COMRADES /

FRANCO DAKHA

COLLABORATOR /

Francis Dakha was bornon October 14, 1981 in Victoria Falls, raised in mines near Gomera mountains. During those early years living in the mines, life was hard. He had to support his parents as a young boy. Being inspired by Michael Jackson, Dakha began dance to earn a living. This led him to be picked up by one of the most known Jit bands in Zimbabwe, a sungura legend, Aleck Machesu. He performed with them from 2003-2012, getting a name for breaking into slow motion in midst of the face paced dancing birthed from Zimbabwe jit. That is when he began to be known as “slomo.”

◄ Francis Dakha aka Slomo (Left) with MaJuice (Right)show their dancing skills at City Sports Bar. Franco was once a dancer at Alick Macheso's Orchestra Mberikwazvo and MaJuice is still with Macheso. Video still by Takawira Dapi.

After working with other artists like Sulumani Chimbetu (2013-2014), Dakha started his own band and dance crew called Extra Kwazvose. The group has launched several albums since such as Ndizvo Zviripo (2014), Zvepasirinino (2015), Zvipo Zvedu (2016) and two singles in 2017 Chiringenzira and Muvengi Muvengi. In 2015, he participated in a Zimbabwe Cultural Centre of Detroit (ZCCD) Jit Exchange project with Detroit jit dancer, Haleem Rasul aka Stringz. This year, 2018, Dakha received a ZCCD research fellowship to Detroit to work on the Jit Exchange with Haleem Rasul. During this residency he will be exploring connections between Zimbabwe Jit and Detroit Jit, working with Hardcore Detroit and other Jit dance communities in Detroit, as well as running workshops and performing publicly.

Haleem “Stringz” Rasul (Left) and Slomo on the right in Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe 2015. ▶