By Vasco Chaya
Dancer Beverly “Bev” Sibanda has dissed her oft-competitor Zoey for allegedly dancing for crumbs in South Africa.
The two leading dancers were supposed to share the stage in Pretoria over the weekend but Bev reportedly refused after she failed to agree with the promoters. Instead, she went on holiday in Botswana for four days.
“We were offered 500 rands for a performance but I refused. Zoey was comfortable with the paltry payment but as for me I am not that cheap. I cannot dance for peanuts like Zoey,” the Sexy Angels leader said.
However, Bev was not at liberty to reveal her price.
“I cannot reveal that confidential information but just know that the promoter wanted to take advantage of me. Five hundred rands is way too little for me. Imagine my group is made up of at least three members.”
Contacted for comment, Zoey fumed at Bev’s claims.
“There is no way I can come all the way from Zimbabwe to perform for 500 rands.
“Imagine I usually carry 10 000 rands for shopping and someone is claiming that I accepted 500 rands for a show. That is impossible,” she said.
“The issue of 500 rands was just meant to lure Bev to come to the show. That was not serious actually.”
After the Pretoria shows, Zoey will proceed to Cape Town for other shows.
Promoters of the show, Crazy Ghetto, confirmed Bev’s failure to perform through a statement.
“Crazy Ghetto was responsible for the Bev, Zoey show on February 3, 2019. Both ladies were supposed to come as per the agreement with Crazy Ghetto but Bev didn’t turn up,” reads part of the statement from the promoters.
Of late, leading dancers are plying their trade in South Africa as dancing is no longer viable in Zimbabwe.
This is due to the harsh economic situation prevailing in the country which has hit the dance industry hard with an average dancer pocketing a wage of about $20 a week, a figure not even enough to cater for basics.
Local dancers in Harare have revealed to the Daily News how the economy is taking a toll on them.
“We are being paid about $60 for a show by promoters and now it is very difficult to have more than one show per day as bar owners of late expect us to perform not for less than four hours.
“As a result, it means the whole dance group which consists about five members will get $180 per week. The group founder will take almost half of the amount leaving us with about $20 per week,” one of the dancers said.
“This ($20) is not even enough to cater for basics in life like school fees, rentals and rates among other expenses.”
A male dancer from an all-men ensemble concurred with the female dancer saying the situation forces ladies to augment their wages mainly through unorthodox means including sex work.
“The situation is affecting every dancer and as boys we end up staying as a group in one room mainly in ghettoes just to make ends meet.
“But the situation seemed tough on female dancers who value the virtue of privacy; they usually end up engaging in commercial sex work. At times it is not their fault,” he said.
The majority of ordinary dancers in Harare are staying in groups in high density suburbs such as Highfield, Dzivaresekwa, Kuwadzana and Warren Park among others.DailyNews