What I Witnessed at the Number 1 Dance Event in Lagos.
The April edition of Wajo Lagos has come & gone and these are some of the things we covered for you. Wajo Lagos literally means 'Lagos, Come & Dance". Wajo is currently the only publicised dance event that gets dance groups/troupes from far & wide to dance. That is all that happens at Wajo. Dance. Dance that comes straight from the heart. At Wajo, expect to read dance in another way. They have it all at Wajo Lagos. The atmosphere at Freedom Park, venue of the dance was packed and expectant. Regular Wajo audience could be seen discussing the highlights of the previous edition in March. (Wajo is a monthly event). Some dance crews could be seeing warming up and discussing last minute stage details. While people got something to eat & drink, the Wajo Lagos MC, David Roberts, came up & addressed the audience. He thanked us for coming and proceeded to explain some of the teams/things we should expect for the night and officially started the show. Wajo gave the audience FREE WIFI!!!
Douglas & His Crew were the first team to perform. The boys did a good job to warm the audience up for the night. The crew had two people on the stage wall. They weren't joking if you ask me. Watch the video of the performance.
Douglas & Crew waiting to start the show
Femight THE DYNAMITE (emphasis mine) was the next to dazzle the crowd. One thing to come to know about Wajo is there are different dances each edition. As a result, you don't know what you could get next. A team could perform a slow dance and the next switches the tempo to the street break dancing. Femight performed to the song Olori Oko and brought a deep, soulful meaning to the song. His smooth, feral, catlike movements in the likes of a wild cat brought light to the message in the song. The audience applauded wildly when he was done.
The Wajo Dance Chain was next and you could see the Wajo Faithfuls moving to get the best seats. The Wajo Dance Chain was a dance movement where everyone dances and 'passes the current' to the next person beside them. It was a way to get the audience to also participate in the dancing for the night. During the train, you will see people rushing to sit in other places so they can feature again. Lagosians love to dance. It's in our culture, upbringing and heritage.
Femithe
The Apex Dancers training with SPAN came up after the dance train. They had finished a workshop recently and were testing on the Wajo grounds. Which the audience liked because the Apex Dance Crew contained some very talented dancers who go all out to make sure their dance is timeless. The choreographer, Korede, is a well respected one in dance groups. The Apex Dancers were introduced and we were told that dance can be used to interprete any emotion we feel from sorrow, pain, laughter, happiness, etc. They performed different stories all within a single performace, it was thrilling, entertaining and moving. A beautiful girl, Amarachi, was up next and she moved to the music, allowing it come out of her body in complicated simple moves that left one breathless. She was joined-as in this love story-by the MC, David Roberts. It was the first time I have seen the MC dance and he is really good. The love story of theirs was complicated by the arrival of a devil (played by Smark Jackson) who came to take the girl away. A battle started that had the boy fighting for the love of his wife. Having defeated the devil, he rejoiced in her hug only for him to be alerted to the presence of the same devil. All this was being acted out in a series of well coordinated dance routines, no-one breaking character. Another battle started again and this time, the devil had the upper hand. Just as he thought he had claimed victory, the girl snapped up and started to fight him. Shocked & surprised, he was beaten down but soon came back stronger and angrier.
Apex Dance Crew on stage
The girl had bought the boy a little time however and they were able to fight together and for a while kept the devil at bay. He however only got angrier and came back stronger. Finally, the boy had his girl in his hands and the devil retreating. It was a joyous moment for the audience or so we thought till we realised the boy was crying. The devil at this point turned and asked him
Amarachi
