ESPHAN KAMAU-BBOY SLIM

He must be one of the most animated dancers of our time. My guest today needs no particular introduction to dance fanatics and dance lovers. His skills are unmatched; his image is just right and when he moves he speaks volumes.

OFFICIAL NAMES: Esphan Kamau

BBOY SLIM

STAGE NAME: Bboy Slim

HOOD YOU REP: Buruklynn

CREW YOU REP: Dashy Krew & All Blaxx /Gifted Bboyz

YOU’RE STYLE: Bboying & Krump [a bit of Pop]

DANCE BACKGROUND: Been dancing all my life, but got really serious after finishing High school in ’05 then joined Dashy Krew in Feb 2006. Been in the game ever since n it has brought me dis far.

FASHION AND CLAD: Jeans, Hoody, Ol'skools and my favourite marvin.

HOBBIES: Art, Breakdancing & Video games.
 
DANCE ICON: Shane Sparks, Bboy Roxrite & Taisuke

DEFINE DANCE AND WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU: Simple, dance is oxygen to me, I can’t live without it n most importantly I wouldn’t be where I am if it weren’t for God. I want to change lives n lifestyles of the youth thru dance by making’ them know anyone can do it, you jusgotta have an open mind. Bboying is how I get to express myself, like a painter with his canvas… the ground is my canvas.

BBOY SLIM DOING A CHAIR

TRAINING GROUNDS: My Crib, SOS Village Buru & Sarakasi Dome.

ACCOPLISHMENTS: MGSDA 2008 Kenyan Champs, 3rd MGSDA 2008Pan African Champs, 3rd place Sakata Season 1, 2nd runners up Sakata Season 2, SPA Fest Judge 2010, Battlezone Judge 2011, Battle of the Crewz Judge 2011.


 WHY BBOY SLIM: Back in ’06 when I joined dashy krew, I was the youngest and smallest in the krew… So the dubbed me as Slim. Hence Bboy Slim.

RATING FROM ONE TO TEN WHERE ONE IS THE WORST AND TEN IS THE BEST WHERE WOULD YOU RATE THE KENYAN DANCE SCENE: compared to the rest of the world I’d give Kenya a solid 4, but in terms of growing rapidly and learning new styles…6 

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS YOU THINK WILL PUSH KENYAN DANCE TO THE NEXT LEVEL: Originality!!!

WHO HAVE YOU EVER BATTLED N HE/SHE GAVE YOU THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE: Bboykimzy from Sisko crew. Blizzy from our crew is a real mentor and a great challenger. I have learnt alot from him too.

WHAT IS PHARTZONE: Phartzone Interactive is my creative workspace and portfolio. I provide freelance graphic design & web development for local businesses and individuals. My services range from websites, print materials, company branding & video production. ^{www.phartzone.com}

WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS: Locally I want to help the youth in any way I can, make them realize that they can do anything if they put their minds to it. I deeply aspire to be an international Bboy representing all Kenya all over the world. I am also working hard on my other half-life "phartzone", which will be an advance multimedia company that promotes dancers, artists, theatre and art as a whole.

BBOY SLIM OUT TO REACH FOR THE BEST

HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO BE AT YOUR BEST IN THE DIFFERENT ENGAGEMENTS: God! Prayer and commitment to what you do every day is the best recipe for success.

READ ON THE SOCIAL WEB THAT YOU WERE GOING TO KAMPALA FOR A DANCE GIG. TELL ME ABOUT THAT: Went great, a well-renowned Bboy in Kampala called BboyHeskey from Battle-Holics Crew invited me for the annual Break-fast Championship Finals that were held at the Sharing Youth Center in downtown Kampala. Heskey told me that they had the Break-fast regional through the year and the turn-out was amazing. I was a bit scared to go all that way alone but when I arrived there I felt home, there were freestylers, MCs, graffiti art and the ambience there was so amazing. The kicks and snares in the sound-waves were very welcoming. I was the only Kenyan there and I really dint hold back and it really felt good representing for all the Kenyan Bboyz. I even got to meet top Ugandan Bboys, even they guys that who acted the Bouncing Cats Documentary alongside international Legends like Crazy legs from the Rock-steady Crew from New-york. Heskey will be coming to Kenya and Tanzania for a workshop with more international bboys from Estonia later in November. Can’t wait!

MAKING THE MOVE COUNT-BBOY SLIM

I BELIEVE YOU ARE A GRAPHIC DESIGNER. HOW DO YOU INTEGRATE THAT WITH YOUR PASSION FOR DANCE: Simple, Artist by day, Street-dancer by Night.

DAY AND NIGHT- BBOY SLIM

WHAT WOULD YOU ADVICE THE YOUNGER GENERATION OF DANCERS, DOS AND DON’TS: Believe in yourself people and be ORIGINAL!!! Trying to be someone else is a waste of the person you are!
 
YOU MUST BE ONE OF THE MOST ANIMATED DANCERS I HAVE SEEN BATTLE, YOUR CHEEKY AND HIGHLY EXPRESSIVE. WHERE DOES YOUR INSPIRATION COME FROM: It’s all about releasing yourself when you get on the floor. Like water you let the moves flow and feel the music.

BBOY SLIM GETS ANIMATED

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE THE BEST CREW: Hard-work and determination. Never give-up, anytime you fall or loose, get right back up and try again. Always aim at being the best.

WHAT CHALLENGES HAVE YOU FACED, THOSE YOU CONTINUING TO FACE AS A DANCER AND AS A CREW: Exploitation from event-organizers/artists, rejection from friends/family, rent for dance premises/studios, Hatership… the list is endless but I came to understand that we all learn and get stronger from all these hardships and challenges.

FINAL WORD: Be true to yourself and believe in God. My favorite verse is Prov 16;3… Commit your works to the Lord and you will succeed. Peace out!

BBOY SLIM SAYS, "BE TRUE TO YOURSELF"

PEACE OUT!

HEADPHONES 101

Am not psyched today majorly coz my headphones aren’t working. Its like an addiction and every dancer can attest that among the ‘DON’T TOUCH’ catalogue of possessions, headphones top the log. Well I may be fuzzy on this but according to Wikipedia Headphones are a pair of small loudspeakers which are designed to be held in place close to a user’s ears. The in-ear version is also known as Earphones. Now headset: a combination of headphone and microphone….aaaah okay!

Headphones originated from earpiece and were the only way to listen to electrical audio signals before amplifiers were developed. The first truly successful set was developed by Nathaniel Baldwin, who made them by hand in his kitchen and sold them to United States Navy……totally cool.

Over the years there has been a strong development of headphones and in ear buds.There is a development of headsets which are a combination of headphone/earphone and a microphone. They usually used for voice chats and have become a common accessories for mobile phones. 

MODEL HANDSET WITH A COMPATIBLE SET OF EARPHONES

The headphones are a must have accessory for a dancer, and purely  because they allow the freedom of choice of the playlist, also they allow for a dancer to ignore the rest of the environment to concentrate. The music is closer and feels tangible. This feature of noise cancellation also comes with its down side. There is risk of cancellation of important noises such as car horns, in a factory warning alarms and in most countries the use of headphones while driving is illegal. Some have restricted to using a maximum of one in ear bud while driving.Either way excessive use of an excess of 80db in extended listening can cause partial or complete deafness. Consider this “too much of anything is poisonous”

MODEL HEADPHONES

WHAT IS DB: Decibel is A logarithmic Unit of measurement in acoustics and electronic….Wikipedia baibey. we need an expert on this and who to call…mmmh aaaah got it

In the forth coming series I have found it important to feature  brands like Soul by Ludacris, Sony, Beats by dre and the like as international brands and am looking to talk to a local seller on the brands we have available. Keep it going and as far as it goes remember if you come to my world my Earphones are a don’t touch. They are my companion and my identity. BOOM BOOM CHA.

Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world ― Voltaire

Follow @Dancepeeps 

BATTLE OF THE DANCE CREWS

OFFICIAL NAMES:  DANIEL MAINA MUTURI (Dj Slim Sufficient)

EVENT NAME: BATTLE OF THE DANCE CREWS (season 1).

VENUE:  NAIROBI CINEMA, KENYA.

TIME/DATE:  SATURDAY 25^TH AUGUST, 1PM TO 7PM.

HOST:  SWAP UNIT (A fully registered event management and entertainment company). 

SLOGAN/MOTTO: GIVING YOU THE BEST…….and this is what we want to offer our clients as a company.

WHY THE NAME OF THE EVENT:  The title of the event was inspired by the need to have both established , known and un-established dance groups showcase their best moves on one stage together, and the best way to accomplish this was by creating a BATTLE FIELD that is fair to all.

WHAT INSPIRED THE EVENT: The desire to have one great platform for dancers and a chance to UPLIFT, IDENTIFY AND PROMOTE their dance talent which has for a long time been taken for granted.

WHAT DO WE EXPECT: We expect to have a show never seen before in Kenya, a showdown of the best moves Kenya can offer. We expect a well choreographed dance event that will revolutionize the dance scene in Kenya.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CREWS WE EXPECT TO SEE:  Will have 30 dance crews on 1 stage, so we definitely in for a great experience.

Will have four guest crews SAINTS, ZIONISTS, DICE, SPARTANS.

OTHERS ARE: RELOADED, PHD, DSI, BGP, KRISTOHOLICS, SHRINK, SPYDAZ, FLAMERS, KIPAJI FITI, AL PACHINO, RANDOM, TREMAZ, FLAVA, D-CERIAN, FLIP-ITS, G-CLEFF, ROCKERS, XPLODERS, MASHID, INTRUDERS, GSF, FGT, PLATINUM AND FANTAGIOUS.

             WHATS DIFFERENT WITH THIS EVENT AS COMPARED TO OTHER EVENTS:

1.     It’s a first of a kind Kenyan dance battle where all crews are treated equally.

2.     It’s an event where artists play the background and the dancers take the main attraction.

3.     Our event is not just focused on performance but hugely on GROWTH AND PROMOTION OF DANCE TALENT.


WE HAVE BEEN HAVING CONCERNS RAISED BY DANCERS ABOUT UNQUALIFIED JUDGES.SINCE IT’S A BATTLE WHO ARE THE JUDGES AND WHAT CONSIDERATIONS ARE THERE WHEN PICKING A JUDGE: we have qualified and experienced judges who have eight years experience in dancing , who are dancers themselves and have organized dance events before.

SAY I HAVE A CREW AND I WANT TO PARTICIPATE HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED: You contact this number 0721405090 and get all the details.

BRIEF DESCRIBE DJ SLIM: Dj Slim Sufficient is a humble, talented disc jockey, born and raised in Kenya. My passion for music started way back in school, slowly I found myself standing next to deejays and watching keenly as they played. Thou I had no idea what the deejay was doing on the decks, I just found myself connecting with the music. I decided to get into deejaying seriously and joined a dj academy (spinrejdjs academy) where I was under the capable hands of DjNevs, Dj Mo and DjSadic.  My target is to stand out in my art of deejaying, from scratching, beat matching, juggling, among others.     ALL I CAN SAY FOR NOW IS ONLY TIME WILL TELL, LET’S WATCH THIS SPACE.

          HAVE YOU DONE ANYOTHER EVENTS:  Yes! I have done countless events. From GET TO KNOW CHRIST CONCERT, CHRISTIAN FUN DAY, CLUB XPLORE,DANCE CONNECT, PROJECT UNITY CONCERT etc they are so, so, many. This is because apart from being a Dj I am an event planner and event manager.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACHIEVE WITH THE DIRECTION THAT BATTLE OF THE DANCE CREWS PRESENTS:   I hope to make this an annual event that will celebrate dance talent in a major way in Kenya and to a point where corporate will come in and support dance talent.

WHO ARE YOU WORKING WITH:  Currently am working on this event with a team of 15 people who are dance fanatics and of great input to me. I believe in them and they believe in me so watch out for an event that will blow your minds.

ARE THERE TICKETS AND IF THEY ARE  WHERE CAN I GET ONE AND FOR HOW MUCH: Tickets are available at Nairobi Sports House and at Nairobi Cinema shop.You can also get them throughthe participating dance crews and from SWAP UNIT crew.

WHAT ARE THE RULES FOR PARTICIPATION OF A CREW: simple,be creative, register for the event early and prove to us you have something to offer.

WHAT PRICES ARE UP FOR GRABS FOR WINNERS: We will award Number 1 2 and 3 respectively.we will give all participating crews certificates and definitely ensure that the overall winner will get a lot of support from SWAP UNIT in future.

HOW CAN I FOLLOW THE EVENT DETAILS: You can follow the event on Facebook or Join our group on Facebook- SWAP UNIT

ANYTHING YOU WANT TO TELL GUYZ, DANCE CREWS AND FELLOW DEEJAYS: Watch out you haven’t seen anything yet, this is just  the beginning of things to come. And watch out for SWAP UNIT…..always giving you the best.

DANCEPEEPS APPROVES

 

TRAPPED IN A SUIT-ALL BLACK BBOYS

It’s cold and I probably am justified to say that one of my biggest enemies is procrastination. I want to go for what I want, make my dreams a reality. Don’t take me wrong, Am excited because the blog today is a special piece. Theater meets Dance or is it Art meets Art. As a choreographer, my aim is to be different, creative, speak louder and have a strong impact whenever my performance is experienced. I had a rare opportunity to understand what the fuss for a Saturday the 7^th event dubbed ‘TRAPPED IN A SUIT’ is all about. I talked to Bboy stone of the ALL BACK BBOYS A.k.a “ALL BLAXX”. Cool, humbled and a Man of few words, Bboy stone has been A Break session champ and is admired by many. I like to call him ‘THE DOER’. This is how it went down.

EVENT NAME: Trapped In a Suit

VENUE: Sarakasi Dome, Ngara, opposite the post office (Shan Cinema)

TIME: Saturday 7^th from 1400Hrs-18Hrs

HOST: All Black Bboys and Sarakasi Trust.

Synopsis: This is a production localized to tell a story of a lawyer who loves dancing but due to his commitments, responsibilities and duties he can’t stick to his talent (dance) because it doesn’t pay in Kenya.

ALL BLACK BBOY :  All blaxx is a united Bboy group who want to take bboying in Kenya to another level, not only having street cyphers, we are creating dance productions on theaters to leave the audience stunned and expectant for more. Bboys are known to be stiff but Kenyan Bboys are versatile, they move with swag and dance like no other Bboys out there. We are the best Bboys from different crews: Sisko, S.I.C., Shrink and other Bboy squads.

CAST: The cast is artistic and creative. They include Bboy Stone, Bboy kimzy, Bboy G.tau, Bboy Dee, Bboy Fabo/Miky, Bboy Ghee/Gilly, Bboy Scrappy, Bboy Bonke, Bboy Abush, Bboy Jesse, Bboy Bena, Bboy Wonderland and B girl Antonia.

ABOUT THE SCRIPT: We met and brainstormed together and that’s how we work by putting our ideas together to come up with something amazing.

IT’S AWESOME TO SEE HOW BBOYS WHO BATTLE ALL THE TIME COME TOGETHER AND MAKE AMAZING PRODUCTIONS. THIS IS ASSURE CAN’T MISS.

Follow @Dancepeeps and loving the emails and feedback.

Thank you.

JIMMY GAIT-MAKE IT OR MAKE IT

I HAVE A STRONG FEELING THAT YOU HAVE BEEN ASKED THIS A MILLION TIMES BUT I WILL GO ON AND ASK IT ANYWAY, WHO IS JIMMY GAIT: Jimmy Gait is a simple guy who loves God and people, very focused and a visionary.

JIMMY GAIT

HOW DID YOU GET TO THIS POINT: BEING INFLUENTIAL AND ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED CELEBS: By believing in God and me and believing that I was born to make it or make it in my life. By working hard and shunning any negativity around me hence focusing on positive things around me!

TELL ME ABOUT THE ‘MAKE IT OR MAKE IT CAMPAIGN’: 

THE MAKE  IT OR MAKE IT CAMPAIGN LOGO

This is my heart beat, to tell the youth to believe in God and in one self in order to make it or make it in life. One has to be able to see himself succeeding for him to succeed. This is a movement of youths who are committing themselves to saying that they can’t accept failure in life but success no matter what! It’s about empowering the youth.

FROM “MUHADHARA” TO “OLE” TELL ME HOW THE GROWTH HAS BEEN: It has not been easy but I have stayed focused on my vision and have always desired to improve myself in every way and reinvent myself. I have also learnt to keep people very close to me coz I can’t do it alone…I need people. I have also learnt the importance of having God as my shield for it can be really hard sometimes but with God by your side, you will make it or make it!

WHILE STICKING TO THE SAME, WHO DRESSES YOU COZ YOU SEEM TO HAVE A UNIQUE STRICT CODE OF DRESSING WHICH I MUST ADMIT, ITS COOL AND HYPE: I love style and I have a stylist who understands what I like and brings that to me. I love fitting stuff coz I think I would look funny in buggy ones since I don’t have a big body.

YOU ARE AN ARTIST AND A PERFORMER WHERE DO YOU PLACE DANCERS IN ALL THIS: I love choreographed dance with my dancers and I really appreciate dancers! I think we have the best dancers in Africa man! Our dancers are totally on point and I appreciate watching them perform besides performing with them.

IN YOUR VIDEO “FURIFURI” WITH DK, WHO ARE THOSE DANCERS: Zionists and Altamin.

I NOTICED THAT YOU DANCE MORE ON YOUR PERFORMANCES AND YOUR PIECES ARE USUALLY CHOREOGRAPHED. WHO DOES YOU CHOREOGRAPHY: I have worked with a couple of choreographers including Sarakasi.

TELL ME ABOUT THE “OLE” DANCE-OFF COMPETITION: make It or make it is about empowering the youth, and because I appreciate dancers, I decided to do something to empower them. We are offering 100k to the group that’s going to come up with the best routine for the song OLE, and then all the participating groups will rehearse the dance, and we a gonna shoot  a flash mob for the song! It will also be a platform for all these dancers to be talked to by influential personalities on making it in life. This will happen in 14^th of July so will give out more details on the same.

As a dance blog we acknowledge the efforts that a real performer, such as yourself, put in. what would you tell the dance fraternity to do in order to gain this great influence: As I said earlier, I believe Kenya has the best dancers in the whole of Africa, it’s all about building the brand of each dance group and participate more in big events, shoot videos that can play on Television and that they can shine with. I would appeal to event organizers to pay dancers as they pay artists because I think dancers put in a lot of time to perfect what they do, and also one group has many members. My proposed fee should be from 50,000 to 200,000 depending on how big a dance group is in terms of popularity and membership. I would love to see dancers earn a living from just dancing, just as musicians do!! I pray it happens soon!!

As make it or make it, we want to make this a reality in the near future!!

pictures courtesy of www.diasporagospelartists.com and make it or make it campaign facebook page respectively

follow @jimmygait @makeitormakeit @Dancepeeps 

DANCE EVENTS 102

Besides all this I find time to get together a team of highly motivated young guys to start a Radio station: OctaveRadio. It’s a viral show at first so, I just got there first release and am loving it.

After absorbing what Bboy Harry had to say on “DANCE EVENTS 101” I headed to a group from a well known church that is PCEA Kahawa Farmers and no it’s not a FARMERS ONLY church.

Frank gvinsi is a choreographer and a dancer. He choreographs for Ignitaz; a team of dedicated youths who besides dance being their passion, spreading the gospel is the chief reason for their existence. He is a cool guy who’s friendly and really resourceful as I learnt during the interview:

SOME FORMER AND CURRENT IGNITAZ DANCERS

BESIDES BEING A CHOREOGRAPHER, YOU ARE A DANCER, HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE PRESSURE THAT COMES WITH IT: Being a choreographer is no easy task, you have to be able to listen to other peoples opinion and be open minded. You will face setbacks yes! and some people will make things hard butyou got  to have a heart to continue, you got to know what your purpose is, why you dance in the first place. In short, be ready for anything, that’s just how I make things happen.

WOW LAID BACK AND EASY. I LOVE THE ANGLE BECAUSE PEOPLE IN THE CREW ALWAYS HAVE DIFFERENT IDEAS AND VISION. THE IDEA IS TO MERGE AND MAKE THEM BIG FOR THE WHOLE CREW. SO WHAT COMPETIONS HAVE BEEN TO: True it’s all about incorporating each and every idea that will help in bringing the crew and dance to another level. Competitions include Spa fest, Three Minute dance competition, and our very own homegrown competition in church yaani kuchomana(battling) *hi hi hi* iyo hainaga jina(has not been titled yet).

HA HA HA HA I GET WHAT YOU SAYING NA NAKUJA KUCHOMANA (READ KUCHOMWA) LINI? WHAT ARE THE DIFFICULTIES YOU FACE WHEN PREPARING FOR A COMPE: *Hi hi*…come scrap your pride from the floor. Difficulties, not everyone can catch up really fast when it comes to absorbing routines because different people are good at different dance genres and it is even worse when your time is limited. That is the greatest challenge. Personally I don’t favors any genre I like to be all rounded, contemporary dancing, pulling all stops. That is what it means to be a real dancer.

THAT’S VERY POWERFUL AND I WILL GET BACK AT YOU ON THE PRIDE ONE ONCE YOU TELL ME WHAT BIG SETBACK YOU GET IN DANCE COMPETITIONS OR DANCE SHOWS: hehehe…..heeee #1.dumb judges who are either biased on one genre of dance or they simply know nothing about dance, just because they are famous, they are appointed as judges. Organizers fail to realize that it isn’t about the show but the dancers, their element and talent. #2. People don’t really respect dancers, they see them as a bunch of entertainers, older guys see dance as a waste of time. As a gospel dancer, Yes God comes first, ministry is a must but most organizers take us for granted as if we don’t have needs or worse still; we don’t have bills to pay.

AM THINKING THE MOST IMPORTANT ASSET FOR A DANCER IS A STAGE/FLOOR TO DISPLAY WHAT THEY GOT.WHAT DO YOU THINK: Hem, at some point it is but then again a TRUE DANCER can dance anywhere anytime  You got to learn to adjust to any surface; soft rough small big...imaginary *hi hi hi*

HA HA HA ATE KEE (WHAT) KU SIX STEP KWA HEWA (DOING THE SIX STEP IN THE AIR), NOMA SANA (DOPE). IF YOU HAD A MIC AND A BUNCH OF EVENT ORGANIZERS, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL THEM: Dancers should be respected, appreciated, talent should be nurtured, credit be given where its due…Dance is an art, they should take time to know what it’s all about. Learn to understand.

I CAN’T HELP BUT NOTE THAT BESIDES IT BEING A TOUGH BONE TO BREAK, DANCERS KEEP PRACTICING AND DOING YOUR SUPER BEST BECAUSE WE ARE THE NEW SUPER STARS….SKY.

GVINSI I HAD TO DO THIS: TOTALLY BLOWN AWAY

FROM LEFT: SIMON GITHAIGA NGARA, CATHERINE WAMBUI, CAROL NJERI MWANGI AND GVINSI

PICTURES COURTESY OF PCEA KAHAWA FARMERS

DANCE EVENTS 101

If you are an event organizer then this blog is dedicated to you. Am talking to people who are organizing dance competitions and dance shows. Dance is a huge and dynamic industry and as far as many forms of art have attained professional status on how they do and run their affairs, dance has been taking a back seat on this. Don’t take me wrong, I totally acknowledge the fact that since last year there has been a big push to grow dance as an independent industry, to develop structures that ensure growth and kill mediocrity.

Dancers are artists, performers and what they do is perfected by years of training and great discipline. I have talked to choreographers, dancers and dance legends in Kenya to try and understand where the bottom line is drawn on dance competitions: I mean topics of cash prices to be won, cash to be paid, contracts to be won, judges, stage and stage management and treatment of dancers. So I want to put the responses as a note to anybody who is planning on hosting a dance competition that DANCEPEEPS is listening and keenly watching to put to shame anybody who is to swindle or attempt to misguide dancers and dance society as a whole.

So what is required to make a just, fair and entertaining dance Competition:

Bboy harry is a minister and a servant of God. Dance, to be precise is what he uses to reach out to the youth.

Your also an event organizer, tell me about that: ooh, yeah I do organize dance showcases to create, give platform and exposure to both recognized and unrecognized Dance talent.

Awesome awesome awesome and I reckon you are a choreographer and a dancer of “Shrink Dance Crew”: Yezird (yes) Kenya Best Christian Hip-hop Crew…
 

Ha ha ha ha you really passionate about your crew I must admit. What dance competitions have you been to: He he he you have to be passionate by the way, every positive thing you are involved in and that’s why B-boy Harry is been passionate about God, his crew and Career. Shrink has been part of Spa Fest, Malta Guinness Street Dance, sakata Dance Battle among other competition.

Yeah I get what you saying because there comes a time when you “Hit the wall” and what takes you beyond this point is the love you have vested in what you do-Definitive moment. What are the difficulties have you been facing while preparing for competitions: challenges are so many not even in the competition itself. Major challenges in many crews are of financial status, dance facilities, ziko mob (they are many)… Texting ain (isn’t) enough.

Yeah and as past competitions have been, I get that there some competitions that don’t pay up on the cash prices to the winners. What’s your take on this: In order for crews not to break or collapse and to help them stay focused, the competition should adapt the moral of appreciating the participants with certificates and give a ways ata kama hawapeani cash (even if they are not awarding cash prices) there is a lot of ways of appreciating.

Damn that’s true especially because by attending this competition then they are building experience and can also be used to profile dancers and dance crews. Yeah true. Judges is a thorny issue among many dancers. Describe an ideal judge for a dance competition: A judge has to know what is dance, has to be a mentor of dance, has to know genre of dance, keen, discreet, open minded above all has to know how to dance.

So what you finished by saying is that a judge MUST be a great dancer if it if not a perfect one: You can’t hunt what you cant kill. you know what I mean!? He he he.

In total agreement, you recommend a well a well vast dancer who has the skill and technique and in whose practical expertise can be able to judge. Do we have a such in Kenya: Yes we do,I wont mention names but wako, tena kwa wingi! (there many).

Yeah we wouldn’t want to appear biased Right? Cool cool. let’s talk emcees: He he emcees’ is another hard and harsh topic, would prefer not to talk about at the moment.

So just to be clear the air, is a dance Emcee different from any other emcees: Yeah they differ. Difference is dance.

As an event organizer who has had success in organizing consistent event “Dance Unplugged” what are some of the challenges you face in achieving the best of your vision in a dance event: First of all, I thank God for the success because without the challenges you won’t produce fruits at the end. Challenge ni mob (are many) starting from financial limitations, you need a stable job in order to know how you can budget on financing your event, getting sponsors has been a tough hustle too since they are looking for established, up and running events, getting committed team with the same zeal and passion is challenging #JustToMentionButAFew.

That’s deep because passion is key and doing it for a good cause is irreplaceable. What would you love to tell dancers in Kenya: First dedicate your talent to God, let Him be your source of inspiration and He will amplify your passion and owez (always) drive you towards your dreams. Realize that you are unique and in like manner God loves you, so be humble decrease so that He can increase JOHN 3:30.

That’s Powerful and wise. What advice would you give event organizers in order to grow the quality of their dance events: To all organizers especially dance organizers, event follow ups matters a lot even if your event was a flop. Also don’t be afraid to challenge yourself like I did with “Back To Dance”. The biggest risk was organizing an event in the same day as a renowned Award show, I challenged myself and Through God it went down successfully.

I can attest to that and I appreciate for making time to do this interview on such short notice. Final Thoughts: I just want to thank my crew “shrink” , Dj joelz, Collo, Kev, Deco, Fay and not forgetting a special girl Lucy Lee for the tight love and support they have shown and given me, thus my friends, all the dance crews and my precious family. Above all I thank Jesus for everything and everyone. Lastly if you not SWAG please SWAG UP, I mean Saved with amazing grace #SWAG# and leave a stress free and happy life. You welcome maen (men).

Its clear standards have to be raised and I set out to interview a dancer,choreographer and a disciplined student next on DANCE EVENTS 102.