Radio Nigeria broadcasts balanced reports, envied by other stations – Gov. Akeredolu

Dr. Kaffy Shafau-Ameh, Award winning dancer/Choreographer. Photo credit: IG @kaffydance

Within a few days after posting, Wilson’s dance went from being a viral challenge to the hottest dance of the season. Celebrities like Justin Bieber, Jennifer Lopez and Megan Thee Stallion herself shared their own versions.

Away from popularising the dancer, dance through social media has now become a way for musicians to promote their songs.

In May 2020, singer Drake’s song “Toosie Slide” skyrocketed to number one on the BillBoard Hot 100 immediately after its release.

This was mainly due to the dance created by Toosie, a 23-year old dancer from Atlanta, U.S., who originally rose to prominence on Vine.

The dance became popular on TikTok and spread to other social media platforms as users were filming and releasing their own versions of the choreography.

By July 2020, South African singer, Master KG’s song “Jerusalema”, which was released a year earlier was being sung and danced to everywhere – from hospital hallways in France and Sweden, to roof tops, public places in Italy, Romania, the UK and Canada, the beaches of Cape Verde, in a Jamaican compound to somewhere in Tanzania.

On Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, the #JerusalemaDanceChallenge had hundreds posting videos of themselves or others dancing to the song. Many more people around the world were sharing the videos.

“The World Is Dancing #JerusalemaDanceChallenge. When we created this song I never thought it would do this!!!GOD is amazing,” MasterKG tweeted at the time.

This renewed love for dance has infected Nigerians too. Before TikTok started infecting the global dance scene, Nigerian dancers gained popularity on Instagram.

One of such notable examples is Iweh Pascal Odinaka, popularly known as Poco Lee, an ace dancer and hype man.

Poco Lee gained acclaim on social media for teaching and popularising the Zanku dance, linked to the singer Zlatan’s song of the same name.

“A street video of me while dancing went viral and I later received a message from Zlatan Ibile to come to see him and so we did a viral video to one of his latest releases then (Zanku Legwork).

“Ever since then, I have been pushing, going to several shows, dancing on stage with A-list Nigerian Artistes, and appearing in several music videos. And I have used my platform to bring some other dancers and artists to limelight,” he recalled in an interview.

From the slums of Lagos, children who dance to raise awareness about the education gap in Nigeria have gained international recognition.

The team-Dream Catchers dance group, started by Seyi Oluyole, a choreographer and scriptwriter, have gone viral several times.

The goal of the organisation, which began in late 2014, is to help street kids and those from low-income families get an education. It is another pointer to the growing acceptability of dance because of social media influence.

The children went viral in 2019 when a video of them dancing to ‘Nowo’ by DJ Spinall got people’s attention on Instagram. Oluyole posted the video on Instagram. Gradually, Popular blogs, influencers, and other dance channels on social media raved about the performance.

By March 10 of that year, supermodel Naomi Campbell posted the video on her Instagram page, attracting close to one million likes.

Later on, singer Rihanna also shared the video to celebrate her success of crossing two billion worldwide streams on Apple Music.

Her post got nearly three million likes and more than 50,000 comments. It was also shared by star P Diddy.

“It was when Rihanna posted that the video caught fire,” Oluyole said in an interview.

In June 2020, 11-year-old ballet dancer Anthony Mmesoma Madu went viral on social media and has garnered several opportunities globally for his dance. He was filmed barefoot, spinning and leaping gracefully in the air and landing in concrete, rain soaked puddles.

Just a few short months later, he became a viral internet star and landed a prestigious scholarship in America.

Some of his fans include Hollywood actors Cynthia Erivo and Viola davis.

Many of those watching were impressed by his ability to land his moves perfectly, even while dancing barefoot on concrete and in the rain.

Viola Davis was moved to write: “We create, soar, can imagine, have unleashed passion, and love….despite the brutal obstacles that have been put in front of us! Our people can fly!!!”

His dancing also caught the attention of Cynthia Harvey, the artistic director of the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of Dance in New York.

Harvey was so impressed by his talent that she tracked him down and offered him a scholarship with the American Ballet Theatre where he will attend a summer school in 2021.

Nigerian producer Fade Ogunro, who runs the Bookings Africa platform, also offered to pay “for his entire formal education anywhere in the world until he graduates from Uni”.

In July 2020, Madu also won the South African International Ballet Competition’s grand prize in a virtual event. The prize includes a scholarship to attend dance classes in the U.S., accompanied by his dance teacher.

While all these accolades and spotlights are fresh, veterans like Kafayat ‘Kaffy’ Shafau-Ameh have progressed with the times.

In 2006, Kaffy led her dance group to break the Guinness Book of Record for “Longest Dance Party” after they danced for 55 hours and 40 minutes.

She is currently a dance instructor who has developed innovative visualisation-based methods for teaching dance and dance fitness in an accelerated-learning format.

In 2017, she created “The Dance Workshop” a dance convention aimed at training and mentoring professional dancers as well as promoting cultural exchange within the Nigerian dance industry.

The choreographer has been at the forefront of promoting and legitimising dance in Nigeria and Africa. She has created templates and platforms for upcoming artists in the sector and is not resting on her oars.

She is constantly coreograping and posting dance videos on social media and has garnered a huge following on Instagram and TikTok.

In a recent post on Instagram @Kaffydance, she encapsulates the power of dance by saying, “Dance is a tool for social re-engineering, reformation and empowerment. Let’s get to the grassroots using a tool of communication that unites us”.(NANFeatures)

**If used, please credit the writer as well as News Agency of Nigeria.