Dancer going to the source

Tribal dance enthusiast Ra McRostie is busking to raise money for a trip to Africa. Photo by...
Tribal dance enthusiast Ra McRostie is busking to raise money for a trip to Africa. Photo by Sally Rae.
Tribal dancer Ra McRostie is bound for Africa.

Mrs McRostie (38) is heading to Senegal on January 1 for six weeks, followed by three weeks in Zimbabwe.

In Senegal, she will be learning about a particular form of drum and dance called Sabar.

In Zimbabwe, she will be studying a community building practice through drum and dance.

Mrs McRostie learned African dance while living in Fremantle, Western Australia, where there was a strong African community.

She had friends involved in drumming and another friend who was teaching dance.

She had always enjoyed dance and yoga and decided to go along.

She was absolutely taken with it.

This will be her first trip to Africa and she is fundraising, including busking on the streets, as she estimated it would cost about $11,000.

She and her tribal dance group will also be performing a show at the North Otago Club at 2.30pm on November 20 which will include a fashion parade of costumes.

While there were "amazing" teachers in the southern hemisphere, she needed to go to Africa to experience the culture first-hand and "just get a deeper understanding of what moves me and a lot of people so much about this form of expression".

Another North Otago dance enthusiast, Bronwyn Judge, would meet her in Senegal.

The pair planned to make a film of the journey, Mrs McRostie said.

 

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