Kaffy (middle) buttressing a point during the press conference in Lagos
Award winning Dancer, Kafayat Shafau-Ameh, popularly known as ‘Kaffy’, has unveiled the 2019 edition of her international dance workshop and conference (TDWC2019) hosted for the first time in Lagos.
The event is the brainchild of Kaffy Incorporated (Imagneto Dance Company), in partnership with Landmark Event Center and Q21 Solutions, while Star Rising Children’s Educational Initiative, Zenith bank, and Reddington Hospitals are listed as platinum sponsors.
Kaffy released details of the anticipated event at a media parley held within the premises of her newly opened world class dance and fitness studio which also serves as her corporate office in Lagos.
Speaking to newsmen at the media parley, Kaffy explained that the Dance Workshop and Conference which has impacted positively on the entertainment industry in Nigeria and Africa as a whole, was designed to inspire, train and mentor dancers in the art and business of dance, and also teach them how to establish a profitable career within the entertainment industry.
She added that the project fuses dance with entrepreneurship and cultural exchange to provide a well-rounded educational experience for professional dancers in Africa; as well as establish the need for structure and discipline required to pursue a career in the performing arts and the entertainment industry.
Kaffy (left) engaging reporters during the tour of the facility
Kaffy reeled out a long list of keynote speakers and instructors expected from all over the world such as Zenith Bank MD; Mr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu, the Ooni of Ife; HRM Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, US Consular General; Mr. F. John Bray, the world acclaimed Creative Director for Beyonce and Destiny’s Child; Frank Gatson, Mrs. Kay Ovia, Managing Director, Transcorp, and Mr. Valentine Ozigbo.
According to the award winning professional dancer, Workshop teachers at the event include Marcus Cobb from the United States (U. S)) , DanceFikshun, Jusbmore, Dancegod Lloyd Ghana, Courtnae Paul, Sino Dinuywa from South Africa, Kwame Kideyez Osei from Germany, Ice Nweke and other top dance professionals and professors from Nigeria.
Responding to questions about the entertainment industry in Nigeria, Kaffy lamented the stereotype that has branded all similar Afro Hip-Hop music forms in Nigeria as ‘Afrobeat’.
She stated that “Afrobeat belongs to Fela”.
“African Music is African Music. Afrobeat is Fela’s type of music and should not be generalized as the whole Genre of any kind of music that comes out from Nigeria.
“I think it’s a wrong way of generalizing our music. African Music is African Music. We can’t call the likes of Victor Owaifo , Sir Shina Peters, Chief Osadebe’s kind of music ‘Afrobeat’ just because it originated from here, it’s different from Afrobeat and we should not generalize ‘Afrobeat’ as our sound; rather, it’s Fela’s sound and we must protect it at all cost”.
She advocated the return to cultural dance forms, says “Shaku Shaku is good, Atilogwu, Bata better”.
The dance specialist also talked about the dominance of various dance forms not rooted in African culture, describing it as a sad departure from our roots and added that “the popular dance forms like Alanta, Shoki, Shaku Shaku, and Zanku have gradually taken focus away from original dance forms like Bata, Atilogwu and other true African dance forms that are embedded history and culture as a people” .
Schedule for the workshop and conference, as given by Kaffe, shows that The TDWC Africa holds for 3 full days, starting with :
-The Dance Trade Fair which runs concurrently, from 9am – 11pm.
-The Conference starts from 9am to 1pm.
-Workshop starts from 2pm to 6pm and this runs for 3days.
Subsequently, in the evenings of the three days that the event would be held, there would be social gatherings, tagged ‘Special Nights’, from 7pm – 11pm.
According to the organizers, the conference is free but the workshop, which would involve various breakout master class sessions with panelists and teachers, would cost interested participant #5, 000 while the evening event, tagged the ‘Afroburlesque Night’, attracts a fee of N3,000.
Intending participants are encouraged to register at the www.tdwcafrica.com as spaces are limited.
