Residents expressed outrage at Bev's type of dancing

THE Bev and Sexy Angels show that was held last week in Bulawayo at the Basement Night Club has stirred a hornet's nest.

Residents of the city have expressed outrage at the type of dancing and scanty outfits that were exhibited, while others have expressed their appreciation.

Dance groups in the city are reported to have garnered a huge following from male revellers because of highly charged sexual overtones in their dances.

The sprouting of various small dance groups in the city has seen the competition becoming stiff and the groups being more daring. This has led to people raising fears that local dance groups such as Exotic Rhumba Dancers, Girls La Musica and so on, would adopt the "Beverly style" dance moves and attire.

Beverly Sibanda and the Sexy Angels last Friday night invaded Bulawayo and left a crowd of 200 predominantly male revellers mesmerised after her show dubbed "Bev Vs Sexy Angels Live and Uncensored", held at Basement Night Club.

Bev and her group were clad in revealing bum shorts, pink and white bras that left little to the imagination and received a resounding roar from the male revellers while others only opened their mouths at a loss for words.

Saturday Leisure during this week spoke to people and dance groups about these fears and they expressed mixed feelings about the new dance craze that has hit the city.

Some said their dressing was too skimpy, while others said there was no difference with the way people were dressed in the past.

Dance groups were adamant that they would not change their dance attire or routine because they know the Bulawayo market was conservative. Girls La Musica is one such dance group spoken to and said they would not change their dance moves to try to beat Bev and her Sexy Angels. Girls La Musica dancer, Percy Taurai said dancing was an art that was not about sexual innuendos and Bev had copied some of their moves and made them extreme.

She said it was disheartening to note that the public were always on their case although they were dressed decently and their dances are not overboard.

"It is depressing that even though we are dressed properly, but people always condemn us, but Beverly was in her panties and bra it was good. We shall however not change anything from our dance routine. That type of dancing was too extreme for a conservative city like Bulawayo," said Taurai.

She said calling patrons on stage to be involved in their act was their initiative, copied by Beverly.

"We were the first people who came up with the idea to call a patron to the stage and dance with them. However we do not go overboard like the way Bev did it, who by the way copied our idea," said Taurai.

She said because it seemed that a market was there for that type of dancing young groups would now decide to become raunchier.

"The highly sexually charged type of dancing will see these young groups adopting the style. You should not be surprised that there will be a mushrooming of such groups who see that there is money in that type of dancing. We will not change as we take our act to Harare and people appreciate it the way it is," said Taurai.

She said more support to Bulawayo dance groups by people and the media would make them get appreciated more for their art.

Contacted for comment, an Exotic Rhumba Dancer who only identified herself as Noma concurred with her colleague.

She said they would not change their dance routine and would always entertain revellers the same way.

"We will not change our dance routine. We shall be as always Exotic, I do not know about Bev, but we will keep dancing the same," said Noma without elaborating more.

A resident of Ilanda suburb, Lazarus Ndlovu, said those who had condemned Bev for being half naked were dangerous people.

He said people had for a long time watched beauty pageants and the like where girls are dressed in revealing outfits.

"Bev should continue with the way she is dancing, people will get used to it. Those who think that it is overboard and will lead to rape, they are the rapists themselves, they are very dangerous people," said Ndlovu.

However a man who refused to be identified said it was a sign of how immoral society had become.

"That is how debauched society has become and it is good that it has come into the open. That such depraved dancing is a hit in the society is so sad," he said.

Another man, Gwinyayi Zhandire from Paddonhurst said a woman's worth was her morals.

"When you want to marry such women it will be difficult. No parent would let their son marry her. That is the societal gauge for the worth of a woman," said Zhandire.

Other men who spoke to Saturday Leisure on condition of anonymity said they could not admit publicly that they enjoy such dancing. What can be concluded is that Bev and Sexy Angels gave the Bulawayo entertainment scene a rude awakening. No one thought such dance antics would have such a huge following.