by Rebecca Sulock on 01/21/2009

Related topics: dance

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Over the weekend, the Mizero group performed at White Horse/Black Mountain. Mizero is a group of Rwandan orphans who tour and perform.

Local photographer Reggie Tidwell took some fantastic photos of the performance. Check them out on his Flickr site.

Here’s what Xpresser Jason Sandford wrote about Mizero last week:

“Music and dance can be transformative, especially for children scarred by the ravages of war and disease.

That’s the message the Mizero Children of Rwanda are spreading on their second tour of the U.S., an outing aimed at promoting peace and raising money to bring music to Rwandan children orphaned by genocide and by AIDS. The group of children, ages 11 to 18, [performed] on Saturday, Jan. 17, at the White Horse in Black Mountain.

LEAF International, an area nonprofit that aims to empower young people through music and the arts, teamed up with world-music artist Jean Paul Samputu in 2006 to begin working with the Rwandan children. The Mizero Foundation was established, and the group had its first U.S. tour in 2007, which included a stop at the Lake Eden Arts Festival’s fall event.

‘This use of the arts combined with the message of forgiveness can help these children heal their wounds from the past and put a stop to violence and any future genocide through this next generation of young leaders,’ Samputu said in a news release.”

All proceeds from the event went to LEAF International and the Mizero Children of Rwanda.