LAGOS PARTNERS FOUNDATION IN DANCE COMPETITION
The Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, in collaboration with the Dance Deal Training Foundation, has organized 2nd Season of its dance competition tagged: “Forward Dance Championship” for 120 Public Schools in the six Educational Districts in Lagos.
The Championship which was held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, had in attendance participants from both Junior and Senior Public Secondary Schools in the State.
Dance Deal Training Foundation, with support from Corporate Dance World organized the competition with the theme ’50, Excellent and More’ to celebrate and commemorate the 50th anniversary of Lagos state.
It was a regional competition with a total of 120 schools from the six educational districts in Lagos. Subsequently, the winning schools from each district were selected to compete at the final stage, where one school will emerge as the 2017 Forward Dance Champion. The winning school will also be provided with state-of-the-art performing arts studios.
Speaking at the event, the State Acting Commissioner, State Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Mrs. Adebimpe Akinsola said one of the visions of Governor Akiwunmi Ambode for the creative industry is to tap into the creative mind of the youth to develop the talents in them, stressing that dance, music, photography and arts are important parts of the tourism industry that are yet to be fully explored and optimized.
She said such artistic promotion which the dance competition represents is what the State government initiative, Tourism, Hospitality Entertainment and Sport Excellence (T.H.E.S.E) project is set to achieve through various platforms for the youth in the State.
On his part, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr. Ashimi Adewale said having been a part of the successful maiden edition, and seeing the positive impact of the competition on the children, the Ambode-led administration is delighted to partner with Foundation for the second season of the laudable “Forward Dance Championship”.
Adewale maintained that the competition will help the young ones focus and channel their energy into other forms of positive engagement that will impact on their future.
Speaking on the purpose of the competition and the motivation behind it, President of The Dance Deal Training Foundation and Artistic Director of Corporate Dance World, Bimbo Obafunwa expressed the gratitude of the organisation in partnering with the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism, Arts, and Culture for the 2nd edition of the Forward Dance Championship.
She stated that this year’s edition was bigger and better than that of the 1st edition, noting that the focus of the Foundation is to discover talents in youths, help them harness these talents accurately in order to give them an opportunity to pursue their dance dreams.
According to her, this has necessitated the provision of performing arts studios in these schools, where they students are able to build the right arts culture, through exposure to the right environment. “Our goal is to ensure these studios exist in every public school in Lagos”, she said.
At the end of the Championship, Mende High School which emerged first prize winner received a sum of N400, 000 while Gbaja Girl’s Senior High School emerged second place, and received N200, 000. Agbaju Senior Secondary School came third and received a sum of N100, 000.