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Muyiwa Osinaike (standing) flanked by other dance greats addresses the press
Plans to stage the first ever all African-styled dance competition in Nigeria were last Thursday revealed to have reached a very advanced stage. When the body-movent-on-space contest dubbed Naija Dance Championship hits the beat scene, it will present a highly improved re-creation of the rested 1980’s John Players Disco Championship.
Intimating the media of the impending Naija Dance Championship, at a press conference in Lagos on Thursday, the dance impresario behind the event, Muyiwa Osinaike, said that the idea of floating the championship was to create a more vibrant and all inclusive African Dance Championship within the first five years through which dance should be recreated, rejuvenated and reengineered.
According to Osinaike, who had back in the days, represented Ogun State twice in the John Player Disco Championship, the maiden edition of the Naija Dance Championship will explore hip-hop, attain world standard in modern conteporary movement as well as exhibit the traditional forms in a competitive and convivial setting.
Said Osinaike: “Our maiden edition is designed to explore the hip-hop, attain world standards in modern contemporary movement, and showcase the traditional forms in a competitive and convivial environment”.
Flanked by some fellow expert dancers, Muyiwa, the brain behind the organasing outfit, Francosh Entertainment and PaulDavid N Andrew Ltd., expressed regret that after the great exploits of John Players Disco Championship in the early 1980’s, Nigeria has never experienced such in the dance industry. This, he said, also created the impetus for organising the maiden edition of Naija Dance Championship 2021.
Noted he: “After the great exploit of John Players Disco Championship in the early 1980’s, Nigeria has never experienced such in the dance industry. In view of the aforementioned, Francosh Entertainment and PaulDavid N Andrew Ltd. are organising the maiden edition of Naija Dance Championship 2021”.
Armed with deep knowledge of dance garnered through a very long period of tutelage under such theatre greats as Baba Sala, Hubert Ogunde among others, and dance and theatre directions as well as consultancy offerings to many television dance reality shows like Maltina Dance show, Muyiwa believes passionately that he possesses the know-how to drive a dance championship im the standin of the Naija Dance Championship.
The dance championship, he informed, aims to engage and empower the youth, showcase as well as develop talents discovered, through offering them professional training and mentoring youth’s mindset towards growth and national unity.
Apart from creating employment, the championship will also be used to create and boost tourism with a view to replacing the dwindling crude oil economy in the country. The event will also be used to specifically build what Muyiwa described as “dance tourism in Nigeria”.
Regisrltration for the championship will commence on November 1, 2020 to terminate on January 15, 2021, while screening for the states’ entries is slated for January 25, 2021.
The state finals are scheduledvto take place on February 14, 2021
Regional Finals:
North – March 7, 2021 – Abuja.
South-East – March 14, 2021- Owerri.
South-South – March 21, 2021-;Uyo.
South-West – March 28, 2021 – Ibadan.
Grand Finale: April 11, 2021 – Lagos.
Endorsed by the Guild of Nigerian Dance Practitioners (GNDP), Naija Dance Championship is to be an annual competition. Intending participants should visit www.naijadancechampionsip.com to register.
