Beverly turns to ‘Borrowdale’

Beverly Sibanda

One of Harare’s popular pole dancers, Beverly Sibanda, known in the entertainment circles as Bev, is never short of surprises. Just a few months ago, she made the headlines when she joined several Harare female socialites in pole dancing, a new entertainment craze that has hit the capital. 

Hardly a month after swearing that she will not engage in any form of dancing apart from pole dancing, the diminutive dancer has suddenly developed an interest in sungura and any local groove, in addition to her penchant for African beats soukous and rhumba.

Last weekend, Bev had a good day in the office when she abandoned the pole for some Borrowdale dance during President Mugabe’s birthday bash held in Chipinge. Music fans were, in the early hours of Sunday, treated to some top-notch dancing, when Bev put aside her pole acrobatics and danced to the sungura beat during Tendai and Morgan Dembo’s performance at the gala.

Dressed in a skimpy red top, shredded animal print tights and black fishnet stockings, Bev had the crowd in a frenzy when she gyrated to the late Leonard Dembo’s beat, earning herself a thunderous applause from revellers. Obviously encouraged by the enthusiasm from the thousands of music fans who thronged Gaza Primary School, Bev danced her heart out to some of Dembo’s timeless classics — “Chengeto”, “Zvaunoda Handizvigone” and “Ngairire Ngoma”.

The ecstatic crowd watched in awe and pure admiration as Bev, leading the dance ensemble — Sexy Angels — gracefully moved her diminutive body, while keeping pace with the rest of the group. She exhibited exhilarating footwork, and tonnes of energy, while switching from one swing to the other with consummate ease. In an interview on Monday, Bev revealed that she wanted to also concentrate on dancing to sungura beat in addition to rhumba and RnB.

She also revealed that she has since cut down on her pole dancing sessions following an injury she sustained some weeks ago while on stage. “I have realised that the crowd responds very well when I am going through my paces on sungura, RnB and rhumba songs. The response is different when I am pole dancing. In fact, I am still learning the ropes on it (pole dancing) and I need to do more,” she said, backtracking from earlier claims Zoey Selani (her biggest rival) was no match for her.

However, notwithstanding her abrasive attitude, Bev’s act on stage was breathtaking. Her versatility coupled with high level of ingenuity gives her the edge and more often than not she upstages her peers. Whenever she is on stage, her act is well choreographed. (Herald)