Wainaina: You can earn a good living in choreography

Ian Wainaina’s name is synonymous with dance and choreography. The 35-year-old has been dancing for ages that he can barely remember when he started. He has been able to make an honest living out of dance. The Kenyan dancer was in the country recently for the Swagg Party that featured Wyre at K-Club.Of all paths you could take in life, why a dancer?I liked to dance because when I was a kid we would have parties and our uncles would play us music and award the best dancer amongst us. Later on, I went to a high school that was very artistic, which further built me as a dancer.Professionally, I got into dance almost by mistake. I wanted to do aviation. In the Church I used to attend, there was a dance group. One day, in Church during the rehearsals, I observed that they were doing the shuffle wrong. After thirty minutes of watching them, I walked up to them and told them they were doing it all wrong. After that I became their instructor of sorts. After high school, I began getting gigs after gigs and before I knew it was all I was doing. I did choreography and teaching dance to various groups. Is dance sustainable as a career path?It is. If you work with the right people and the right team, you get far. The problem with most artistes is that they are not consistent and don’t give people value for their money. I try to do that to remain relevant. I am glad to work with Wyre. Previously, I had a group of dancers I used to work with but life happened; some got married, others flew out of the country and others chose a different path.Currently, I am looking to put up a dance agency so that any time someone is looking for choreographers, the agency can be their one stop shop.Do you ever feel weird when people ask you what you do for a living and you say dance?No, that’s what I do. When I first started most people would ask me to get serious as I looked like a joker. My old man kicked me out of the house twice, he said I could go do dance elsewhere. But now he tells me, “I don’t understand what it is that you do but it is perfect for you, keep it up.”I am still working on it, but most people cut me some slack.You have worked with Wyre for long. Do you ever feel like you rose to fame on his wing?It is all my effort. I have had my part to play and I believe I have done it well. We sat down with Wyre years ago when we were both relatively younger in the industry to strategise on how we would find our way in. We decided to do what we would do, not for the money but for the love of it. I don’t mind being behind the scenes as long I can still play my effort.Of all shows, which one will you not forget in a long time?I once did choreography for the MAMAs (MTV Africa Music Awards) with Wyclef Jean and Fally Ipupa. It was a great performance.You are a judge in Sakata, a dance competition in Kenya. Do you think the new breed of dancers are doing it right or they are trying to copy what they see on TV?They are doing it right considering they are self-taught. It is okay to get moves from the Internet and add your creativity into it. They are in the right direction.Any success stories from the dance competition?There has been a lot of growth and exposure. After the competition crews get major contracts. They are now doing choreography for music videos all over Africa and also dance shows. Because of the success stories more people are doing dance professionally.As an accomplished dancer, any word of advice for upcoming dancers?For me it involved a lot of guess work as I didn’t have the advantage of Youtube. But for them there is no excuse for not learning moves and being good at them. They should also be creative to get ahead. Do your research well. Find a niche that will make you stand out and remain consistent.It is not just about dancing; there is a business side to it. Most people only build their artistic side without taking care of the business side and could easily end up frustrated. Others think it is okay to drop out of school as they won’t need it, which is wrong.I have also seen people who were previously successful in dance fall off because of their lifestyles. At times people get big contracts, get good money and suddenly change lifestyles. They spend on booze, women, cars and clubbing and don’t save. From there they are on a down ward trend as they no-longer take rehearsals seriously.

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Wainaina: You can earn a good living in choreography