THE AFRICAN DANCER- MUHAMMAD ISMAT

This is the story of one Mohamed from the coast region of Kenya. A dedicated young Kenyan dancer, whose love for dance is exceedingly his definition of life. When we first talked, he shocked me with his humility and getting to know him I couldn't get myself to the level of skill this kid has.

OFFICIAL NAMES: Mohamed Ismat

MOHAMED ISMAT POISE

STAGE NAME: Bboy Moretrix/ more-Di stunt Master

CREW: G-Clef Dancers

G- CLEFF DANCERS BASED IN MOMBASA

I am a Pisces

DATING BACK

In 2010, around the same time I was in secondary school, I met with one Deny c. reloaded swagga king (Dennis Oketch) and fell in love with what I came to later learn as great movement. I wanted to move like him, make dance out of sound. Dance to me is air, something I can’t live without.

A STORY OF GREAT DANCE INSPIRATION:DENNIS OKETCH

You can call me a Kenyan youth because I Work, school(Mass Media) and volunteer as a community health worker to ensure the community get a better health and encourage them to seek medical attention. It’s my pride and joy and for what it’s worth it helps me sleep at night knowing that I make a difference in society.

SPENDING TIME ON THE BEACH

ROLE MODELS

This is dance and as you know the list of role models is inevitably long because dance is an evolution of movement and in there difference many dance styles are incomparable. Stanley Obenjo (whose picture I might not be able to produce) is my all time favorite mainly because of his story. He was part of G clef and when he moved to Nairobi and joined Sarakasi Dancers his light at the end of the tunnel grew brighter. Later he moved to Sweden to a crew called *Out of Africa*.

POSE FOR PEACE FROM A KENYAN DANCER

Mark Jordan (founder of G-Clef Dancers), Billy Sadia (Former Sarakasi Chorographer) have influenced my dance journey in a major way and will always remain humble and respectable to them.

THE BALANCE

Prior planning is of grave importance because with my type of schedule and the importance of my activities to my life I can’t afford to slack so in plain words its school in the morning hours and evenings reserved for dance. Period!

As I plan to exit this story of a young Kenyan I can’t help pray that dance through our various efforts gets the recognition it deserves. This is the story of an African Dancer.

ISMAT DOES A DOPE FREEZE

DANCERS FOR PEACE IN KENYA

VICTOR SAYS,"YOU THERE WE NEED PEACE."

I am crazy in love with peace. I am fascinated and excited because it gives me such comfort to smile and live in harmony with nature. I despise tension in all forms and nature; I love a Kenya that is guided by the spirit of the national Anthem, maintained by the principals that underlie in our national Flag colors  Somebody so, clever ones said, “An eye for an eye will turn the whole world (in this case Kenya) blind.”

On Sunday my pastor said that we have to be peaceful and that we should, in our each different footing, learn to embrace a similar pace in execution of our National goals. Politics should never be about emotions but the ability to perform and personal characters should determine who you approve as a leader. This means that if you are elected then whoever voted for you believe you are capable to honour your commitment and the rest are not your enemy but ones you should work to impress and prove them wrong for thinking you are not/less capable.

Peace peace and unity I must mention,

choose leaders who work,build and protect,

be wise because your power is in the vote,

we hate to go back,

lets live together as Family,

We are Kenya. PEACE!!!!

~Edward otwera

EDWARD OTWERA AKA MC D. CHOREOGRAPHER LOUD WHISPERS CREW

Bboy stone is one of the most talented Bboy in Kenya and sure a likable character due to his humility. I talk to him on peace and as you should expect he had two words....

 “Peace prevails”

In his cool mystic voice I could tell he wanted this more than anything. Because what we need is to keep an enabling environment to do flash mobs, street dance, competitions/Battles. 

BBOY STONE CAN HELP BUT INSIST ON PEACE

Remember KEDAKA Awards Dougie was quick to point out that,

“I am because we are. Don’t be cruel towards your neighbour because of the 

different opinion to me. We got a life after 4^th March 2013. We are a family”

Be sure he was on point and always rocking to look brilliant as he is...*I am not lying check below*

DOUGIE KNOWS PEACE WILL ALWAYS MAKE KENYANS SMILE

Talking to Mohamed ismat of Gcleff Dancers made me realize we are all Kenyans and we face the same challenges because when I asked him what he wanted most to come out this election he brightly said,

“Free and Fair elections, amani, amani na tuchangue viongozi wenye maono” 

translated to mean that we need peace and leaders with a clear vision. 

MUHAMMAD OF GCLEFF WITH BEST FRIEND KASSIM

It’s in this light and a lot of consideration that a close friend of mine came to mind, Victor a great n fierce Krumper says,

VICTOR DURING A SHOWCASE AT BREAKSESSION

"for God is SHEER BEAUTY, all generous in LOVE LOYAL always and EVER"

WE STAND IN PEACE AND FOR PEACE. WE ARE KENYAN DANCERS

We represent #dance254,our passion in giving and our love for family keeps us together.

GRAFFITI AND DANCE - BGIRL NIKITA

Today I want to tell a story of a great soul, a story of one great mover and how else to start this than with her name. Usually that’s how I would do it but I am obliged to start with how we met. I met Nicole Nzoka Kasule aka B-girl Nikita on Facebook. I don’t remember who sent the request on facebook (probably because I was the one who sent the request )

SMILE BECAUSE NICOLE NZOKA KASULE IS HERE

As a matter of fact we chatted for a while and I came to learn of her keen interest in dance and as the conversation moved from knowing one another to sharing our passion for dance I realized she was different. She had this creative feel to how she spoke, how she tends to draw and reflect. I saw here dance at Breaksession and I was touched, moved is the word because she never spoke by her movement, she drew images of a familiar language. She spoke louder in images she drew by her movement and that’s why I had to ask her what dance means to her and she hastily said,

“Dance is my Passion, when I dance I speak my mood, It completes me”

And so my curiosity drove me to want to learn more of her movement because it told of a bigger story. The ability to combine two or more art forms to tell a single story is a trade less have mastered but she has impeccable skills in working and letting her mind access her other skills as I came to learn. She was passionate about graffiti and once I while chatting with her she told me that,

“Graffiti....”  Her eyes brightened like a constellation of stars, ”wow its beautiful to me and as much as people want to label it illegal, it has a message that is greater than whether it is legal or not. Graffiti is my lifestyle I see graffiti in every aspect of life plus it is also one of the four elements of hip hop so I connect with it”

NICOLE AT WORK AT JKIA

Her words are like music to my ears and as I contemplate on them I can’t help but smile when I remember her performing at The Quest (singing) and my first thought was : what a blessing. She is wonderful and her humility is overwhelming. I hear she is in a graffiti competition and I had to know what it was all about.

SO TELL ME ABOUT THIS GRAFFITI COMPETITION I HEAR YOU IN: okay, well the competition was done at JKIA (Jomo Kenyatta International Airport) between 16^th and 18^th  February 2013. There were about 8 local graffiti artist and it was sponsored by Dura coat.It was to allow local artists to talk about Kenya and what they would like for it in the years to come.

HOW DID YOU GET IN: I was there working as an assistant for a lead artist called Esen and  was actually the only chiq (female) participating in the competition. :)

SAMMY ESEN AND BGIRL NIKITA AT NAIROBI RAILWAY STATION

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE THE ONLY FEMALE: wow it was awesomely fun for me and of course one of the best experiences for me as an upcoming female graffiti artist right after the kibera peace train we did earlier on this month.

NICOLE AT JKIA'S SPRAY FOR CHANGE COMPETITION

SAMMY ESEN AT WORK AT JKIA

HOW CAN WE VOTE FOR YOU : well actually I was working with a lead artist Esen so voting is being done on his page. It is online voting and the link is sprayforchange.com/essen/ and it is really easy to vote

PROGRESSION, DONE BY SAMMY ESEN, ASSISTED BY NICOLE

 

WHAT IS PROGRESSION: The piece was to show how Kenya has evolved from the past days where there were lions and zebras...basically wild and then we started simple civilization of huts moving to complex buildings, pipelines, oil tanks to now the city and finally maybe we'll be flying to space soon...so it’s how Kenya has progressed over the years and is still progressing.

Vote and support one of our own at http://sprayforchange.com/esen/