By Nkasiobi Oluikpe – Lagos
Etinosa Ewere, David Aduragbemi and Efe Nosa.
It is apparent that dance business in Nigeria has found its way into the hearts of many Nigerians. The proliferation of reality shows in the country underscores this fact.
One of such is the recently concluded Airtel sponsored, Nigeria’s Got Talent which debuted two years ago. The first season of this show witnessed the emergence of dancer/violinist, Amarachi Uyanne as the overall winner with a prize of N10 million.
The Season two, which ended a few weeks ago, saw the duo of Benson Idahosa University, Efe Nosa and Etinosa Ewere -The Robotics for Christ carting away the prize money of N10 million.
The telecommunications giant, Airtel, must have capitalized on the successes of similar talent shows in Britain and the US to throw its weight behind the Nigeria’s Got Talent show.
Daniel ‘A-String’ Azuka, emerged first runner up while David Adekoya Aduragbemi was second runner up.
Drummer boy David, is just a nine year old pupil of St. Anne’s Nursery and Primary School.
David, the third child of his parents, though not yet a teenager, participated in last year’s Teens Got Talent reality show held at Ibadan, Oyo State and won the grand prize with his drumming.
Though he has been drumming since he was four years old; his passion hasn’t in any way affected his academic performance as he came third in his last term examination.
Young David has been watching Mike Johnson, the best drummer in the world. And each time he watches him, he tells himself he would one day become like Johnson.
To encourage him to be who he wants to be; his father bought him a set of drum to practice at home.
One of the advantages of having enlightened parents is that they identify the best in their children and give them all the encouragement to excel.
David is not the only one in his family with a exceptional talent. His elder sister is a gifted singer while his elder brother also plays the keyboard and drums as well.
Considering his age, one expected him to have felt bad at having lost at the finals.
Rather he declared, “I felt happy, at least I thank God that He helped me to make it to the top three.”
Although he looks forward to being an architect, his drums he said, shall always be part of his life.
Weeks after the show ended, the duo of Robotics for Christ, are still finding it difficult to believe their fortune.
According to them, “there were a whole lot of good acts in the competition that intimidated and made us wonder at our ability to win”.
Giving all thanks to God for winning; they admitted little David, the drummer boy, was their biggest threat.
Efe and Etinosa were in different dance groups before coming together to form, Robotics for Christ dancing series in 2011.
Efe, conceived the idea, after watching a television programme, ‘Step up at three’ where the dancer, Madd Chadd, did robotics. He really liked it and decided to pick a particular dance move from the show.
Picking it up, he developed on it, rehearsed severally and after Etinosa joined him, they started dancing together at different places and especially, in the churches.
Last year, they joined the Marie Dance Academy whose proprietress, is presently their manager.
Apart from their dance steps, their stage costumes also contributed to their success. This is because each time they mounted the uniqueness of their neon lighting costumes practically brought the stage alive. They were the only group that displayed this kind of costume technology.
Speaking on how they came about this lightening effect, they said: “It was just in this competition that we gave it a trial. At Step Up at Three movie; they also did the lightening effects with their costumes. When we came to this competition, our instructor and manager, Marie, brought up the idea of us doing something different.
“We knew this kind of costume isn’t common among dancers in Nigeria. We then decided to try and make it possible. We met different electricians and even met some electrical engineers at school until we found one. We did the first test with the first costumes at the semi finals, it came out well. So we did a better one for the finals.
As is common in every competition, the participants usually entertain fears and rivalry amongst themselves. It wasn’t any different with the Robotics for Christ.
“At a point, we were scared but along the line, we noticed our acts were different. Robotics is not what you can just wake up one morning and decide to do it. You would have been working on it and must have put in so much effort. That uniqueness, kind of grace gave us the confidence that we can scale through it.
The normal dance routines also need energy, but this is more stressful because you have to jump, move here and there. Robotics requires a whole lot of energy; without your energy, your movements won’t show. It’s just like a normal movement, only that, you strain your muscle. Your muscle can never be relaxed. Though the other dance moves are more exhausting but robotics is more stressful,” they said.
No genuine success story begins on a platter of gold. These Benson Idahosa University undergraduate dancers had to miss their first semester examination because of this competition. But their school was magnanimous enough to make an alternative arrangement for them to write their examinations.
Though they are known basically to do gospel dance, this does not stop them from featuring in other secular events:
“There is a difference between entertainment and ministering. We can actually mix it. We can do this gospel dance and at the same time minister. If you watch our performances in the previous competition, you will see that there is a little bit of secular in it and subsequently, we turn it back to the very reason we dance, which is spreading the gospel.
Since the Robotic moves in ‘Step up at Three’ didn’t have elements of Christianity in it, Efe explained how the idea of including Christ in his own moves came about.
“The robotics in our name is because our basic style is robotic. The Christ was inspired by our school. When you are ministering through dance and you call yourselves robots, it doesn’t make any sense. We have to put something there to make people understand this is what we stand for. So when we dance, it is very easy for them to interpret our dance ministration.
For the duo, winning this competition is just a stepping stone in their dance ministration, as they plan to keep dancing and spreading the good news of the gospel through their act.
As for what they would do with the prize money? Mum is the word from them.
Efe is a four hundred level Computer Science student and a member of Church on the Rock while Etinosa is a two hundred level Computer Science Education student and attends Church of God Mission.