“Our Stories” Culturama 2020
This year, I was a part of the Nigeria dance for the virtual Culturama. I was very hesitant at first, knowing that we would not be able to have a live audience but I am really glad that I decided to pursue it in the end.
Last year, I did Culturama for Spain, so this year I really wanted to try something new and audition for an African dance. I felt a little more challenged this year due to the fast-paced nature of the movements – a lot of which I had never done before – but I believe that it was such an amazing, unique experience to be a part of. I developed many new friendships as we bonded over the difficulty of learning the dance steps during the weekly Saturday rehearsals. The dance leaders were both African, one of them actually being Nigerian, so it was great to see the passion they had for this dance. They really made sure to bring in authentic elements of Nigerian culture into the dance and were so eager to share their personal stories, which only helped us to appreciate and understand their beautiful culture even more. Even though the final shows were only being recorded, it was great to receive the support of a small audience made up of our friends and teachers. This was definitely an amazing Culturama for our last year at UWCSEA East, and I am really glad that I was given the opportunity to be a part of it.