We live in a world devoid of varieties in expressive forms. A world where there is so much to express, but the only way to communicate our reflection and express our views, feelings, ideas and emotion, has been limited to either oral or literary means. However, the human mind often takes us to a conceptual and complex realm, which we sometimes are unable to convey in words. So one thing I have realized as a dancer is that, the body has a whole lot of intelligence that is able to express multitude of meanings in just one move or pose. These make corporal expressions the most significant and widely understood language of all time.

I dance to fulfill a need and quench a thirst for life. To live is like fleeing from one question to the other, hell is coupled with good intention, suffering and joy, love and hatred, normal winds of life. I trust in my wings because my answers are floating in my wind.

I like what I dance because I dance what I like, I dance when I most feel it become indispensable for me to let out my personal frustration, I don't get personal on the public dance floor and neither am I a coward that will go seek a hand in marriage and run back for his parents to arrange the marriage rites.

I dance what I think, I think what I dance, my dance is exact and underlined with truth, backed with intelligence and wide open to criticism at both ends. It’s my truth; it’s not necessarily the truth. It’s my truth so I'll defend it. If you like, you hate me for it, if you like, you kill me for it, I'll however be remembered for the values I defended.

I know what I dance, I dance what I know, I know what affects our societies today is the absence of air where it smells real bad, I know that the oppressed like back doors and escape routes. I know that nothing moves the oppressor than the naked truth. My dance stage has with time mutated into a space where I carefully chip in my thoughts and emotions. It’s an open gossip. It’s a private part that challenges the public arena.

I see myself pack a handful of sand amidst this endless desert and poured it all into the air, as small as my palms may seem, the sand still arrives at struggling with the bad odor in the atmosphere, and it rained down in dust particles. It touched everyone close to the space I occupy. Some smiled over it and took it all for fun but others dwelled over the dust as though they have no hands to dust away the dust.

If dance gestures can be weighed on a scale, mine weigh a ton, its velocity is speed over time, to every dance I dance, I leave room for an equal and opposite reaction from my audience. If you have issues with me, tell me, don't tell my friend, If you feel threatened by my version of the truth, get over it and let life pass through you, today it’s my stage, yesterday it was someone else's, so tomorrow life goes on, because I know change will never seize from being the only permanent element in life.

If we visualize our 4000 years human history per minute spent. If we scale this minutes spent in 4000 years, per good or bad human deeds. We'll realize how little impact our best or worst efforts have on the human existence and civilization.

...To live a fulfilled life is to dance what you feel
...only if you truthfully feel what you dance!

By his dance steps, you shall know Qudus

Curled from The Guardian Life Magazine, Edition 202, 
Cover story for September 13 - 19, 2009 
BY CHUKS NWANNE.

Born and raised in Lagos, dancer Qudus Aderemilekun Onikeku now considers himself a complete Lagosian, even when his parents originally hail from Abeokuta, Ogun State. “Until the age of 17, I had never stepped my foot out of Lagos. Despite my Abeokuta and Ijebu heritage, I still consider myself a full-time Lagosian.” 

Qudus’ journey into the artistic world started at the age of five when he began to feel the hyperactive pulse and curiosity that sustains his adrenaline up till date. “I could vividly remember seeing a guy do a back flip during inter-house sport in my primary school. It’s not as if I’ve never seen better acrobats on TV, especially during Olympics games, but seeing someone close to me do it, gave me the audacity to attempt it again and again.” After series of falls, with injuries sustained, Qudus found himself jumping up and down in flips. “My flips sometimes raise the blood pressure of my mum and concerned elders around. This perhaps was the most honest period of performance for me, and in all I do, I still try to do everything to retrace that path again,” he enthuses. 

With his kind of energy, Qudus described his primary school days as brilliant, yet he considers his hooliganism more dominant in those days. “I got pardoned most times for my brilliance,” he recalls. “It was a moment I really had to confront my energy by easing it on something external; the issue of positive or negative was not in my mind.” The decision by the mum of the young positively-rascal boy to move him from public to private school at the age of eight, finally paved way for the making of the Qudus of today. “I was taken to Brown Memorial Nursery and Primary School, Lagos; that was where I began to lose my old bad habits. After the entrance test, I was taken to Class Five instead of Four; I was glad that I would be finishing before my mates.” 

Reality dawned on Qudus when he dropped from his usual first position in his former school to seventh. “This calmed me a whole lot; I realised that success is not served with crispy fried chicken and strawberry milk shake.” With the dream of becoming a Chemical Engineer at the back of his mind, Qudus approached his secondary education with more seriousness. “I once heard my siblings chat about how the oil workers live large. But that half-baked dream was flushed away when I discovered dance in my senior secondary. But instead of taking art courses, ego would not let me stay away from sciences. Yet, the only remarkable moment of my secondary school days was the fact that I was an active member of the Music and Theatre Art Club, where I was later the dance captain.” 

By the time Qudus made up his mind to study Theatre Arts in the university, he met brick walls. “It was absolutely impossible to switch from the sciences to the arts, even when you can practically prove yourself; that was how I lost interest in the Nigerian educational system.” Left with no other option, Qudus began to seek knowledge in all possible angles. At a point, he became a regular at the French Cultural Centre workshops. He had a stint with the Lagos State Council for Arts and Culture, before joining the renowned repertory dance troupe, Gongbeat Arts, where he remained until he got a job with an Ibadan-based dance company, The Alajotas, at the age of 17. “This was an essential period for both my artistic and intellectual upbringing. With Alajotas, the stark beauty of being away from one’s family confronted me; I began to gain the individuality I’ve continually been denied”. 

Meeting Heddy Maalem at the French Cultural Center in 2004, gave a lifeline to Qudus’ dance career. “Heddy happens to be one of my mentors presently. He approached me for a contract proposition and since 2004 till date, I’ve been a permanent dancer with his Dance Company based in Toulouse – France. During tours with Heddy, I would engage him in a whole range of discussions. He is a father figure to me and I trust him. He was the one that gave me the idea of studying in a Circus Arts School, when I explained to him how I had let down my merit list admission to study Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Lagos in 2003.” 

After few research on Circus Art Phenomenon that began to take over the performing art scene of France, Qudus finally decided to give the idea a trial in 2006. “I went for the selection at the National Higher School of Circus Arts, and fortunately, I was selected amongst the 19 successful ones out of the over 120 that took part in the process. On getting to Lagos, I shook my networks a bit and I got the full scholarship of the French Embassy for the two years period of my studies.” After three years of acquiring knowledge in the field, Qudus has resolved to return home to begin his one-man dance revolution. 

“While in Chalons en Champagne in my little apartment all alone for three years, I dreamt, I wrote and I talked to myself; sometimes, I recorded my words. The gateway to the dance revolution in Nigeria was clear in my head. The more I remained abroad, the more I get closer to the Nigerian reality.” In 2007, Qudus started with Do We Need Cola Cola to Dance? project, touring round Africa. By 2008, he planned making ewaBAMIJO the next step, but was really busy with traveling. “The same thing was about to happen in 2009, but I said to myself, ‘this must not go past 2009.’ 

During my previous returns to Nigeria from time to time, I would find myself in the midst of poets, musicians, comedians, writers, journalists, photographers, painters, sculptors, actors as well as dancers. But I realised that, there is no genuine link bringing all these art genres together in Nigeria. “In this present day, where boundaries are beginning to fall away between visual, performing, graphic and literary arts, Nigerian artistes are still feeling comfortable in their various corners. Most of my works have never been about just dance. No, you will always feel the space of visual art, music, new media etc in my works. So, this is what informed the notion of having an interdisciplinary arts festival. 

“The international arts scene is really getting really vicious, lacking fresh air and very boring. With ewaBAMIJO, we are doing everything possible to make the Nigerian arts scene begin to set a new pace, with fresh breeds, inspired by whatever happens on Lagos streets, and will in turn affect whatever happens in the arts world.” According to the dancer, the idea of ewaBAMIJO is to negate all conventional ideas and misconceptions of what the Euro-American power players think our art-face should look like. “We are not here to romanticise our beliefs; we are here to create something entirely different that fulfills our socio-economic and socio-cultural needs.

With this edition, we want to renovate the theories and praxis of contemporary art in our part of the world, to depart from the all pervasive discourse and fantasies of the art world.” Organized in partnership with the Creative Arts Department of the University of Lagos, ewaBAMIJO is scheduled to open October 27 through November 4. YK Projects, organizers of the event, has unveiled plans to make the event a bi-annual international festival. “We are not replicating or competing with other big arts festival already existing in Nigeria, but we seek to be a support and intellectual backing for the growing art network for Africans; ewaBAMIJO is more like a principle than any other thing. For that reason, we are going into a full partnership with the Creative Arts Department of the University of Lagos. All the events linked to ewaBAMIJO shall be taking place around both venues.” 

To Qudus, ewaBAMIJO will make all the difference. “We want to set the pace for ourselves to start. We don’t know how we are going to do it, but we believe in the power of dreams. We shall continue to dream until we see the change we hope for. ewaBAMIJO is not just about dance, it’s about the power of dream, its about hope, its about the dance industry, its about creating a sustainable dance market for the dancers yet to come, its about doing what we believe in and about inspiring confidence in those who could stand up against those bad habits that have hindered our collective development as a people.”

EBJ CALLS FOR SUBMISSION - 'WRITERS' FORUM'

DEADLINE: 20 SEPTEMBER 2009 

From 27 October to 4 November 2009, SPARCK will host the first WiAiA: an international workshop dedicated to innovative writing and publishing about contemporary creation in the African world. 

WiAiA stands for Word into Art into Africa. It is one of several SPARCK projects. SPARCK – Space for Pan-African Research, Creation and Knowledge – is a multi-sited, multi-disciplinary and network-driven programme of arts and literature residencies, workshops, performances, exhibitions and publications centred on emergent and cutting-edge creativity across the African world - both on the continent and in the Diaspora. It is a programme of the Africa Centre, a South African non-profit organisation focused on contemporary artistic practice. 

WiAiA is designed to address the need, and to respond to active calls from arts practitioners with whom SPARCK collaborates, for (more) creative and (more) ethically engaged writing about 
the production of contemporary art in the African world – writing that addresses in original ways intersections between the arts and social, political and economic concerns in a globalised 
world. 

The goal of WiAiA is to provide a platform for fostering such writing and to assist in developing a strong readership for it. In the middle and longer term, WiAiA’s aim is to connect, grow and 
sustain a community of young writers who will shape, share and propel the project’s engaged discourse forward as part of an ongoing online publication project. The Lagos workshop is the first in a series of three intimate and highly focused writers’ workshops, which will be staged in 2009-2010 in three cities: Lagos, Dakar and Kinshasa. 

Each workshop will take the form of a master class and revolve around a particular art form. Each will take place in parallel with an emergent festival or exhibition. WiAiA Lagos will focus on 
writing about contemporary dance and related performance genres (experimental circus; martial and trance arts; social dancing with historical roots in community activism). WiAiA Dakar will address writing on experimental video and WiAiA Kinshasa will centre on writing about installation art and network thinking. 

FACILITATORS 

Each class will be facilitated by a team of two practitioners: an established writer and an artist, each of whose work highlights intersections between creative processes and political and 
ethical engagement. WiAiA Lagos will occur in tandem with ewaBAMIJO, an innovative festival of contemporary dance and performance founded by the much-heralded Nigerian choreographer and dancer Qudus Onikeku. The workshop will be facilitated by Onikeku and award-winning London-based writer and blogger Sokari Ekine. 

PARTICIPANTS 

Participants in each of the three workshops will be confirmed, full-time writers. While an interest on their part in art as a subject will naturally be relevant, it is not expected that the 
participants will be art critics. A key focus, in all three workshops, is to encourage thinking out of the box: reflection that questions and challenges disciplinary boundaries. Participants as well as facilitators will accordingly hail from a range of fields. They will be journalists, essayists, poets, novelists and short story writers, bloggers and/or spoken word artists. 

SPARCK has established and is further growing plans with several culture-focused websites in Africa, Europe and North America to publish on a regular basis for a period of two years short pieces by WiAiA writers on contemporary creation in the African world. Participation in WiAiA Lagos will accordingly not be a one-time, short-term venture. It will involve serious, sustained writing both during the workshop itself and following the workshop. Participants actively engaged in the process can expect to be published in highly visible online fora read across the African world. 

Applications to participate in WiAiA Lagos are sought from published writers as well as writers aspiring to be published. Particular consideration will be given to applicants who have a 
demonstrated interest in developing original approaches to writing about contemporary culture and creativity as they relate to globally driven social, economic and political phenomena and 
for whom writing is an integral part of a larger, ethically engaged and forward-thinking vision of life in a global world. 

Participants shall be selected from an open call for submissions. The number of participants will be kept small (4-5 participants per workshop) to ensure that the experience is direct and intense and that it requires of all involved a highly personal investment. 

All participants will be persons (hailing) from and/or based in West Africa, typically (though not exclusively) in Nigeria. Travel assistance may be provided for participants living outside Lagos. 

PROGRAMME 

Workshop participants will attend the entirety of the ewaBAMIJO festival (27-31 October 2009). The workshop proper will begin immediately following the festival, on 1 November 2009, and will 
last 4 days, ending on 4 November 2009. Participation throughout both the festival and the workshop proper will be full-time and will involve daily evening events and writing projects. 

The language of the Lagos workshop will be English. 

Accommodation, meals during the workshop and transportation to and from all events associated with the workshop will be provided. 

HOW TO APPLY 
Persons interested in participating in the workshop are invited to apply with the following 
materials: 

• Detailed CV 

• Letter stating why WiAiA is of interest to the applicant 

• Submission of at least two (but no more than 5) writing samples: 

‐ 
1 manuscript of no less than 10 pages single spaced, published or in 
progress: 

= a collection of 10 (or more) poems 
= or 1 chapter (or more) of a novel 
= or 1 short story 
= or 1 essay 
= or 1 article 
= or 1 play 
= or a combination of the above 

AND 
‐ 
1 text developed for the present workshop submission, of no fewer than 5 pages single spaced: an essay, article, short story, poem or related form that addresses/points to questions relating to contemporary art/creativity. 


The deadline for submissions from writers interested in participating in WiAiA Lagos is September 20, 2009. Applications will be screened by the WiAiA Lagos facilitators and the SPARCK team. The names of selected candidates will be announced on 10 October 2009. Nomination will be by majority vote. 

Applications should be sent by email no later than midnight on September 20, 2009 to the following email address: 

WiAiA.Lagos@gmail.com 

Queries are welcome at the above-cited address. 
For more information on SPARCK, the Africa Centre and ewaBAMIJO, see: 
SPARCK – Space for Pan-African Research, Creation and Knowledge on Facebook 
http://africacentre.net 
http://www.ewabamijo.com/ 

Why Do YOU Dance???

To dance is to live. Movement is life and part of the definition of life. When I do not move, I feel less alive, like my breath is stopped. I am compelled to move, it does not feel like a choice. Dancing is an expression of one's physicality, ideas, and emotions, and extends energy into space. It is so basic and primal. Along with music, it ties us into the rhythms and energy of the universe and each other. Learning to dance, developing one's own technique, as well as dancing socially, choreographing, and performing with others, can be a spiritual journey. We learn of our possibilities and limits. We learn of our own and other's aspirations, how we can interact with others, nature, and space. The Dance can be a mirror and reflection of our souls. It allows us to express love as well as pain, to play, to create...

We know that dance as a form of expression is as old as the history of existence - everyone dances in one way or another. For our ewaBAMIJO brochure, we are collecting a worldwide series of responses, to the question. Why Do YOU Dance??? and as we receive responses via email, Twitter and Facebook, we post them HERE and on the blog www.ewabamijo.blogspot.com. So go ahead, tell us why you dance!

www.ewabamijo.com
info@ewabamijo.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chris Aiken (USA) - I dance because it is the thing in life which makes me feel most alive and because of the incredible opportunities dance creates for people to come together and to be creative.

Ajagbe Moriam (Nigeria) - I dance 4 fun n 2 relief me 4m stress.

Laurie Charlier (France) - It makes something in my body that i can't explain, it's like a heatwave, i forgot everything around me and all my emotions are living in my movements.

Rasul Ademilola Adelakun (Nigeria) - I can't really tell, music alwaays get to me, once i hear music i dance, its just in my soul to dance.

Lara James (Nigeria) - Dance? for me its abinibi not ability.its spiritual cos when i dance i do forget everything around me.its also a form expression,sexual,power,love,anger,anxiety,name it.i remember april 25th 2004.i lost my dad 4pm on a sunday and i had to be on stage at 9pm with femi kuti.i was there and nobody knew i lost my dad until after d show cos i cried my heart out after d show.

Jules Beckman (France/USA) - Dance to get thru life, to get thru death, to grieve, to feel connected to earth, sky. to connect to the present. dance to forgive. dance to remember. dance for a vision. to connect with ancestors. dance as prayer. dance as mutation and as Resistance. dance to get my body back from the media that wants me to hate myself so they can sell me stuff. dance to thaw out. dance the numbness away. dance to make the bones breathe. dance the body transparent. dance against disease. dance to bust a move to bust out to change my mind. to lose my mind and come to my senses. dance with my kids. children love dance. dance to make friends. at a jam, at a club, in the street, on stage, in the kitchen...cuz life is much too short to be shy.

Olanrewaju Akanbi (Nigeria)
I dance to relax. To show excitement.
I dance to announce my level of merriment.
I dance, Oh yes I love to dance...
I dance at different times for different reasons.
I do different kinda dance at different seasons.
I dance to calm my nerves when there's allota preasure.
I dance when there seems to be a lot to treasure.
I dance when God had done it, is doing it, or when I have to convince Him to - or even for thanking Him in anticipation believing He had done it...
Why do I dance? I already told ya.

Lawla Gmore (Nigeria)
WhY do I dance? Dats a good question. I dance because it makes me feel alive, I dance because I love to, I dance because when am dancing I feel whole. Dancing has become a part of me even though am not a professinal dancer, I dance when d inspiration sets on me, I dance when am feeling low in d spirit, I dance when am happy, to excercise I dance, when am even in d shower I dance, I even dance in my tots. Its funny thinking dat my whole life I have been dancing and I never tot of it. Q'dance u know like I do dat dancing will always be an important part of life cuz u can never be sad or unhappy when dancing. Now ask me why do I dance again and I will tell u I dance because it lightens up my life.

Damil Huthman (Nigeria)
I dance because it makes me feel better and improves my self esteem.

Bolanle Ishola (Nigeria)
We dance 2 celebrate life,while some dance 2 express their feelings,we also dance 2 exercise our body&ease our pains

Uche Uwadinachi (Nigeria)
I dance to regain a lost consciousness.

Alex Rodabaugh (USA) - If I were to ever stop dancing, my life would lose the magic, beauty and amazement that I keep deep in my heart. Plus it would be such a waste of my hyper-extension.

adashu israel (Nigeria)

Dance is a necessary ingredient for living as well as an integral part of the human life.  It is a powerful tool of expression for the human mind and way of life (culture). Similarly, dance is a tool of communication between humans, well as their relationship with supernatural forces. Against this background, humans engage in dancing activities to appease supernatural beings in moments of great ordeal. On the other hand, people dance to indicate a sign of respect to instituted authority or acceptance for visitors etc. However, the life of an African is a perpetual celebration, which implies that the African is a perpetual dancer. In Africa, every occasion presents an opportunity for dancing. Dance is necessary ingredient in naming, wedding, burial, traditional and other ceremonies. In sum, dance is the expression of the joys and the pains of the human mind. There is hardly a dancing performance without a message communicated no matter how absurd the message is. 

ewaBAMIJO now bi-annual, goes international

July 09, 2009 
ewaBAMIJO now bi-annual, goes international
By Chuks Nwanne. The Guardian.

INITIATED in 2005 with the aim of expanding the dance frontiers in the country, ewaBAMIJO (EBJ) was then organised as a one-day event that assembled artists of different genres such as dancers, musicians, comedians, poets, actors and journalists to enforce their collective impact on the society.

A brainchild of Yk Projects, an organisation, legally registered and operates between Nigeria and France as an artistic entity, EBJ made efforts to re-unite new generation artists from different sectors of the art, with the intent of promoting creative enterprise especially at the grassroots.

With this year's edition of the event billed to open October 27 through 31, YK Projects has unveiled plans to make the event a bi-annual international festival. In line with the latest change in the nature of the programme, the oragnisers are presently calling for proposals and submission of works of arts from interested members of the public. The submission, according to the team, could be on new/existing or a commissioned work.

Explaining the rational behind the call, the artistic director of the project, Qudus Onikeku informed that the call was geared towards the plan to make the event an international feast.

"With this edition, we call for the renovation of the practices and theoretical interface of contemporary art around the world. The idea is to depart from all pervasive socio-political discourse and fantasies and work together with other kind of artists, scholars, students, critics and our audience. With this, we plan to discover new modes of thinking and develop new analytical tools for dealing with the arts world under our circumstances, and bring attention to the 'limits of globalisation'."

The emphasis on the new and existing works, Onikelu explained, "we wish to present original boundary-breaking, cutting edge, socially-engaged performance works to people from all walks of life. We are particularly, though not exclusively, interested in collaborative interdisciplinary works that reunite two or more artistic expressions. We will not accept works less than 15 minutes or more than 30 minutes."

For commissioned works, interested applicants are expected to focus on specific works that could be performed in public and non-conventional spaces.

"Not plays or specific dance pieces in this context, but performance art pieces and performance installations. However, public space acts, improvisations, road shows etc, made by interesting collaborative teams or individuals will attract our interest."

Proposals from interested Nigerians should be "submitted online through proposals@ewabamijo.com, indicating which component you wish to apply for, outlining the form and the content of the piece, the creative team, the type of venue and size of performance, latest by August 10, 2009. An audio or video sample of your work would be advantageous.

"Selected participants should be ready to collaborate with other disciplines. The creative team of ewaBAMIJO might find different proposals from two or more distinct artists, prepositional to merge ideas, but no decision shall be taken without their consent," Qudus pledged.

Within its few years of existence, Yk Projects has left its imprint on the subconscious of dance community globally as the outfit gets more involved in the contemporary dance and circus art discourse in Africa, Europe and America at large, through stage performances, street happenings, archives of dance related materials, documentary films, articles, blogging, workshops and participation in big festivals and conferences.

Its activities include creations and performances (mainly dance, new circus art and street arts with the fusion of other media), coverage and documentation of art related profiles for media and archival purposes, event organizations such as ewaBAMIJO, public jams, workshops and conferences.

Message to our volunteers

Good day Good people.

As WE move ahead with OUR never ending aspiration... ewaBAMIJO is improving from day to day, and in the past days, we've received several emails requesting for detail for volunteering. WE are resending this mail to answer such questions and for the benefit of our new members. 

As part of our strategies to achieve our objectives: We've put in place the EBJ ONE MINUTE media campaign, with notable faces like Amb. Olusegun Olusola, Prof Ahmed Yerima, Tunde Kelani, Asa, Nomoreloss and Dj jimmy jatt. This kicks off a months prior the festival, this will be proffered with a high sense of esteem and professionalism, and well broadcast nationwide, it is our own way of getting the public aware of such existence though such endorsement.

We have as well began EBJ mobilisation of a minimum of 100 volunteers to adhere to the festival as EBJ volunteers, to host the over 500 guests and participant coming from other parts of the country, as well as from outside the country. This we believe will in a way create relationships, and at the same time, give people a sense of ownership of the festival to a certain level.

So this is where we feel the need to begin a concrete relationship with our adherents on facebook, we already have few volunteers who shall be coming in from inside and outside Nigeria, and we seek more volunteers from every part of the world, and the objectives laid down for our volunteers are pretty simple.

PRE EBJ VOLUNTEERS -

*SPREAD THE WORD ON FACEBOOK
*INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK TO JOIN THE GROUP
*TAG YOURSELF IN ANY OF THE EBJ PHOTOS ON THE GROUP AND USE THEM AS YOUR PROFILE PIX.
*GIVE SUGGESTIONS AND BE PART OF DISCUSSIONS ON THE GROUP.
VISIT THE GROUP AT LEAST ONCE IN A WEEK FOR UPDATES.

EBJ VOLUNTEERS - FOR THE EBJ PROPER.

AS PART OF OUR STRATEGIES OF CREATING A WHOLE NEW IMAGE OF WHO LAGOSIANS ARE TO OUR INVITED GUESTS AND WHAT LAGOS IS ALL ABOUT.

*EBJ IS PLANNING A TOUR AROUND SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND HIGHER INSTITUTIONS IN LAGOS, WE NEED VOLUNTEERS.
*WE NEED GOOD PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN LAGOS AND CAN VOLUNTEER, TO ACCOMMODATE ONE OR TWO PEOPLE COMING IN FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY OR OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.
*WE NEED GOOD PEOPLE TO HOST OUR INVITED GUEST FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD DURING THE ENTIRE PERIOD OF THE FESTIVAL.
*WE NEED VOLUNTEERS TO BE AT OUR TICKET SALES OUTLETS AROUND LAGOS.
*WE NEED USHERS AND GATE KEEPERS DURING THE INDOOR EVENTS.
*AND FINALLY WE NEED TO CREATE A FESTIVE MOOD.

BENEFIT FOR VOLUNTEERS -

WE ARE VERY MUCH AWARE OF THE FACT THAT, NO AMOUNT PAID TO OUR VOLUNTEERS WILL BE ENOUGH TO SAY THANK YOU, AND AS WE ALSO INITIATE SUCH IDEA BASED ON A SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, WE CAN ONLY RECIPROCATE BY SHOWING KIND GESTURES.

*EVERY VOLUNTEER THAT TAKE PART IN MAKING THIS FIRST INTERNATIONAL EDITION OF EBJ A SUCCESS, GETS HIM OR HERSELF A FREE TICKET TO ALL INDOOR EVENTS, AN EBJ T.SHIRT, HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE FURTHER INSIGHT TO THE PERFORMING ARTS WORLD AND GETTING CLOSER TO PRACTITIONERS. FINALLY WE ARE DEDICATING THE CENTER SPREAD OF OUR MIND-BLOWING PROGRAM OF EVENT TO ALL THE NAMES OF OUR VOLUNTEERS, NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY ARE, WHICH ALSO WIN THEM A COPY EACH, AND THIS WILL BE DESIGNED IN COLLABORATION WITH SWITCHEDONNAIJA MAGAZINE.

FOR ANTICIPATING VOLUNTEERS PLEASE DROP YOUR CONTACTS AND A BRIEF OF YOU IN ykprojectsng@gmail.com or info@ewabamijo.com

LET'S THROW LIGHT ON THE CITY OF LAGOS. AND SHOW TO THE WORLD THAT THERE ARE SHORT-CUTS TO HAPPINESS.

BEST REGARDS.

Qudus ONIKEKU.
Artistic Director
ewaBAMIJO.
www.ewabamijo.com

Lagos in multiple DANCE mode.

Lagos are you ready for this?

There used to be arts festivals in Lagos but this year will be a different year with a different statement. Without being complex, this is simply called THE DANCE REVOLUTION.

We would like to inform you that ewaBAMIJO will be collaborating with TRUFESTA (a dance festival organised by Dayo Liadi - IJODEE), Dance Meet Danse festival (organised by the French Cultural Center) and WiAiA (in collaboration with SPARCK). 
All working hand in hand, so as to have a better and more successful Dance experience without loosing the aims and objectives of each festival.

PLEASE NOTE THE DATES.

26th of October through 1st of November.
Dance meet Danse festival 
27th till 31st of October.
ewaBAMIJO interdisciplinary arts Festival 
26th till 31st of October.
TRUFESTA International workshop with guest Choreographers/Dance Teachers
Ist to 3rd of November 
ewaBAMIJO writers' forum (WiAiA in collaboration with SPARCK. South Africa)
1st till 8th of November.
TRUFESTA festival 

All these are happening in Lagos almost at the same time so its the best time to be in Lagos.

For those who are traveling into Lagos. It is highly advisable to book your flight tickets ahead of time, you should figure out the best comfortable option for you to travel with, you have all the dates above and for the hotels, as soon as we get your request for participation, we shall let you know the options on ground.
For further details send us an email on info@ewabamijo.com

NB: The doors are still opened for volunteers.

Thanks for joining in this journey.

Regards. 

Yk Projects.
+2348055276317
www.ewabamijo.com

ewaBAMIJO : CALL FOR PROPOSALS AND SUBMISSION OF NEW/EXISTING WORKS

WHO WE ARE.
Yk Projects is a small scale organisation, legally registered and operates between Nigeria and France as an Artistic entity, it constantly re-unites new generation artists from different sectors of the art, for the execution and dissemination of artistic and socio-cultural projects, all with the intentions of creating an alternative landscape for the local audience to be aware of the arts through out door performances, new media and publications.
Yk Projects has left her imprint in the subconscious of many around the globe, getting more involved in the contemporary dance and circus art discourse in Africa, Europe and America at large, through stage performances, street happenings, archives of dance related materials, documentary films, articles, blogging, workshops and participation in big festivals and conferences.

ACTIVITIES
Our main activities include creations and performances (Mainly Dance, New circus art and Street arts with the fusion of other media), Coverage and documentation of art related profiles for media and archival purposes, event organizations such as ewaBAMIJO, public jams, workshops and conferences.

ewaBAMIJO.

ewaBAMIJO is a bi-annual festival for interdisciplinary arts, specially dedicated to infecting the city of Lagos and establishing relationships through DANCE, CIRCUS, COMEDY, MUSIC, DANCE DRAMA, SPOKEN WORD, PERFORMANCE ART and other interdisciplinary art forms, under one dance umbrella, that brings about conferences, debates, film screening and performances. EBJ 2009 will hold from 27th to 31st October 2009.

Since 2005 Yk Projects organised EBJ locally in Lagos, with the aim of expanding and merging the dance frontiers with other local artistes. In 2005 and 2006, EBJ was organised as a one-day event that gathered artistes of different genres, amongst which are dancers, musicians, comedians, poets, actors and journalists, to come under one dance umbrella, as means of enforcing our collecting impact on the society. EBJ will later become a bi-annual and international event from 2009, but still dedicated to local development.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS.
The Self Imagining of EBJ is an étude in negation. Neither global nor local; Neither Western nor African; Neither mainstream nor independent, Neither tourist spectacle nor high art. Not multiculturalism; Not tribalism; Not showcase of new stars; Not competition for superiority; Not a patriotic celebration of our heroes and wins... With this edition, we call for the renovation of the practices and theoretical interface of contemporary art around the world, to depart from its all pervasive socio-political discourse and fantasies, but work together with other kind of artists, scholars, students, critics and our audience, to discover new modes of thinking and develop new analytical tools for dealing with the arts world under our circumstances, and bring attention to the 'limits of globalisation'.

ewaBAMIJO has several components that revolve around this year’s theme:

1. New/Existing Works.
2. Commissioned Works.
3. Invited Works (strictly by invitation).

We are inviting interested Artistes from all over Nigeria to apply to participate in the New/Existing Works and/or with a Commissioned Work.

NEW/EXISTING WORKS.
For the 2009 edition of ewaBAMIJO, we wish to present original boundary-breaking, cutting edge, socially-engaged performance works to people from all walks of life, including the media, and provide a platform for Dancers, Actors, Musicians, Comedians, Poets, Circus artistes, Performance artists as well as Spoken word artists, to collaborate with others from different backgrounds and disciplines in making innovative, provocative, thought-provoking, non-commercial performance works; We are particularly, though not exclusively, interested in collaborative interdisciplinary works that reunites two or more artistic expressions. Please note that we do not accept works less than 15 minutes or more than 30 minutes.

COMMISSIONED WORKS.
We are also calling for proposals for new performance works. Site-specific works that could be performed in public and non conventional spaces. We are not looking for ‘plays’ or specific 'dance pieces' in this context, but Performance art pieces, performance installations, public space acts, improvisations, road shows etc. made by interesting collaborative teams or individuals will attract our interest.

If this project appeals to you please apply with a detailed proposal indicating which component you wish to apply for, outlining the form and the content of the piece, the creative team, the type of venue and size of performance. Technical details if necessary, C.Vs, clear photographs of the creative team or one that represents the piece should be included, an audio or video sample of your work would be advantageous. Your proposal must be clear and convincing. Proposals should be submitted online through proposals@ewabamijo.com, and it MUST reach us latest by 10th of August 2009.

Only selected works shall be contacted before 15th of September 2009. Selected participants should be ready to collaborate with other disciplines. The creative team of ewaBAMIJO might find different proposals from two or more distinct artists, propositional to merge ideas, e.g A dance piece with a poet, a musician with a dancer... but no decision shall be taken without your consent.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Regards.

Qudus ONIKEKU
Artistic Director and Project coordinator
ewaBAMIJO

CURATORIAL NOTE on EBJ

CURATORIAL NOTE for the1st edition of the Biennial.


HOME and ABROAD.

For the curatorial discourse of this 2009 edition of ewaBAMIJO, we propose "HOME and ABROAD" as the theoretical basis from which we hope to explore our critical vision. under the Artistic direction of Qudus ONIKEKU.

Context and Rationale:

Contemporary dance in Africa has struggled for a while to overcome problems like accessibility by local audience, finance and lack of Infrastructures, power and lacks critically in legislation. Dance-forms other than traditional dances in contemporary Africa, are very similar to all imported or foreign activities in the society at large, reserved particularly for the expatriates and the elite class, it is obviously there present in the society but it has been suspending and surviving in a sort of extinction, never had the ability to come to rest and be integrated in the society we operate. Moreover, there is only a thin line between the artiste and his society, paradoxically we get fame and gain grounds outside our primary society, and all these is as a result of the standards and circumstances at which we operate our art "HOME and ABROAD."

We are convinced that the notion of HOME for many artist of the 21st century varies, it could be only but, a series of thoughts, images and sensations - a CONCEPT - a cherished aspiration, ambition and ideal, it perhaps exist only in our self/deluding fantasy - Not in real-time. Maybe this earth is an eternal ABROAD after all, and so said Faustine Linyekula 'Maybe my only county is my body', but on what basis does our art excel at 'home'? The art market or its practice? Our proposition of "HOME and ABROAD" as the theme for this first international edition of ewaBAMIJO, is not a denial of the existence, importance and rewards of this intellectual tradition; but in many ways to further seek a place for the entrenchment of cultural and racial, economic and other fundamental differences under the machinery of globalisation.

Reality has proved to us that, due to our lack of infrastructure and audiences structure, many African creators make their works ready mostly for exportation in order to survive as artistes, not only for economic balance, but for their sanity and survival of their creativity, productivity, and pride in the companies they run, this irreproachable trend also have a reverse effect on our primary society. As we have seen in the recent past that a higher percentage of African audience has practically lost interest of live arts to showbiz and home movies, The basic interest of this initiation is primarily to review our basis and bring back attention to the Theatre. We believe that at this present point of our encounters, after many decades of pre|post colonial exchanges and several hand shakes with the world, it is high time we became focused on internal issues. More so, as we live in a new media world saturated with technological advancement, coupled with our vast resource of indigenous professionals, we only need to appropriate all these ready made elements as our own means and apparatus, as well as using maximized effort to sculpt our art face and divert some sluggish energy into a steady and positive change reaction.

A moment of reflection around DANCE in contemporary African...

History itself is shaped and written in bias towards the present day reality, and slightly directed to favour the orientation at which the future is dreamt of by the powerful, and so as contemporary dance in Africa, America and Europe and elsewhere where 'political correctness' matter, the ideals and the writings of contemporary dance on a global world-view has enriched itself on the inevitable notion of identity, race, gender and class. Far from identifying the contemporaneity of our dance in Africa or branding it for that matter, but approaching it from a viewpoint which doesn't ignore the state of affairs of our collective economic, social, political and cultural reality as a people. In the era of post colonialism, post modernism and post world war II, other art forms had exercised continuous revolutionary concepts that transformed into leading discourses guarded by 'political correctness'. As 'African' dance practitioners, it is inevitable to disregard the question of identity, color and other baggage of history, due to the direct exposure of our naked bodies and the visible twist of cultural expressions, which has in turn triggered a series of resistance in the part of traveling dance practitioners, as against exoticism and second class validation, if not third. However, this construction and continuous resistance have also adversely developed an institutionalised pluralistic landscape that has today turned into a combative affirmation of an ideology, and unfortunately a new form of stereotyping.

For some years, major international organisations and parastatals around the world, have worked towards building up 'discursive platform for a cacophony of African voices' outside Africa, and emphasizing 'correctness' in cultural politics; these have of course created more talks that hinder actions, it has stated more obvious problems than proposing solutions, but unconsciously succeeded to the neglect of the core existence of the young and alternative artist's project in the continent, creating further fiesta of the ex-colony and the ex-colonised, an independent pursuit of illusive relationship through artistic endeavors. Fundamental problems transformed into cocktails and social rendezvous of the dominant sect, through which the new order is defined to create restriction for liberal artistic expressions. In this first edition of EBJ we wish to draw attention to the 'political (in)correctness' of traditional trends which led to the dominative power play of multiculturalism, globalisation, identity politics and post-colonial discourse. Urgent issues facing contemporary dance today, that we wish to make a scandal of is; How do we establish an 'ethics of difference and mutual respect' within the framework of dissimilarities in cultural production and functionality? Is DANCE in contemporary Africa: An imported household branding or a local craft for export? How do we prevent 'Hegemony' without sacrificing the grounds already gained against the power status quo at Home and Abroad? By Re/Moving boundaries, are we certain of creating larger territory for dreams?

Core principles of the EBJ biennial: Negations

Africa has been told and shown constantly through western eyes, and in funny way we end up seeing ourselves through western judgment. To trail the proposition of the 3rd GUANGZHUO Triennial, ewaBAMIJO may be as well understood as a locus of questions for the international art world, boom time of fresh breeds hailing from cities yet to come around the world, as history has been written based on the intuition of a few and rules always made for us to follow, we have the conviction that there are lots of lies in history and we are set to deny everything regarded as 'truth' to lead the way for our discovery, the existence of this Biennial will be a process of discovery for ourselves; not just the fulfilling of preconceived ideas. Instead of claiming what this Biennial 'is', we wish to find out what it should not be.

The Self Imagining of ewaBAMIJO is an Ètude in Negation ...

Neither global nor local; Neither Western nor African; Neither mainstream nor independent, Neither tourist spectacle nor high art. Not multiculturalism; Not tribalism; Not post-colonialism; Not identity politics; Not sociological report; Not alternative modernity; Not showcase of new stars; Not competition for superiority; Not a celebration of our heroes and wins, Not further affirmation of all possible swear words, such as **gritudism... By saying 'Home and Abroad' we call for the renovation of the practices and theoretical interface of contemporary dance around the world, to depart from its all pervasive socio-political discourse, but work together with other kind of artists, scholars, students, critics and our audience, to discover new modes of thinking and develop new analytical tools for dealing with today's world, and bring attention to the 'limits of globalisation'.

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Yk Projects.
info@ewabamijo.com
+2348055276317

Latest on ebj

If you've been wondering what's next on EBJ. the media campaign took us round the doorsteps of the following confirmed EBJ Dance Ambassadors:

Dr Ahmed Yerima,
Ambassador Segun Olusola
Tunde Kilani
Jimmy Jatt
Peter Badejo (OBE)
ASA
and Nomoreloss.

On the other side of the Mediterranean sea, Qudus Onikeku, the EBJ Dance guru himself, held Paris in hostage and he is set to take the gospel of EBJ round Sao Paolo, Belo Horizonte (Brazil), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Bogota (Colombia), Maine and New York (USA). With the aim of creating new and lasting relationship with other territories other than our familiar acquaintances in Europe.

See this for yourself and share the word.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=93707865876&ref=mf...

EBJ will be kicking off with its strategic international relation and mobilisation in Sao Paolo, Brazil on the 8th of June 2009, hosted by the Matilha Cultural; http://matilhacultural.com.br/. It will be followed by a cinema screening of our documentary film "Do we need cola cola to dance" and a Non conventional space performance on the 13th of June 2009...

Followed by a second Showing in New York on the 25th of July 2009, also followed by a studio screening of "Do we need cola cola to dance" and a solo Performance hosted by the Dance Theatre Workshop. New York. http://www.dancetheaterworkshop.org/

A third showing will be during a residency at the Bates Festival between 19th of July - 9th of August 2009, with a cinema screening of "Do we need cola cola to dance" and two solo Performances on 6th and 7th of August 2009, during the "Different Voices" Hosted by the bates Dance Festival in Portland Maine. http://abacus.bates.edu/dancefest/performcalendar.php

----------------------------------------------------
Watch out for more intriguing update on the journey to EBJ 2009. Before then, HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE YOU INVITED TO JOIN THE GROUP ? Its not enough to support by sending us email and wishing us success, no one can clap with one hand, it will be appreciated if you can go to the group page and click on the Invite people to get all your friends list to join the train, that will not cost so much and also join the discussion board to let's hear your views...

LATEST ON THE DISCUSSION BOARD;

is DANCE a Sport?

Following a long argument in an online forum, whether DANCE is a sport or not, i found it interesting as a topic to discuss, i have curled two significant point made by two distinct persons, one for and the other against such notion

Brittiny Catalano stated that
"1) Dancers are physically fit and need conditioning. they work extremely hard and train till they cant walk anymore and then continue on...
Visit http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=51419822397&topic=9287 to let your voice be heard.

Yk Projects. Nigeria
+2348055276317
info@ewabamijo.com

Redesigning Lagos Nigeria

Join the EBJ CAMPAIGN train !

Hello Good People of this great World.

As WE move ahead with our never ending aspiration, Ewa Bami Jo is improving from day to day, our list of partners, sponsors and interested individual is getting longer by the day. Also in that line we keep building on the concept of the festival.

As part of our strategies to achieve our objectives: We've put in place the EBJ ONE MINUTE media campaign, which kicks off two months prior the festival, where we engage various celebrities and public figures telling us “What dance means to them...”and this will be proffered with a high sense of esteem and professionalism, and well broadcast nationwide, it is our own way of getting the public aware of such existence though such endorsement.

We have as well began EBJ mobilisation of a minimum of 100 students of performing arts in all the three major universities in Lagos to adhere to the festival as volunteers, to host the over 500 students and scholars coming from other parts of the country, as well as over 300 participants coming in from outside the country, giving them the possibility of getting closer to either professionals of their chosen career or fellow arts students coming in from other parts of the country, this we believe will in a way create relationships, and at the same time, give them a sense of ownership of the festival to certain level.

So this is where we feel the need to begin a concrete relationship with our adherents on facebook. Ewa Bami Jo is an event specially dedicated to throwing glitz and glamour on the city of Lagos through DANCE, CIRCUS, COMEDY, MUSIC, DRAMA, SPOKEN WORD and other interdisciplinary art forms. It operates under the auspices of a NON PROFIT organisation. Thus, we seek volunteers from every part of the world, and the objectives laid down for our volunteers are pretty simple.

PRE-EBJ VOLUNTEERS -

*SPREAD THE WORD ON FACEBOOK, MYSPACE, TWITTER, HI5 OR ANY FORUM YOU ARE ON.
*INVITE ALL YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK TO JOIN THE GROUP
*TAG YOURSELF IN ANY OF THE EBJ PHOTOS ON THE GROUP AND USE THEM AS YOUR PROFILE PIX.
*GIVE SUGGESTIONS AND BE PART OF DISCUSSIONS ON THE GROUP.
VISIT THE GROUP AT LEAST ONCE IN A WEEK FOR UPDATES.

EBJ VOLUNTEERS - FOR THE EBJ PROPER.

AS PART OF OUR STRATEGIES OF CREATING A WHOLE NEW IMAGE OF WHO LAGOSIANS ARE TO OUR INVITED GUESTS AND WHAT LAGOS IS ALL ABOUT.

*WE NEED GOOD PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN LAGOS AND CAN VOLUNTEER, TO ACCOMMODATE ONE OR TWO PEOPLE COMING IN FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY OR OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD.
*WE NEED GOOD LOOKING PEOPLE TO HOST OUR INVITED GUEST FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD DURING THE ENTIRE PERIOD OF THE FESTIVAL.
*WE NEED GOOD PEOPLE WHO WILL BE IN CHARGE OF THE FESTIVAL KITCHEN THAT WE SHALL BE MOUNTING.
*WE NEED VOLUNTEERS TO BE AT OUR TICKET SALES OUTLETS AROUND LAGOS.
*WE NEED USHERS AND GATE KEEPERS DURING THE INDOOR EVENTS.
*AND FINALLY WE NEED TO CREATE A FESTIVE MOOD.

BENEFIT FOR VOLUNTEERS -

WE ARE VERY MUCH AWARE OF THE FACT THAT, NO AMOUNT PAID TO OUR VOLUNTEERS WILL BE ENOUGH TO SAY THANK YOU, AND AS WE ALSO INITIATE SUCH IDEA BASED ON A SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, WE CAN ONLY RECIPROCATE BY SHOWING KIND GESTURES.

*EVERY VOLUNTEER THAT TAKE PART IN MAKING THIS FIRST INTERNATIONAL EDITION OF EBJ A SUCCESS, GETS HIM OR HERSELF A FREE TICKET TO ALL INDOOR EVENTS, AN EBJ TSHIRT, HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE FURTHER INSIGHT TO THE PERFORMING ART WORLD AND GETTING CLOSER TO PRACTITIONERS. FINALLY WE ARE DEDICATING THE CENTER SPREAD OF OUR MIND-BLOWING PROGRAM OF EVENT TO ALL THE NAMES OF OUR VOLUNTEERS, NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY ARE, WHICH ALSO WIN THEM A COPY EACH, AND THIS WILL BE DESIGNED IN COLLABORATION WITH SWITCHEDON MAGAZINE.

FOR ANTICIPATING VOLUNTEERS PLS DROP YOUR CONTACTS AND A BRIEF OF YOU INYKPROJECTSNG@GMAIL.COM. OR ONIKEKU@YKPROJECTS.COM. YOU CAN AS WELL LET YOUR INTENTION KNOWN ON THIS POST AND WE SHALL GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU FOR MORE BRIEFS.

LET'S THROW LIGHT ON THE CITY OF LAGOS. AND SHOW TO THE WORLD THAT THERE ARE SHORT-CUTS TO HAPPINESS.

BEST REGARDS.

Qudus ONIKEKU.
Artistic Director
Ewa Bami Jo.