Dancers awards on next month
By Vasco Chaya
Organisers of the annual Dancers Association of Zimbabwe (Daz) Awards, which will take place at the City Sports Bar in Harare on February 22, have promised a controversy-free ceremony this year.
Last year, the awards triggered uproar after dancer Beverly “Bev” Sibanda, who is managed by Daz president Hapaguti “Hapaz” Mapimhidze, landed six awards after being nominated an incredible 10 times.
The gongs won by Bev included the Best Female Dancer and Daz Dance Ambassador Awards.
Hapaz told the Daily News yesterday that they have put in place measures to enhance the credibility of the gongs.
“We want every process to be as transparent as a clear glass. We have appointed a representative group of stakeholders which includes arts journalists, music promoters and Daz committee members to come up with a list of nominees which will be released next week,” said the Daz president who refused to identify members of the adjudication team.
“The adjudicators will only be revealed at the awards ceremony to relieve pressure off that could come from interested parties.”
The measures by Hapaz are part of attempts to win over critics led by Bev’s rival and mentor Zoey Sifelani.
Zoey described last year’s edition of the awards as “dubious” despite the fact that she had walked away with the Most Professional Dancer gong.
“These awards to me are not fair. Harpers, who is the association’s president and at the same time Bev’s manager, is abusing his power.
“What it means is that the awards were done to prop up Bev whose fame is fast waning,” she said at the time.
Zoey, who initiated Bev into the world of dance, attempted to come up with her own awards — Pole Dancers Awards — which, however, suffered a still birth, accused the organisers of favouritism.
“All the winners have some links to Harpers and Daz board chairman Paddington Japajapa. As a result I am going to host my own awards which will be fair and they will go a long way in developing and promoting the dance sector,” she added. Daily News
