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| Obafunwa |
Bimbo
Obafunwa is a choreographer, dancer and music director. He is also the head of
the Corporate Dance World, a Nigeria’s dance agency that networks.
He is also
a partner to the Society for Performing Arts in Nigeria and a member of the
Spirit of David. In this interview with ADA
DIKE, he speaks on why he chose his career.
Your foray into choreography
I don’t
know exactly when I started dancing but professionally, I started in 2000,
while I was still in the university.
What did you study in the university?
I studied
microbiology. I am sure you have met people in the past that studied something
else and ended up doing another thing. I am one of the victims. I decided to go
after my passion after school and it paid off at the end of the day. I was
nominated for the Future Awards 2009. So I guess it is working.
As a performing artiste, how has the
experience been so far?
I can’t
say it has been like this or like that because I love everything about
performances. I love to perform, I love to watch performances and I love to
scrutinize them. When I am to perform, it works for me. It’s been full of fun.
Though it has been up and down, it has been wonderful and I don’t regret it.
Did people ridicule you when you began
dancing?
Yes, they
did. It is the first of my kind to go into full time dancing, apart from the
head of the Spirit of David, Segun Lawal. I decided to go into full time.
In 2001 and
2002, dancing was not anything to be reckoned with in a society. I used to
rehearse somewhere at that time and the only thing that came close to dancing
was aerobic. We later started dance classes and I was an instructor for the
Society for Performing Artiste then. We were being ridiculed but I went into it
due to the passion I have for it and sailed through. Today, everybody wants to
do it because they saw one person who became successful through dance. It was
hard but I carried my own cross and endured because I had something I was
looking towards and we were getting closer every day.
What has been your major breakthrough?
It is not
a breakthrough you see physically. Every day I wake up, I tend to love dance
more. That is what I called breakthrough. As I step into my future daily, I
keep developing more breakthroughs through my profession.
How were your childhood days?
I belong
to a family of two children and I am the first. I have a younger sister, father
and mother. I am from Lagos State. I went to the Green Spring for my primary
school. I later went St. Gregory’s College in Ikoyi and University of Ibadan. I
was a very stubborn child and it was an asset for me. I used to get into
trouble. God later channel that stubbornness into something good.
You are dancing as you are talking.
I am
sorry. It is in me.
Have you buried microbiology since you chose
dancing as your profession?
Dancing is
all I do now. I preach the gospel according to dance. That is my whole life.
Dancing is defined as the movement of the body through time and space to
rhythm. I think everybody does it and we can’t hide it. Everybody can dance
according to their capability and according to how you are able to coordinate
and move your body. But the truth of the matter is, we all move. The music you
hear you move to it. What we do is to help people fine-tune that which they
already have. Dance is good for the soul. Each time I am emotionally down, I
walk down to the studio and punch play on the music. By the time I spend like
one hour dancing, I will be fine. We have not yet proven that medically, but
trust me, in the nearest future, we will do that.
Have you ever danced in the dream?
Of course
I do. It happens all the time
How do you relax?
My job is
one the best jobs. It is one of the effective relaxation therapies. I run a
programme for corporate organization and it is called dance therapy. We have
taken the tenets of dance and shown its benefit. If I take a dance called
‘hip-hop’, I would define the number of steps in hip-hop and equate that to
medical benefit in terms of body movement. hip-hop, jazz and others, whatever
the style, we break that down. We began it seven years ago and we now have
companies that are turning up for it. They send in their staff and instead of
going to gym, they come for our fitness dance party.
What are your weaknesses?
You are
getting too personal. My weakness? I don’t know. My weakness is that I move my
head wherever I hear music. People would say I am crazy. It is a weakness.
On a normal day, how is it like?
My day is
pretty much full because I may be doing something that is, dancing, if not in a
studio. My whole life has been dedicated to this work.
Is your dreadlock hairstyle part of your
dancing costume?
No. This
hairstyle is just me. I like it. I started wearing it about ten years ago and I
have been able to maintain it. I have a reason for wearing dreadlock but it is
personal.
What is your message to your fans?
I don’t
have fans but I have friends. If you have got something you love to do, do it
with sincerity. It might not pay at the initial stage but it will yield good
fruits at the end.
