HIGHLIGHT
Iconic Nigerian dancer, Kafayat Oluwatoyin Shafau, popularly known by her stage name Kaffy, has applauded the growth of the dance industry in Nigeria.
The respected dancer in a recent interview noted that dance has grown in leaps and bound in the country and that dancers can now have good welfare security from the profession with good planning and understanding how to manage the business side of dance.
She told Nigezie,
“The dance industry in Nigeria has really grown. It has grown beyond just popularity stunt. Dancers have started understanding that this is real, it’s sustainable and there is enough security in it to retire on their own terms. Dancers need to understand that the business side different from the art side. Understanding the business side of things, we’re still getting there.
She highlighted the importance of dance to the music industry, asserting that there was no way music artistes could do without dance and vice-versa.
“It has been established that dance is a part and parcel of the entertainment industry. You don’t see music videos without some dance. I don’t think a music video would be fun without an element of dance or movement or choreography.
Even when the artiste does not use dancers, they would need somebody to coordinate them on how to look at the camera and how to act on set.
Usher didn’t just wake up in the morning and know how to do all that, somebody taught him. Who is that person, it’s a dancer,” she added.
Kaffy is best known for breaking the Guinness World Records world record for “Longest Dance Party” at the Nokia Silverbird Danceathon in 2006.
