What does Mogwana mean?

Our coordinator Basuhi explained to Gazette's Tebby Gasennelwe in a recent interview why the group has chosen to name after a nut, "You cannot break the Mogwana nut. It is unbreakable and we are determined to be unbreakable in trying to promote Botswana culture through dance."

Who would have ever thought traditional dance could become one’s profession? It only makes sense since Botswana has a rich tradition of traditional dance and music from all the various language groups. Deciding to export our dance and market it as a profession for young people was a brilliant idea.
It took the foresight of Mr Abram Kesupile to form Mogwana Traditional Dance Group along with the leadership of Ms Gaolape Basuhi, whom we spoke to, about the group and its past achievements.

The group which was formed in 1991, during Botswana’s silver Jubilee specialises in traditional music, song and dance has been making waves in the media locally and internationally. Mogwana takes its name from an indigenous bush with hard unbreakable nuts.

Basuhi explained why they chose to name the group Mogwana. “You cannot break the Mogwana nut. It is unbreakable and we are determined to be unbreakable in trying to promote Botswana culture through dance”, said Basuhi.

Traditional dance as an art form is generally not recognised, hence this initiative involves a lot of hard work and dedication. The idea was to bring together a selection of music and dance from all over Botswana. “We wanted to come up with a group that would perform all the various dances present in Botswana,” said Basuhi.

As the group continued to perform they gave life and appreciation to what appeared to be a dying art form. Would be and practicing traditional dancers came out as a result to form Mogwana and in the process inspired others to form their own traditional dance groups.

The dance group specialises in several dances such as: Tsu-tsube from the Kgalagadi and Ghanzi district, Setapa from the Ngwaketsi district, Phathisi from the Kweneng district, and Hosana, a Kalanga dance.

In a short space of time there has been a great surge in the popularity of traditional dance from all over Botswana. Traditional dance has become part of local entertainment and serves as a major tourist attraction.

The dance group made history by being the first to capture traditional dance performance on DVD as well as the first traditional dance group to appear on the local drama “Re bina mmogo” which aired on Botswana television last year.

The story centred around members of a traditional dance group, “Tsosolosa!” The inspiration for the characters and their different storylines actually came from numerous discussions and interviews with the members of the Mogwana dance group, which added authenticity to the storyline. Several members of Mogwana including Ms Gaolape Basuhi were further cast in the production.

Mogwana as a group has travelled to Canada, the United States of America, the People’s Republic of China, West Africa and all of Southern Africa popularising Traditional Tswana dance and song. The efforts of the Mogwana traditional dance group have instilled a sense of pride and in the process rendered a source of income to our local tourism. It is through traditional music and dance that the Mogwana dance group became ambassadors to Botswana.

Mogwana has expressed through traditional dance, the heart of Botswana and the richness of our culture to the rest of the world. For more info contact: Gaolape Basuhi on +267 72232077