The Jerusarema Dance of Zimbabwe

Very little has been written about the dance of the Shona people of Zimbabwe and virtually nothing about the Jerusarema dance specifically. Since the nation achieved its independence in April 1980, there has been considerable interest in understanding and interpreting the cultural aspects of the society, particularly since the overlay of European values and mores distorted the traditional manifestations of certain dances. The Shona, made up of several subethnic groups, including the Ndau, Zezuru, Manyika, Karanga, Kore Kore, and Kalanga people, are the largest linguistic group in Zimbabwe. Although they are mainly situated in Zimbabwe, the Shona people may also be found in Mozambique, Zambia, and as far north as Malawi and Tanzania. In the latter two countries their influence is primarily cultural. The Shona people are the builders of Great Zimbabwe-the massive stone structures that date from the Monomatapa Kingdom in the tenth century down to the fifteenth century. Pastorialists and ironsmiths of considerable reputation, the Shona were subdued by the invading Matabele under their