The National Ballet of Rwanda (french: Ballet national du Rwanda), also known as the Urukerereza National Ballet (), is a

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

n dance company. It was created in 1974 at the behest of President

Juvenal Habyarimana Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the ''Satires''. The details of Juvenal's life ...

. Their long-running show features traditional Rwandan songs, drums and dances (not European

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

). Its name ''Urukerereza'' literally means "the one that causes you to delay", referring to how it holds the attention of the audience. Urukerereza was the national dance-music troupe formed in the 1970s by the Ministry of Youth and Culture. Urukerereza became the ballet’s senior troupe with the formation of the junior national troupe, called Indangamirwa (). The junior troupe was formed by

Simon Bikindi Simon Bikindi (28 September 1954 – 15 December 2018) was a Rwandan singer-songwriter who was formerly very popular in Rwanda. His patriotic songs were playlist staples on the national radio station Radio Rwanda during the war from October 1990 ...

, supervisor of cultural activities, in 1985. The juniors trained at the former ''

mwami ''Mwami'' () is an honorific title common in parts of Central and East Africa. The title means ''chief'' or ''tribal chief'' in several Bantu languages. It was historically used by kings in several African nations, and is still used for traditi ...

''’s palace in Nyanza. ranslation: “The Indangamirwa troupe, of young performers, follows the same organization as Urukerereza.” They regularly take part in dance festivals and perform abroad. In 2000, the company made its first visit to North America and performed at the Seattle International Children's Festival.

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