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Sunduza Dance Theatre
Originally formed as the High Stars Sunduza Boys. Their principal musical director and choreographer is Simon Banda and their stage shows have been devised by their producer manager Philip Weiss and co scripted and co directed by Mandla Sibanda. The group have been based at the Es'pakheni youth arts centre in Pumula, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. It was formed in 1985 when they were still at school. They rapidly adapted from being an isicathamiya performance group to a full dance theatre company from 1988. Then they started working with their producer Philip Weiss strongly encouraged by Stephen Chifunyise- the then permanent secretary for culture who saw them perform at a UNESCO workshop. They started international touring with their first major stage production in 1992 supported by Southern E Media and the Aberdeen International Children's Festival and Commonwealth Festival of Dance unlimited. They held their first three week residency at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Club and also drew much support from Strathclyde Regional Council,Kirklees Council and Visiting Arts. Led by Simon Banda Injabulo 2000 proved a highly popular children's show with masks, and miners in gumboots and head lamps. The show also highlighted at that time the injustices of apartheid through poetry. They were the first all male imbube group to really transform their production into a full dance theatre show and it launched their first CD injabulo 2000 recorded at Shed Studios in Harare. It has a remarkable energy to it befitting the youth and Simon Banda's exceptional compositions. Recorded by Steve Roskilly it needed almost no mixing and after digital remastering and achieves an extraordinary energy.

More invitations followed and they continued to tour for several years working through established festivals such as WOMAD. They ultimately appeared at the Singapore Festival of Arts recorded an advert for Singapore Airlines and played at many Uk regional theatres alongside London South Bank Folk week and Glastonbury. They toured a number of festivals in Canada supported by the Vancouver International Children's Festival and others. They also started touring their new production Matata based partially on the diaries of Robert Moffat-Scottish Missionary. They recorded a second CD of the same title. They started to explore social issues through the production on stage and created a new football routine. This was taken to the George Square Theatre in Edinburgh at the Festival Fringe in 2002 and to Winterthur, Switzerland. By 2002 they had started to introduce women in the line up. This benefitted the drama and dance but had a significant impact on their sound

In 2002 the whole group returned to the Uk with a fully choreographed production of David Fanshawe's African Sanctus at the invitation of the Sheffield Oratorio Chorus. They also launched the premiere of Voices from the Rocks - the Story of the Matopos based on the published work of Professor Terry Ranger- emeritus professor of history at St Anthony's College, Oxford. it had its Harare launch at the invitation of Zimbabwe International Book fair in 2004.

They re-affirmed an international touring base in Sheffield in 2001 where SOSA-XA!Sounds of Southern Africa was encouraged by Philip Weiss and led by Simon Banda for a full year before he returned to Zimbabwe to rehearse Sunduza for their new tour.His compositions continue to help sustain the group. SOSA-XA! Sounds of Southern Africa- an intercultural choir that has continued to meet every week for eight years led by Mandla Sibanda developing new recordings. Simon Banda and Mandla Sibanda supported by SEMEA have led the programme in Yorkshire schools for over six years dramatically changing the ways in which schools work with African artists in the curriculum. They have worked with well in excess of forty thousand children and over 160 schools bringing isicathamiya music to young and old alike.

In 2007 They encouraged and led the English premiere of Peter Maissan's Poverty Requiem in Sheffield sponsored by Oxfam Novib from Holland finally conducted by Mandla Sibanda and encouraged by Lungani Sibanda. This was part of the Global Action Again at Poverty. The projected was a tremendous challenge highlighting the problems of misxing those who learn by ear and those who follow the written music. Simon Banda was invited to take the lead role as Leopard in the Crucible Theatre's in house production of the same title. Mandla Sibanda was the musical director. It toured local schools for five weeks.

The project continues to develop new links through Sheffield in 2008 and 2009 with support from the Burngreave Cultural Industries Challenge and SEMEA. The Amasiko lemvelo Learning Trust was formally registered at the Es'phakeni Open Air theatre in Pumula in 2008 as a Zimbabwean support organisation with funds being raised for its rehabilitation and development for community support.