The Dance Forum: A strategic roadmap towards sustainability.

By Qudus Onikeku

The Dance Forum is a quarterly Think Tank, whose primary objective is to create a conducive platform where major stakeholders within the dance industry, converge to deliberate on certain issues which affects the growth of the sector, and proffer recommendations that may be a guide towards sustainable development. 

The first Dance Forum was held at The QDanceCenter. Yaba, on the 12th day of February 2015, with contributions from the following stakeholders: Mr. Muyiwa Osinaike, Mr. Segun Adefila, Mr. Jahman Anikulapo, Mr. Isioma Williams, Mr. Bimbo Obafunwa, Dr. Felix Emoruwa, Sarah Bullos, Mr. Peter Badejo OBE, AMB. Adedayo Liadi, Mrs. Yeni Kuti, Mr. Uche Onah, Mr. Alozie Kevin Dede, Mrs. Ugo and Mr. Tosin Oyebisi. 

The forum was moderated by Qudus Onikeku. 

 

Part 1.

State of the industry/Problematic.

When one takes a candid look at the state of the dance sector within the Nigerian creative economy, no matter how much optimistic one might want to sound, the disappointing tones still manages to becloud that audacity of hope, the disappointment comes in different forms, from the lack of a strong and functional regulatory body, to practitioners having no senses of belonging, the lack of a platform, or forum, or a network which gathers and caters for the various dance practices in the country today. Most especially, there seem not to be a working code of conduct, nor a strategic road map with which the sector plans to sustain and build itself upon. In this beginning session we went into a general overview, of the present state of the industry, and few points were noted by the contributors.

i. Absence of a collective will.

It will almost be a farce to speak of an industry when we speak of dance in Nigeria. Our sense of collective is nothing to write home about; individualistic patterns, selfish motives, corrupt practices, greediness, lack of orientation and a leadership with futuristic mind-sets, are all part of the vices affecting the emergence of any such thing as an industry in the dance sector. 

ii. Lack of rules, benchmark for professional wages.

The sector can't categorically say what a generally acceptable fee and what we mustn't go below is. How does the industry regularises and legislates itself, in order to properly define the practice and the practitioners. This lack of ethics and codes of conduct, leads to a lackadaisical attitude towards authority and a crises in follower-ship. There seem not to be any form of control of the numerous dance shows, programs, festivals and initiatives popping up haphazardly. 

iii. Poor quality of works. 

This portrays the sector as a garbage bin for mediocre, poor packaging and presentation, the sector should be able to produce works of international standards, and be able to compete internationally in all dance genres. 

iv. Identity crises, Definition of practitioners and practices.

Everybody claims to be everything and specialises in every dance genre; anybody can be a dance instructor, choreographer, dance manager, and also specializes in contemporary, traditional, ballroom, Hip hop etc. We need to sort this out, in every institution there is definition. This lack of specialization, eventually doesn’t give credence to interconnectivity, but segregation, which therefore, gives rise to an unhealthy competition within the sector.

v. Training and knowledge sharing. 

Lack of knowledge and the low quality of specialized training, is indeed a major problem in the sector. How is the sector improving itself and providing proper training and knowledge sharing facilities. There seem not to be various mode of training and schools of thoughts, dancers are either trained in informal setting without proper certification, or trained in the university without proper knowledge of the sector, there is a need to coordinate all school of thoughts within a collective will to improve the practice. 

vi. Resources and funding availabilities in sector. 

An urgent need to build the capacity of the sector in areas such as fundraising, bid writing and general management. Because the artiste can't be the artiste, the manager, the accountant, the marketer and every other thing in between, being in the field and at the same time in the office, will not help them manage their time and talents properly. Once there is a professionalized sector that caters for all, then we can begin to attract other professionals in other sectors to work with us. 

vii. Policy and influences of the sector in formulation.

Who are representing the sector in high places? How are we going to influence the policy makers? When we haven't properly articulate our purpose and impact level, create our own lobby, that we may be properly represented at the top. Concretely establish the meaning, terms and definitions of the various dance practices, as they influence and affect the Nigeria creative industry.

viii. The need for a functional governing body.

Now than ever, the sector needs a governing body, that gives structure to all recommendations and propositions, which may arise from any such think tank or gathering of stake holders in the sector, presently there is a divided opinion as to, if we must continue to uphold the remaining pieces of GOND (The Guild of Nigerian Dancers), reinforce and strengthen it or scrap it all together for the emergence of a new all encompassing body.

ix. Lack of infrastructure. 

There tend to be very limited spaces where practitioners can properly practice, showcase their art, review their works, and build an audience base with a regular following. Also in absence is an organisational infrastructure, such as a genuine database that helps the sector organize itself internally, and a system or a platform, which gives easy access to information. 

x. Lack of access to genuine success stories. 

Our level of public awareness and presence, within the professional strata in the society is relatively low, so it reduces our impact level, and affects the amount of success stories available to the general public. We need to empower dance professionals and encourage them to build on their personal brands, and be more engaging on social media and on the web. We also need newsletters to push out the activities of the industry. Hence, the need to develop a collective database where we readily spread the news and activities of the dance sector.