BY PHUMZILE NDLOVU
MBABANE – The second edition of #DANCE_DERBY was a huge success, as it saw a huge turnout on Saturday.
The derby was hosted by the Trend Twins at the Olympia Africa Centre. It kicked off at 11 a.m. and continued until 4 p.m. The Mbabane versus Manzini derby featured choreographers including The Trend Twins (Nkhosenhle Dlamini, Nosimilo Dlamini), Sphelele Bhembe, Mcondi, and Yoliswa Gule.
The TrendTwins are an Afro-house DJ group that consists of two young ladies, namely, Nkosenhle Dlamini and Nosimilo Dlamini, aged 25 and 29 years, respectively. Notable personalities who attended the derby included comedian duo Slwane and Gogo and DJ Seawater, among others.
When reached for comment, the DJs said, “The day was more blessed after a bit of panic about the consistent rainfall; we were blessed with a sunny day, which gave us the opportunity to have a perfect and fully functional day. All went well; we even attracted more people who were doing other sports at the Olympia Centre who ended up watching our dance derby, as this is also a sport; we sweat and keep fit, but all in the name of fun and dance.”
When asked if they were happy with the attendance, the duo said, “It did reach our satisfaction level as we had about 60% new faces from the first edition. Most of them said that they heard about it from the first edition attendees and the social media buzz that this event or movement had, and they mostly said they admired us and followed us on social media. They saw the flier on their social media pages, and they didn’t hesitate to join.”
They added, “We would like to thank everyone who made it to our event: the Body Movement Club team, the Trend Twins partners, the Oukitel team, well-known personalities who came to support us, like Slwane the Comedian, Gogo Eswatini, DJ Dibo, our dancers, our choreographers, the fans, and the Olympia Centre management.”
The duo recently secured an Oukitel Eswatini sponsorship, which manufactures smartphones, rugged phones, rugged tables, and portable power stations. They started as a dance group of six friends, and then decided to be DJs. They were inspired by the likes of DJ Shimza, Caiiro, and Da Capo. They started the group in 2016.
The TrendTwins specialise in Afro-house, Gqom music, and dance. They have shared the stage with the likes of Sho Madjozi, Sjava, Master Kg, Black Motion, Tira, Kwesta, DJ Zinhle, Bholoja, Sands, DJ Fresh, Scorpion Kings, and many more. They have performed internationally in Europe as dancers in countries such as Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain.
