00:00Today, I have with me the first male dancer of the Kutis family, Ben Dancer,
00:06who is attending the world's longest dance record. Ben Dancer, welcome.
00:12Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.
00:14You're going to take us on a ride about dancing and wellness.
00:20What's your take about dancing and wellness?
00:23In my experience over 18 years, I've come to realize that dancers are potential artists,
00:29their potential actors, their potential outlets, models, and so.
00:35But as you earlier asked me, the health benefit of dance.
00:40So dance, it's very, very, very, very diverse.
00:47It's not just limited to just performing on stage, right?
00:49So for every time you dance, there's a sort of flexibility and mobility in your body, right?
00:56And then it helps build your strength in terms of your core.
01:01So for every time I encourage people to use dance for health benefit,
01:07it's because it helps them lose weight, right?
01:10Are we talking about patients with strokes, you know?
01:14It helps them also, you know, revive their vitals.
01:18Some part of their body, they are a bit paralyzed.
01:21It helps them to recover fast.
01:23So dance, and the funniest part is, it is so fun.
01:27It's not like you are stressing yourself.
01:29You're building, you know, strength.
01:32You're burning out calories while having fun.
01:34Wow.
01:35That's interesting.
01:36Something I'm curious to know, why did you choose dancing?
01:42Okay, so for me, from childhood, dance has always been a gift.
01:46It's a gift given to me by the universe.
01:49So just like the way God will bless certain doctors with certain abilities to heal certain ailments,
01:56and, you know, different gifts in different areas,
01:59I think for me, dance has always been a gift, you know?
02:03Because I believe that in my own profession, in my own right as a dance artist,
02:07I am giving dance as a gift, as a tool to heal people, to heal people internally.
02:16Because a lot of people are dealing with a lot of depressions,
02:19a lot of setbacks, and giving up on their particular life journeys, right?
02:23On their individual journeys.
02:25So dance was given to me by God himself, the universe also,
02:29so that I could use it as a tool to help people feel inspired,
02:35you know, feel healed from their deep emotional traumas.
02:39So dance has always been a gift for me from childhood.
02:42Yeah, I was reading something, and I found out that
02:45you happen to be the first male dancer in Kutis family.
02:48First male dancer.
02:49Yeah.
02:49Like, what's the story behind this?
02:53Being the first male dance artist in the history of the Kutis,
02:57that's a quite, I think for me, it's divine.
03:00So looking back, far back at the history of Afro beats,
03:05which fella is the originator, and the creator also,
03:08he has never used a male dancer, right?
03:11And then Femi Kuti, you know, and also down to Shinon Kuti,
03:17then we now got to Madi.
03:19So for me, I really resonate with Madi's message,
03:25his music, and the ideology he carries,
03:28because it is generational.
03:29It's about the story of the African people,
03:33our heritage, and what we, you know.
03:35So at a point in time, there was a time I was in school
03:38in Banner Republic, coming back to Lagos to come and work,
03:42so I could go back to school and then, you know,
03:44fund my education.
03:45So at a particular time when I was, you know,
03:48I was down, you know, close to shrine,
03:52a friend of mine actually stays there some times back,
03:56and then I was right in the room,
03:59quite, you know, a little bit down,
04:01and I heard a sound.
04:03And I said, who is playing this sound?
04:05Because that sound was so spiritual for me at that moment.
04:08Because for me, I've always seen dance beyond entertainment.
04:11It's always spiritual.
04:12So when I heard that sound, I could connect, you know.
04:15And then I walked, I told my friend,
04:17let's go into the shrine,
04:18let's see who is playing the sound.
04:20And we walked in, and then he over,
04:21he introduced me to Madi.
04:23And the first thing I told Madi is,
04:26I heard you play the sound,
04:28and that sound connected with me spiritually.
04:30Can you do me the honor of allowing me
04:33interpret that sound for you?
04:35And that was the first time to me seeing Madi.
04:37And the first thing he said was,
04:38am I a dance artist?
04:39I said, yes, I am a dance artist.
04:42He said, okay, come to our rehearsals on Wednesday,
04:45and then, you know, we see what you can do.
04:47And when I came, I delivered my dance excellently.
04:50And he said, okay,
04:52I think you can come on Sunday.
04:53We're having a show on Sunday.
04:55You could come do your thing.
04:56And that was the first time I performed with him.
04:59Oh, that was 2021.
05:01Wow.
05:01That was the year the band started.
05:03Then we performed at the shrine.
05:05And then after that,
05:06I think I went back home.
05:07I didn't even ask for any money.
05:09I was just super excited,
05:10you know, dancing at the shrine and all of that.
05:13And then two days after,
05:15I wrote him and I said,
05:16oh, sir, thank you for giving me the honor
05:19of, you know, dancing for you.
05:21And the first thing he said is,
05:22send your account number.
05:23Wow.
05:24Yeah.
05:24And he said, oh, we didn't make much out of the show,
05:27but here is money.
05:28And he sent me 16,000 there.
05:30I will never forget that.
05:30That was 2020.
05:31That was 2021.
05:33And then I said, oh, thank you so much.
05:35But I have a question to ask you.
05:36I said, but I want to meet you in person, you know.
05:39And he said, oh, okay,
05:40you can come to the shrine on Sunday by two, there about.
05:45And trust me, I came by 12.
05:47Wow.
05:48Because I was so much eager.
05:49And then I met him.
05:50Something that is so much happier.
05:51Yo, so I met him.
05:53I was like, okay.
05:55Um, I'm here.
05:56So what he said was, what do you want to see me for?
05:59I said, sir, since after the day we performed,
06:02my spirit has desired to want to work with you.
06:06And what he told me, he said,
06:09he has also the meaning to tell me if I could work with him.
06:12Wow.
06:12Wow.
06:12That's, that's connection.
06:14There was a synergy.
06:15There was a connection.
06:16And right from that day, I said, sir, I will give you my best and my all.
06:21And I'll hold my word as a sign of integrity.
06:24And I could tell you for free, down the lane, 2026 till date.
06:292026 till date.
06:31Yeah.
06:31From 2021 till date.
06:32Yeah.
06:32I've never regretted working with this man.
06:36Because I see his, his fight.
06:38Yeah.
06:38I see his struggle.
06:40It is for the common good of every man,
06:42not just for his immediate family, not just for the band,
06:45but for every person out there to live right,
06:49you know, and be accountable for the actions.
06:52So can you take us to a country that has danced?
06:54I've taken you to.
06:55I can, I can go and on and on with this count.
06:58So, okay, let's look at Paris.
07:01I've done Paris, um, Fela's exposition in Paris.
07:06I've done, um, African energy, um, week in Cape Town, South Africa,
07:12which I've, I've, I've actually lived at a point in South Africa,
07:16in Johannesburg, right?
07:18For a couple of, you know, times.
07:21And then, yeah, I've danced in Ghana, in Accra.
07:24I've also danced in, uh, Kotsunu, Ghana Republic.
07:28Missionary love.
07:31So, I can go on and on and withholding even stages within Nigeria
07:37and then within, you know, Lega.
07:39So, it's, it's very vast.
07:41Yes, sir.
07:42Very downscrooish.
07:43Now, um, what are those challenges you see or you observe
07:47regarding dancers and Africa in general?
07:52Uh, to be very honest with you,
07:54the first thing is, dancers are underpaid.
07:57Yeah, dancers are underpaid.
07:59Because, I'll give you an instance,
08:00if you come to a setting of an event
08:03and the event organizers are saying,
08:05okay, I think we need a DJ
08:07and there's a budget for a DJ.
08:08We need, um,
08:10we need an, an event organizer,
08:12which there's a budget for him.
08:15We need an MC, there's a budget for him.
08:16We need a sound engineer, right?
08:19But the moment you come to a dancer,
08:21what they tell you is,
08:22ah, think, can you just take this amount?
08:25Is it not just 13 minutes dance?
08:28Do you get what I mean?
08:29There's no budget for you.
08:30The only thing is,
08:31oh, can you just manage this?
08:32Why?
08:33Because they feel you are,
08:35you are not so valuable to the event.
08:39But you discover that at the end of the day,
08:40the dancers bring their life to the event.
08:42Do you get it?
08:43I get it.
08:43So dancers don't get to trademark their moves,
08:46which in turn gives them back money after years.
08:49So you discover that at the end of the day,
08:51there's, there's no sustainable,
08:54um, um, uh, process, right?
08:58The, the, this longevity for dancers is too short.
09:01The time is too short
09:02because you need money to sustain a life.
09:05You need to have a family.
09:06You need to have kids.
09:07You need to send them to school.
09:09And it's so horrible.
09:10So what's your message to all dancers out there?
09:13Uh, to be very honest with you,
09:15I think dancers,
09:17dancers should look more into the business aspects
09:20more than the crafts
09:21because everybody can dance.
09:24If you go to the street of Adjegulé today,
09:26there are dancers that have not gone through
09:28the four walls of a conventional school,
09:30but they are very good with dance.
09:32But now,
09:33They are talented.
09:34They are very talented.
09:35But now what makes them different from Ben Dancer?
09:37The thing that makes them different is
09:39education in terms of the business,
09:42contract negotiations,
09:43know how to brand yourself
09:45so that when you present yourself out there,
09:47people don't just see you as a talent.
09:50They see you as a brand
09:51because when they see you as a brand,
09:53this pays for the value of that brand,
09:55not just because,
09:56so you could bring a dancer today
09:58and he dances the same dance I am doing,
10:00but you can't pay him the same money you're paying me.
10:03Because why?
10:03He's Ben Dancer.
10:04You need to brand yourself.
10:05It's a brand.
10:06Do you get what I mean?
10:07You need to become a brand.
10:07So dancers need to understand that
10:09beyond learning the dances,
10:12go for workshops that encourages you
10:14on learning the business aspect of the dance,
10:17how you can negotiate contracts,
10:19have a proper structure of a management
10:22that helps negotiate,
10:24you know,
10:25the clients.
10:26Wow.
10:27That's so,
10:27so interesting.
10:29Yeah.
10:30That will be all for now.
10:31Ben Dancer,
10:31it's actually nice having you.
10:33Thank you so much.
10:34Thank you so much for having me.
10:36It's a pleasure.
10:37Yeah.
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