Kafayat Shafau, also known as Kaffy, a Nigerian dancer, has stated that despite increased acknowledgement of dance as an important component of the creative economy, investments in its expansion remain low.
The former Guinness World Record holder lamented the dance industry’s lack of support in comparison to other forms of popular culture such as music and movies.
In an interview with Saturday Beats, Kaffy expressed concern about how dance could be used for purposes other than entertainment.
She stated;
“The good thing about dance is that it is now recognised as a ble business and career.” No parent would want to bring their child to dance classes today, unlike 10 to 15 years ago when I started. They didn’t realise how much it meant to their children until today.”
“However, I believe that one of the key reasons it does not appear to be a particularly structured ecosystem is due to the way investment is moving. Money is poured into films and music, but not into dance. Dance is still regarded as a service provider rather than a business.”
“The only question is whether people take it seriously enough to regard it as a ‘investable’ company. Dance cannot be sustained without investment and resources.”
“The entertainment business is held together by dance. No one would want to attend a concert just to see an artist stand on a stage; it would be tedious. Dance has a lot of power in the health field as well. I utilise dance therapy to treat persons who have experienced trauma or who have autism. I utilise it to help children’s retentive memory.”
The creator of the Imagneto Dance Company also stated that she had spent a substantial amount of her own money building a system and technology to help both dancers and non-dancers, but she also stated that many talented dancers lacked business acumen.
“The problem is not talent, but the mindset that it can be used to make money,” Kaffy continued.
“However, this is not exclusive to dancers. We must provide appropriate knowledge to the creative industry. They do not need to attend university to learn accounting, marketing, sales, social media usage, and other skills that will benefit their careers/businesses. That is exactly what my platform intends to provide for young people.”
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