Page 38 - Provoke Magazine Vol2

“We see it, and Nigeria is a place that when things like that happen, we take it apart and examine it. We feel that pain here and we take it personally.”
She mentioned that she stays away from things that are heart- breaking because she wants to keep a clear head. “Some things have a way of sneaking into your head and it changes the person you are. Anything negative I try to shy away from in order to protect myself.”
I circled back to her happy place and asked more about her favorite style of dance. “I love Naija Urban or
afro beats. I originally thought my favorite
was Latin, but my friends told me
that when I did the afro beats
dancing that is when they saw the real me. So, I drew closer to that style. So, my favorites are Afro beats, salsa, Latin and then contemporary, in that order.”
The organization that most of her dancing and outreach hap- pens through is called SPAN. It has been open for 13 years and it is geared toward, educating, empowering and encouraging the youth to utilize their God-given gifts. “I came across SPAN when I was still in college, and the first time I was approached I turned down the tryout opportunity. I went to a competition for a family reality show about dancing and I won. I did that in 2008 and I was again offered to come train and I loved it. They trained me for 2 years and then I became the head of dance. We provide education in dance and previous to now we never had a proper place for a dance school. SPAN was the first to start this type of opportunity. It is also a music academy and we are getting ready to launch a film academy as well. People will be able to do all 3 in one place.” The school welcomes all creative art and for Nige- ria, this is the first thing of its kind, so it is a very exciting thing to see for Ukalina. “The school has been very instrumental to my growth, they are so supportive, it is crazy.” She mentions the value added to her and she feels honored to give back. “I am a performer by nature, so I had to develop the skill of teaching, so because of that opportunity, I am a better dancer, a better teach- er, and a better choreographer because of SPAN.”
I wanted to know of a time that she was nervous about a per- formance but ending up nailing it or maybe she missed the mark and how that made her feel. She spoke about how sometimes you must have this talk with yourself when you know what you are capable of. She was in a showcase and they were to perform a Pasodoble (Spanish for double step) with a dance partner. We practiced so hard and the first time through she was nervous, 38 Provokeusmag.com
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