24 Jan 2021

The ‘catch them young watch them grow’ idiom best describes Baratwa Phuthego who  plays a role in imparting skills to children to stay attached and proud of the traditional arts. 

Phuthego coaches children aged four to 12 years traditional arts.

She started training children on traditional dance through Baratwa Dance Group, which she established in 2018. 

In an interview, Phuthego said her emphasis was on teaching children traditional dance tactics, the art of ululation and other cultural practices.

She said she felt the need to expose children to traditional arts at the grassroots level, saying in most cases children did not show interest towards some of the cultural practices. 

Even elders, she said, were not doing enough nurturing to keep them attached to traditional arts and to fully appreciate and understand the value of the arts.

She noted that parenting patterns had changed, saying nowadays children were only brought up by nuclear families as opposed to back then when the extended family had an input.

She added that they missing out on the diverse platform of knowledge.

She also said that it was unfortunate that children only learnt the theoretical part of culture through their school curriculum.

She noted that Baratwa Dance Group strived to strike a balance by offering children theory and the practical part of culture. 

Phuthego posess a Degree in Fine Arts Theater/performing graduate from the University of Botswana.

Her academic experience made it relatively easy to offer relevant tactics.

She said working with minors was more exciting since they were curious to learn and gid not have many distractions or responsibilities like adults. 

Phuthego also said the art of dancing helped children to build  self-esteem, improve social interaction and that it was also a motivational aspect. Ends