‘Wajo, your invitation to dance’

Seun Adeleye

BY ADA DIKE

A monthly dance show, Wajo, which holds every last Thursday of the month at the Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos, has become a platform dance is made more prominent and relevant.

The managing director, Enhance 360 Ltd and founder, Wajo, ‘Seun Adeleye,  explained the meaning of Wajo by saying, “Wajo originates from two Yoruba words Wa, which when translated in English means ‘Come’ and ‘Ijo’ that is translated in English as ‘Dance’. When we put it together as one word, we have Wajo; this means Come, Dance.  So we say, Wajo is your invitation to dance.

Tracing how it all started, he said: “Wajo began in April 2013 as an entertainment platform that makes dance of every genre available for the enjoyment/pleasure of the audience. It was considered as a gathering for people from all walks of life to relax and have fun after a hard day’s work. It began with huge support from the management of the Freedom Park, Lagos, Mr. Theo Lawson, the Society for the Performing Arts in Nigeria, Segun Adefila and my friend and brother Mr. Mark Osho. We cannot but be thankful to them.

“Then as it began to grow, we started to see it also as a platform social form of exercise; helping to relief stress, increasing cognitive prowess and helping to build muscle mass; creating an avenue to network and interact with other people.  One of the hallmarks of Wajo is that everybody dances. Sometimes, the dancers are entertained by members of the audience.

“Till date, Wajo has featured breath-taking performances from some of Nigeria’s finest dancers and likewise ‘as an open dance floor with no pre-auditions’ we have also featured a lot of up-and-coming dancers and it has promoted some healthy competitions among them with a drive to be better.

It has metamorphosed into a dance project with various offshoots that celebrates, promotes and displays Nigeria’s diverse dance genre as well as foreign genres.

“Every last Thursday of the month, over the last 23 months of consistently running this monthly event without failing, we have seen and learned so much that has now necessitated the new page today,” he explained.

He revealed this in Lagos recently during an interactive session with the press, dance icons and practitioners including the Project Manager of Wajo, Kunle Olorunesan, Agbmashiro Charles Selorm, Adedayo Liadi, aka Ijodee and others.

On what inspired him to set up Wajo, he said: “I used to be a professional dancer, so I wanted to create a medium where dancers can gather and express themselves through dance; a place for dance lovers and enthusiasts to meet, have fun and network,” he said.

He explained how his love for dance started: “While I was in senior secondary school till I took the Joint Admission and Matriculation Examination (JAMB) and beyond, I led a church dance unit called ‘Priests of Praise’ actively for 7 years. We used to hold rehearsals twice to three times a week and it was very rigorous because my church at the time was blessed to have had front line professionals from the then national troupe as members and we used to ask them to come take us in special classes. From many years from 1994, we had dance performances at nearly every notable Christian programme in and around Nigeria as we toured different parts of Nigeria and parts of West Africa from campuses to crusade grounds. Some of our members then are professional dancers today.”

In phase two, he stressed that in the course of running these events, they have identified various factors militating against the progress and cohesion essential for growth of the dance community in Nigeria among which are awareness and exposure of dancers, perception of dancers by the society, strong division amongst dancers, perception of few notable dancers by whole numerous dancers, absence of standardized structures to help push the economic value of dance, literacy level, to mention a few. “This is obviously a reflection of our larger society but we can take the bull by the horns and drive a new order.

“Going forward, Wajo is in the process of being registered as a not for profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) in order to be better positioned to manage the humongous tasks ahead. At the moment, we are in deliberations with some very distinguished Nigerians to make up the NGO’s board of trustees.

“Our vision is to make dance more prominent and relevant thereby making it a profession of repute and helping dancers maximize their talents and skills albeit in a properly structured and standardized setting or scenario as you may have it.”

According to him, a concerted collaborative and deliberate effort from key players or everyone associated with dance remotely, actively or otherwise is critical at ensuring the ideal dream or future of dance is set on a continuous progressive course benchmarked against global standards and practice to help elevate our dance industry. This is paramount and of utmost importance at this stage.

“Proposing a holistic approach from all parties and active players in this sector to harmonize a development structure and pathway to stardom/success will alter and reshape the whole dance sphere,” he added.

Adeleye emphasized that: “Wajo is not a dance school or dance company.  We are a platform for dance. As you will observe everyone on the high table are renowned and notable dancers and dance institution and companies (referring to some people at the event). We seek to bring everyone together to form and create the future we have all dreamt about for dance in Nigeria where dance can contribute to the national economic Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Education formal or informal plays a prominent role in any of life’s endeavor and it equips and prepares for the challenges that might come any individual’s way; this necessitate the having of frequent periodic seminars and workshops in conjunction with established institutions both locally and internationally to further enlighten dancers on topics ranging from health, technical knowledge of different dance styles, dance business and management and so on.

“As a cultural issue, we do not keep records; hence western influence is fast corroding our cultural values that have been handed down from generation by means of teaching. But how about standardizing a dance move and keeping record of it just as you have it in most of the foreign dances we are adopting today. Examples are Salsa with basic steps that are taught the same way across the world but not Galala, Shoki or even Bata.”

“A major part of our strategy to achieve this humongous task of dance prominence and relevance is to leverage on the power of the media (both traditional and new media) through consistent engagement as we also host projects all year round: don’t forget television has played a major role in the history of the Premier League. There will be quarterly dance seminar/workshop, quarterly dance show at the Wajo monthly venue (Special Edition), Dance and exhibition and yearly dance conference.

He reiterated that, Wajo monthly, the flagship of Wajo from inception holds at newly rehabilitated Freedom Fark where history of our nation meets dance every last Thursday of the month by 6:30pm till 8;30pm. “Dancers, dance lovers and enthusiast have over the months develop a cult like followership on all our social media platforms.

“Wajo mobile is the flagship Corporate social responsibility (CSR) project of Wajo that gives back to the society, most especially the less privileged. In every notable sector where compassion and love determines actions and being responsible towards the society is held in highest esteem, this brings joy, gladness to numerous people in the society either through direct or indirectly. We intend to hold Wajo dance events in collaboration orphanages and public schools.

“As part of our effort, a 13-episode dance television show tagged ‘Wajo on TV’ has been produced for airing but being limited by funds. Nonetheless we are relentless in our effort to craft a better future for dance as we continue to seek newer avenues, affiliations and support from organizations and individuals with the capacity to drive the growth we desire. There is also daily dance quote on Instagram and other social networks.”

Funding: “So far, nearly all funding for Wajo has been done by Enhance 360 Limited, a production company we run and I must say it has not been easy at all. So, we are also using this opportunity to appeal to corporate Nigeria for their support through sponsorship, activation, endorsements and other avenues of value.

“Leaving our footprints in the sand of time necessitated our taking the bull by the horns thereby creating the future we want to see in the dance industry, where dancers are economically empowered through their job, the perception of dance as a profession of repute by the society and non-dance professionals engaging in dance as an alternative to rigorous exercise in the gym.

Appreciation: “I must commend the efforts of Pastor Segun Lawal and The Spirit of David, Mrs. Sarah Boulos and the Performing Arts in Nigeria (SPAN) in making dance more prominent and relevant.

“Some of the people who have given their time in advice and counsel to ensure that the vision remained funding issues and all sorts of discouragements are Professor Ahmed Yerima, who is unavoidably absent and the award winning Kaffy the dance queen. Oh and a whole lot of friends, family and associates.

We know dance will take its primary place in the entertainment sphere as the fulcrum upon which every other part rides smoothly. Soon and I mean very soon.”

Apex Dance Company performing at WAJO