International Courant
For Virginie Magumba, a 22-year-old skilled dancer from Goma, jap Congo, dancing is greater than only a profession.
“Dancing helps me free myself, management my feelings and never really feel fully alone,” she stated. “I owe every little thing I’ve turn out to be to dancing.”
Magumba received the award for Finest Congolese Dancer this 12 months on the Goma dance pageant, the biggest dance occasion within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The annual pageant, which brings dancers from everywhere in the world to Goma, has been held within the metropolis for seven years regardless of continued assaults from insurgent teams in jap DRC. The area has lengthy been overrun by greater than 120 armed teams searching for a share of gold and different sources whereas committing mass killings.
“This pageant has formed me as a dancer,” Magumba stated. “It confirmed me that I might observe my desires.”
Magumba began dancing comparatively late. For years she watched dancers apply at her father’s sports activities membership, but it surely wasn’t till she was 17, contemporary out of highschool and about to start out a level in humanitarian research, that she determined to present it a attempt.
Over time, dancing grew to become a form of remedy for her. It made her neglect about household issues and violence within the area – and gave her the possibility to keep up hope.
“We attempt to hold hoping, however it’s tough when nothing improves. The pageant embodies this spirit of perseverance.”
Though her profession as a dancer offers her the uncommon alternative to journey overseas, she says she has no plans to go away the DRC.
“So many individuals have left lately. However I constructed my profession right here, in my metropolis, in my group. There are solely two skilled dancers in Goma. I say to myself, “If I go away, who’s going to point out the opposite women that that is potential?”
The DRC’s largest dance pageant embodies the spirit of perseverance | In pictures
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