Nigeria meets Namibia on the dance floor
The Ombetja Yehinga Organization (OYO) Trust invites the public to the premiere of a new dance performance by the OYO dance troupe on Wednesday evening.The OYO dance troupe is a renowned troupe in Namibia, addressing social issues through dance. They are collaborating with Valu from Nigeria this time, creating a performance looking at waste management.
Sunday Obiajulu Ozegbe, popularly known as Valu, is a dancer, choreographer, writer, activist and community organizer from Nigeria. Valu has had foundational trainings in styles like hip hop, contemporary and various pop dance styles, some of which are reflected in his works.
He draws inspiration and movement vocabularies majorly from Nigerian street dance styles.
Valu, who is a recipient of the 2021 Prince Claus Seed Awards, was recently honoured with an Award of Excellence in Dance by the Lagos state Governor and also received an award as the most innovative dancer in Nigeria by the Guild of Nigerian Dance Practitioners in December 2021.
Valu is the founder and artistic director of Ennovate Dance House, a collective of hyper creative Dance Artists based in Lagos, Nigeria.
“We hope this is the beginning of a long-term relationship,” says Philippe Talavera, director of OYO. “It is really exciting to work with someone like Valu. He brings a completely different perspective to what we do. We decided to work on the theme of waste management because it is a concern to us all. But while we tell stories, Valu focuses more on the spiritual.”
The piece created reflects on the fact that if we don’t care about trash, we may end up becoming trash ourselves.
Besides this piece, OYO will also present one of its repertoire pieces, “Ilithyia gone mad” and Valu will grace the audience with one of his solos.
Valu’s trip to Namibia has been made possible thanks to the Prince Claus Fund.
Wednesday’s show starts at 19:00 and entry is free.