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Bridget Mavhimira Arts Reporter

After a long hiatus caused by Covid-19 restrictions and containment lockdowns, dance choreographer John Cole says he is working on a buffet of strategies to keep the industry afloat.

Cole says, the industry should not die because of Covid-19, hence the need for new innovations and strategies to keep it afloat.

Cole, who has worked with several local artistes on their videos, says he is optimistic that 2022, is the year to turn the tables against the effects of Covid-19.

“It is high time we should up our game. In the past years I used to get more gigs and jobs on a monthly basis, but now it is different. We are embracing the new culture of virtual platforms hence, our services are much required but what has been affecting us was the platform for the virtual shows,” explained Cole.

“I think 2020-2021 were bad years. Covid-19 ruined everything. Imagine I had to cancel some of the deals that I had with various companies and it affected everyone,” he said.

Asked about his new strategy, he said was continuing to push his career in music.

“It is all about having faith in yourself first. I am working on a new project on music which will feature local and regional artistes. I am also planning to engage international artistes for collabos.”

“It is a 10 track album and for now we are working on writing of the songs. The album comprises of different languages as we are also in the drive to promote different cultures. We are planning to do dance tours and we are starting with Cape Town in February with a dancer Lewis Phiri. We are to host workshops to empower and challenge regional youths on dancing especially, to highlight that dancing is also a career and should be taken seriously to sustain livelihoods.”

Cole was tapping into the television sector from movies to talks-shows.

“This year I want to leave no stones unturned. I want to produce a movie and am already at an advanced stage on another project which is having talk-shows on social media because that is where the masses are. The first talk-show is called ‘Sneakers and Conversations’ and ‘Last Week with John Cole’, where we will be reviewing lifestyles and showbiz news.”