[3] Most mhande performances involve two drummers, using Shauro and Tsinhiro drums, accompanied by hand clapping (makwa) from nearby participants and rattles attached to the dancers' legs to accentuate the rhythms of their footwork.
Within traditional Shona indigenous belief systems, music in ceremonial settings is thought to create an environment that facilitates trance (vanonyaunyawa), allowing individuals to be possessed by ancestral spirits, known as dzavadzimu.
A diverse collection of songs is performed during mhande, each intended to invoke distinct spirits, and each carrying its own origin story.
[6] "Madzura Uswa" is another song expressing gratitude to the spirits for sending abundant rains while cautioning farmers to prepare for such heavy rainfall by constructing storm drains.
[3] Mhande embodies Karanga epistemology, being a crucial component of mutoro, the annual rain rituals, and kurova guva ceremonies.
The historical legacy, especially in the context of slavery, endows all music and dance with a sense of liberation, portraying reality in a conceptual manner.
[11] Mhande provides a platform for Zimbabweans and other participants to convey their values through indigenous contexts: the Kurova guva and the Mutoro, representing the settlement of ancestral spirits and rain-making rituals, respectively.
Combining singing, instrument playing, and dance movements, Mhande informally imparts indigenous spiritual wisdom (chikaranga).