When three friends in Ghana settled on dancing as a career, their aim was not just to dance onstage and make an income but to improve the dance culture by making it more attractive and competitive. It dedicates three sessions each week to coaching talented dancers of different ages and with diverse backgrounds in various moves of African beats and rhythms.
Other than the School of Performing Arts at the University of Ghana, the dance school emerged as a pioneer in seeking to deepen African dance culture by grooming young dancers to adopt a professional approach. The school is not only about dancing but also an opportunity for young people to be inspired to develop their career paths and life goals. Some of them can rap, some can act, but they haven't realized it, so we guide them to discover their potential," he says.
Five years after setting up the school, the efforts of the three co-founders are beginning to yield dividends-they have trained more than dancers so far, some of whom excel onstage. The school is about dancing with a purpose. When you come here, we teach you about dancing and teach you to focus on your life's goals as well," says Botchwey. Agyapong Derrek Asare, a nurse in Ghana's health sector, found a second career as a dancer through the efforts of the school. He combined his nursing training in Ho, the regional capital of the country's Volta area, with dancing rehearsals while in school.
Today, Asare works both as a nurse and a stage dancer. But I have paused the nursing job a little to focus on dancing. I will go back into nursing after pushing my dancing career a bit further because there is a lot I can do with dancing," Asare says. But I have not done any international show yet," he adds. Richel Achempim is an accounting student at the University of Ghana and a member of the school. In addition to performing on the Afrochella stage, Achempim has also appeared in several music videos with other artists.
Social media and hard work are what has got us here," he says. The future is about having our infrastructure, as a school where people can come from different countries to stay and learn from us," he says. Our school will ensure that what we have started lives on. So, we want to preserve the dance culture over several generations. Dancing with a purpose in Ghana Xinhua Updated: Share - WeChat.
