Dancing Into the Light: A Fendika Conversation with Ethiopiawinet Dance Crew
If you have only been to Fendika Cultural Center after the night falls, you know only one facet of the Fendika story. During the day, without the lit-up façade and the line of taxis in front, Fendika blends into the rest of the Kazanchis neighborhood.
While easy to miss, the metal gate plastered with show bills is a magical portal. Once you step in, and walk past the dark entryway, you are transported into the world of Fendika, where music, dance, art permeate the air. The sound of busy traffic on Zewditu Street fades away. Instead, you hear music, from an Ethiocolor rehearsal, an Azmari fiddling with his masinqo, or Melaku’s choice of music streaming out of the sound system. Your eyes are not disappointed, either, taking in the mural art created by Tamrat Gezahegne, and of course, an art exhibition in the gallery.
Oftentimes, Fendika by day is also pulsating with dance: rehearsals by Ethiocolor dancers or other dance groups in the city. And if you show up on the first Saturday afternoon of the month, you will be rubbing shoulders with the poets in the city, and watch them deliver their most recent words of the soul. To support young artists, Melaku offers the use of Fendika space all for free.
Fendika is a center for culture in the truest sense, a magnet for artists of all disciplines and backgrounds in Addis Ababa. It’s a place for performances and exhibitions, but above all, it’s a place for conversations, connections, and community.
Huddled under the eaves of Fendika’s courtyard on a rainy afternoon in summer 2019, Melaku had a conversation with Ethiopiawinet Dance Crew. Winners of Balgeru Idol dance competition, they are building a following in Ethiopia with their athletic and creative performance of Ethiopian traditional dances. Here they talk about their journey, challenges and hopes as dancers with Melaku.
Q: Why did you choose dance as a profession?
Ethiopiawinet:
“Dance to me is essential like air. It makes me happy and relaxed.”
“I came to dance by accident, but then I fell in love.”
“The teacher in my regular school kicked me out. On my way out, I saw an advertisement for dance classes. So here I am. I also finished school, by the way.”
“I was inspired by how my brothers and sisters danced in the village I came from.”
“Dance is my destiny.”
We all started dance training together, when we were children. When we entered our first competition in 2009, we were 14 or 15 years old. Luckily our families all supported our dancing; they came to all of our competitions and performances and cheered for us.
Q: What kinds of dance do you do?
Ethiopiawinet: We do traditional Ethiopian dance. We learn from our tradition and culture, and we also research dances from other parts of the world, through the media, and get choreographic ideas from them. But our dances remain true to Ethiopian traditions.
And we really want to break down the barrier between traditional and modern. Our dances appeal to the younger generation because of our choreographic and performance styles, but they are rooted in traditions and cultures. We can move forward with our own traditional dances.
Q: Moving forward, what is your goal with dance and with your career?
Ethiopiawinet: We want to use our body language to help the world better understand Ethiopian culture.
Q: Do you make new dances often?
Ethiopiawinet: Yes, we make new choreography for competitions, for different events, and for music videos.
Q: How do you come up with your choreography?
Ethiopiawinet: We start with the music. Each of us listens to the music on our own. When we come together, we show each other what we’ve got, and we work together to make the whole dance.
Q: Who makes your costume?
Ethiopiawinet: We design all of our own costumes, and have them tailor made. So we do pretty much everything ourselves: choreography, dancing, costume design, sound design, and so on.
Q: You are very talented! What are your challenges as dancers?
Ethiopiawinet: It is very hard to make a living as dancers in Ethiopia. The audiences love our dancing, but they don’t like to pay for dances or dance lessons. The government does not recognize dance as a profession, or an artistic discipline. In Ethiopia, you cannot go to a school or a university to get a degree in dance. This means if we go to college, we have to study something else. We devote our lives to dance; we rehearse and perform all the time, but we don’t have support for our hard work by way of regular salary, healthcare, transportation, or space. So we face a lot of challenges as dancers.
Q: How do you keep going, despite the challenges?
Ethiopiawinet: Ethiopian culture is truly amazing: full of colors, full of rhythms. Our hope is for the rest of the world to see and feel all of those, through our dance. Sometimes it feels like we’re dancing in the dark, but we see a small beam of light.
Q: There is light in all of you. You are still very young. When will you stop dancing?
Ethiopiawinet: We will never stop. We will dance for 70 more years (Laughing).
Here is to our hope that the dancing never stops. Thank you Ethiopiawinet Dance Crew!
Ethiopiawinet Biography: The 6-member Ethiopiawinet Cultural Dance Crew is one of the most popular dance groups in Ethiopia. Since their founding in 2009, they have won numerous national dance competitions including Balgeru Idol and performed in many music videos with popular Ethiopian singers. Ethiopiawinet specializes in traditional music and dances from Ethiopia, Eritrea, and across East Africa. Incorporating songs, dance, drumming and theatre, the group aspires to promote Ethiopian dance art and culture around the world. Exposed to diverse global dance forms, Ethiopiawinet remains grounded in deep and rich Ethiopian dance heritage and committed to sharing our heritage and its creative potential on world stages.
Ethiopiawinet Dance Crew will present a special performance for Fendika Live on Friday, June 12. Melaku will introduce them and share the stage with DJ music!