!Bushwomen
Tereska Muishond and Laverne Da Silva call themselves !Bushwomen, a name that reflects their pride in being descendents of the wise, humble and spiritual indigenous people of South Africa - the Khoi, San and the Bushmen. Originally from Bloemfontein in the Free State, these talented sisters do three types of poetry: poetry in word, poetry in song and poetry in movement. They see themselves as social activists that promote the empowerment of women and people of mixed race. They are young, sassy, have a lot to say and are not afraid to say it.
Laverne is the songstress. By the age of eight she was trained as a soloist. She had further musical training with the Bloemfontein Children's Choir and has traveled to Canada, USA, Sweden, Belgium and Vienna. Laverne is a versatile singer whose repertoire ranges from classical and jazz to R&B and Hip-Hop. Her melodies have an afro-soul flavour & her lyrics are truthful and pleasing to the ear. Laverne's musical accomplishments include doing background vocals for well-known Cape Town jazz guitarist, Derrick Skippers. She also forms part of the Hip-Hop group called Obita, which launched their debut album in 2006.
Tereska is the poetess. She was introduced to theatre acting at the tender age of six and instantly fell in love with the stage. She went on to study Drama and Theatre Art at the University of the Free State and has been involved in many theatre productions across the country. Tereska has been writing poetry for a number of years and is a born actress and storyteller. Her writing expresses her humanness, her joys and sorrows, and her passion for life, love and liberty.
Both sisters are fluent in the language of dance and they use this form of expression to enhance their stage performance.
!Bushwomen has performed across the country and has been featured on many television programmes including 3Talk, Weekend Live, Kwela, Backstage and Sistahood. Their performance summary includes events such as the Urban Voices Poetry Festival 2006, Arts Alive Women in Arts Celebration 2006 and most recently the Poetry Africa Festival 2008. They have performed alongside the likes of Lebo Mashile, Gcina Mhlope, Mak Manaka, poet laureate Keorapetse Kgositsile, Saul Williams (US), Carlos Gomez (US) and Suheir Hammad (Palestine).
!Bushwomen is a creative and passionate duo that compliments each other well. Their poetry relates to people from all walks of life and their words are honest, inspirational and spiritual. Their stage performance is filled with energy and passion and their words and lyrics are bound to ignite the fire of the soul!
!Bushwomen... the barefooted wonder of poetry!!!
