other socio-economic issues. Therefore, there was need to support these children through teaching them dance plays in Contemporary and culturral music and dance. This helped them raise money for either tuition fees, uniforms, stationary or groceries by performing in local primary schools around Bulawayo for a minimum charge, concurrently raising the awareness of every child's right to education.

Hloseni means aim, derived from the ambitious aim to give the less priviledged children a platform where they could learn and explore not, in academia but atleast through movement and embodying the qualities; experience of cultural dance. Now the children I am talking about are in their early and mid 30s, still in the same dance company as most of them could not attend school but have atleast 20 years experiencein cultural dance and its their source of income. The dancers have hope in their dance life that someday they will get a reward for such intense training and teaching for all these years considering difficulties in gaining income from it. I joined this company when I was about 16 and still at secondary school. I lived with them and was inspired by their technique and style of dancing and there is no other I have seen in Zimbabwe that dances like them although at the end of it all its cultural dance and everyone knows it. It's pure untamed talent, artistry and spirit of Ubuntu. My training made me a part of them and still are, which is why I still try very hard to expose our dance company in United Kingdom, Europe and Internationally for exposure and job opportunities. Here in London my speciality is in African-Contemporary dance and currently studying Dance Teaching and Learning for all ages at Trinity Laban, London and doing marketing on behalf of Hloseni Arts Ensemble.