Kaffy: People don’t want to accept that dance has any value | The Guardian Nigeria News

Kafayat Oluwatoyin Shafau popularly known as Kaffy is a professional dancer, choreographer, dance instructor and fitness coach. She is best known for breaking the Guinness World Record for “Longest Dance Party” at the Nokia Silverbird Danceathon in 2006. In 2017, she created ‘The Dance Workshop ‘, a dance convention aimed at training and mentoring professional dancers as well as promoting cultural exchange within the Nigerian dance industry. In her drive to mentor and guide young people to achieve success, she recently held a workshop themed‘Passion-2-Profit’ with seasoned professionals in attendance. In this interview with IJEOMA THOMAS-ODIA, she talks about her passion and drive for dance.

How did it all start for you, getting into the industry of dance as an art form?
Getting into the industry of dance came from a place of me not wanting to conform to the idea that, if I am not an engineer, doctor or lawyer, I am nobody. I just felt that whatever I chose to be, I should be able to wine and dine with kings and queens. That was what I used to rebel against at home and in the society. I faced it religiously, psychologically. I faced it family wise, I faced it with the society not accepting me, I lost friends who thought I was unserious because I wanted to dance. Some parents tell their kids not to play with us anymore, because you are a dancer. That just gave me more power, because I know who I am. I am very intelligent, and very brilliant and I own that. With who I was right from school, I am already crowned for being amazing. Why would I go to my house, and I’m told that I’m nobody until I’m a lawyer or a doctor. Being a dancer, it took expressions to stand strong and say, I will make something out of it, and I started studying the industry, studying what they needed, what they were doing right and not doing right, and how I could be that solution. One of the first ways I broke into that was by doing a music video.

With the music video, during that time, before they could get rotation on TV, they had to spend so much money. They had spent so much money to send their DVDs from one station to the other. But now, because one girl is dancing on her video, we’re getting ten times, twenty times our rotation. That was value. As I brought that value, I interpreted it into monetary terms. So then, imagine a P-Square spending around N2 million per track to do a media tour, but then, because I did that video, they were only spending N200, 000. If I told P-Square to pay me N5,000, won’t they be willing to pay? I helped them save a lot of money. That was where I started building value by giving them something that would help them make money or save money.

I was like a guinea pig for young people coming behind, because there was no template for me to follow here. I practically developed and registered the first dance business in this country, and most of the processes that a lot of people are using now are pathways that are open. Either directly or indirectly, I have been able to influence not just Nigerian dancers, African dancers in Diaspora but many other dancers of different nationals to believe in themselves. 

You have established yourself as Nigeria’s most prominent female choreographer and dancer. How would you say it all started for you, and what inspires you to keep going?
What has continued to inspire me is the problem. I have a son and a daughter. I am afraid, if I don’t do something, something will be done to them. We need to think from that aspect. We don’t think our children are safe just because we put them in the best schools, or we protect them for now. They’re going to go out there.I need to do my part, as a mother. And I’m not just a mother of my kids, I’m mother by nature to people I come in contact with, and I need to express that. God has given me this mantle. This is not just about inspiration and motivation. This is who I am. When I am not motivated, I am still this person. When I am motivated, I am still this person. My inspiration is the problem, and my motivation is God, because he put it in me. That’s why I’m here.

What would you say are some of the biggest challenges you have encountered engaging in this art form in Nigeria, and how have you been able to surmount them?
The biggest challenge is acceptance. Acceptability. People just don’t want to accept that dance has any value. No matter how much you grow in dance, some people just want to look at you as just a dancer. Even till now, there are some people in the corporate world, you walk in, with all my achievements and people just say, “You’re that dancer.” I’m not going to be the one to succumb to your perception.

In what other ways are you inspiring people to engage in dancing?
The Khaffy Boss Academy is really big, and it is going to be housed on the ‘Khaffy-Verse’ which is a huge coaching, mentorship and certification platform. It also has a social media area where people can network and engage with their kind. We’re talking about building a community of people of like minds who have access to a plethora of top leaders and industry movers and shakers in Africa, Nigeria and Diaspora. We’re very focused on the African leadership.Other things we’re doing include the “Passion-2-Profit” which is a tour, then the “Khaffy Expo” is the biggest single event which I am going to be doing next year. We have a couple of apps coming out apart from the “Khaffy-Verse”. One is called the ‘DICE App’ which is an acronym for Dance Industry Creative Ecosystem. When you roll the dice, you have different outcomes. We’re telling you, life is like a dice. Whatever the outcome, you can become somebody with what is there. 

When you’re not dancing, what else are you into?
When I’m not dancing, I’m always with my people. We’re always talking the future. My kids. Sermons, reading, and when I have time, I’m very active. I work out every day swimming also. 

What three words would you use to describe Khaffy?
Endless is one. Secondly, I’m a vessel. Lastly, love. Those are three words I feel describe me perfectly.