…Says I’ve danced for Davido, Stormzy, Lauryn Hill, Wizkid, Yemi Alade, Teni and Adekunle Gold
From Christy Anyanwu in London
Princess K was a sight to behold on stage as one of the entertainers at the Africa Fashion Week London held last month in the United Kingdom.
The energy and panache she displayed in her dance performance endeared her to the audience and made admirers want to get acquainted with her.
In this interview with Sunday Sun, Princess K talked about her journey into dancing, her dreams and aspirations, among other things.
Tell us more about yourself…?
I›m Princess K, I am a 15-year-old 3x award-winning dancer from the UK.
Tell us about your journey into dancing, how did you start?
Well, I live in an area that doesn’t really have many dance studios and then I discovered a dance class in my area and it all started from there. I went there from literally the age of six and from there I would go round doing competitions and from there I started getting a little bit of popularity because I would do competitions with my brothers. I started to post on Instagram from a very young age and a few of my videos would go viral because I started to sort of branch out of my area, and go into London and explore and travel across the world to show my art of dancing.
Which countries have you travelled to dance?
I’ve been to Jamaica, America, Ghana, Rwanda, France, Spain, Dubai, and the Netherlands. So I’ve been to quite a few places. I did a tour a little while ago in America and it was called the ‘Leap of Faith Tour,’ where I went across all different parts of America to work on my craft, work on what I do and learn new things, but also to share who I am and what I do.
Did you attend a dance school?
Yes, I attended multiple dance schools in lots of different areas and I would just go to many dance classes.
What kind of music do you dance to?
I mainly do Afrobeats, but I actually started off by being a hip-hop and battle dancer, mainly. From doing hip-hop and all of these different types of styles I started to branch out into Afrobeats.
Which of the musicians have you danced for?
I’ve danced for Davido, Stormzy, Lauryn Hill, Wizkid, Yemi Alade, Teni and Adekunle Gold.
How did you get to know all these artistes?
Well, my manager is basically my mum. She and my dad have supported me through all of the things that I’ve done and I’ve been fortunate enough to be given these opportunities through my talent.
So, where are you from?
I am from the UK, but I have heritage from Jamaica, Barbados, Nigeria and Ghana.
I’m a British-born Jamaican, but we traced our ancestry to Nigeria and Ghana. In Nigeria, mainly Yoruba, but I come from Yoruba and Edo State. Because my mum’s mothers side is from Edo and my father’s side is Yoruba.
Tell us more about your sojourn into dancing?
So, basically I have been dancing since I was six years old and I was doing it as a hobby and then I put something on Instagram for fun and then it went viral and then ever since it just took place that people were asking me, can I do your video, can you come to my concert? That’s how my journey started.
What’s your dress sense luke on stage?
I wear a lot of Ankara and Kente to represent the cultures that I am from. So, I mix my outfit with western dressing just to show that I’m representing my West African heritage and not just my western heritage. I’m proud of all of my heritage.
There are lots of misconceptions about professional dancers, what would you say about that?
That they are not academics or smart and can only dance as they are not good at other things. I want to change these misconceptions.
What do you do now? Are you a student?
Yes, so I go to school full-time. That’s what mainly comes first, my education. And in my spare time I do my dance. After school I’ll be dancing and I mainly do the shows on weekends, so it never disturbs my learning.
Are you in high school?
Yes, secondary school.
Exactly how old are you now?
I’m 15. I want to use my platform to help other young talents that want to also pursue their dreams, but I would like to do it in a way that they can get some accreditation like educational accreditation, scholarships and things like that.
So, I want to do something like an NGO or a type of organised initiative. I’m already helping a young girl in Ghana and I have got that girl a scholarship.
So, I want to do the same in Nigeria so that I can help young girls and young boys that look up to me to help them to do what I’m doing, but also they get something at the end of it that is educational so they can please their parents also.
When are you starting it in Nigeria? When do you intend to come to Nigeria to do that?
I’ve already started the process of getting my legal documents so that I can have my naturalisation in terms of being a Nigerian. That’s already going forward, so that we can get an organisation up and running and then we will be doing all of the initiatives from next year.
What’s the name of your NGO?
Destiny’s Dream because my middle name is Destiny. So, I’m going to use it as a platform to help people with their dreams.
When was the last outing you had outside the UK?
I went to Dubai in August to teach a dance class there. Dubai hasn’t really been a place where a lot of dance has taken place there, so I thought from being in the UK and there being a world of dance, I wanted to bring it there and I really enjoyed it. I love sharing my craft with other people and I hope that I can do that more in places like Nigeria as I haven’t been yet, but I also hope that I can learn as well.
What do you like about Nigeria?
It’s very hectic, but in a good way. Everybody’s very busy and they always want to get something done. They’re very intelligent and things like that. They really are creative and I feel like that’s the words that I would use to represent myself, but I live in the UK, so if I could go to Nigeria, I feel like I would thrive there and be amongst people that like to do similar stuff to me and have the same mindset.
What advice do you have for teenagers who want to tread your path as a dancer?
To pray and believe in your dreams, be focused and passionate about what it is you want to do and be prepared to work hard. You are your own competition and always be humble, polite and respectful to others, everything else will fall into place.
