Wajo Lagos Offers Nigerians Place To Dance, Express Themselves

“Wajo Lagos” (pictured throughout) is a dance event that takes place every last Thursday of the month at Freedom Park since February 2013 when it kicked off. Wajo Lagos is the actualization of the idea that people want to dance but don’t know how to — not that Nigerians can’t dance! So Enhance 360 took it upon themselves to create dance awareness by inviting people to gather and dance. Wajo literally means “come and dance.”

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The evening was a cool and groovy one before the show kicked off, with music blasting from the speakers, people picking seats, girlfriends waiting for boyfriends to get drinks, and dancers talking and showing off.

The MC, David Roberts, came onstage and officially started the show, and the first troupe to  perform was Douglas & His Crew. They were able to meet the expectations of the audience in that they kept their show both vibrant and unique.

The next to come onstage was Femithe who did a one man solo dance rendition of “Olori Oko.” He was smooth, lethal, and funny in his dance moves. He definitely interpreted the song very well as his moves coincided to expose the depth and meaning of the song. It was soulful and inspiring. He ended his performance to a sound applause

Watch “Olori Oko” here:

Soon the Wajo Dance train, where everyone does a dance move and passes to the person on the left or right depending on the direction of the train, began. The dance train is very enjoyable and helps get people to actually dance. (Can’t come to Rome and not do as the Romans do, no?)

The Apex Dance Crew were another dancing highlight as their choreographer, Korede, is well-known and respected in dance circuits. They are also always happy to dance, and they do so with passion. Their performance was a story of how dance can be used to express sorrow, joy, happiness, or any state of the mind.

There were different stories in this performance alone that had people coming and going off stage. The coordination was on time and properly rehearsed. It came to an end, however, and the audience was sad to see them go so they asked for more.

The MC was nowhere to be found, and just as we wondered what happened to him, a beautiful female dancer, Amarachi, walked onstage and started to dance. She moved with precision, delicately untying the knots of her complicated dance moves. She was joined by the MC (so that’s why we didn’t see him earlier).

 

It was my first time seeing the MC dance, and he killed any doubt as to why he was the event’s host. He was, to say the least, a very good soulful dancer. The story of their performance was a love tragedy that had the couple battle a devil (played by Mark Jackson) who came to take the girl. A very fierce, suspense-filled dance battle took place that had the devil gain the upper hand just to lose it to the girl unleashing her own powers to save the couple. And just when you thought the story would end, the devil came back again.

It ended with the devil asking, “What are you waiting for? She’s dead!” crushing the heart of the audience who felt the pain of losing a loved one after a fierce battle.

Indeed, it was a love tragedy.

Once the show was officially over, the audience moved toward the stage to dance away and let some of the dance flow as they have been inspired.

Watch an audience dance during a freestyle segment here:

 

 

The next edition of Wajo Lagos will be at Banilux Event Center, Yaba.

Wajo is going to happen more than once a month now on the Lagos Mainland as well as on Lagos Island. You can follow Wajo on Twitter, like them on Facebook, and/or subscribe to their Youtube channel and never miss a show!

See comments from attendees of Wajo Lagos here:

If you have any comments for Wajo Lagos or any inquiries, call them at +234 (0) 802 324 3717, +234 (0) 813 009 7507, or let us know and we will get to them for you.