The National Commission on Culture (NCC) in collaboration with Africa Diasporian Association of Canada and Majestic Entertainment Group of Africa America Foundation in a media encounter duly launched the maiden edition of the dance Africa Dance Diaspora competition in Accra over the weekend.
The competition, which targets children and young adults aged between four to thirty years, will include dances such as; National folklore dance, Dance Afro Beat, Song and Dance, Classical ballet, Street Dance, modern, hip hop and rap.
The yearly event will kick start in 2022 and would be co-hosted by the United States of America and Canada after which the hosting venue will be rotated every year across all diaspora regions the world over.
In a speech delivered by Ato Nyankom, the Canada American Diaspora representative at the launch who doubles as the founder of Majestic Entertainment Group Africa America Foundation, he mentioned that one of the foundation’s main aim is to act as a collation to bring together different African Diaspora organisations and to promote and serve the interest of the people in America, Canada and Africa.
According to Mr. Nyankom, the foundation is a multi-faceted organisation that occupies a unique place in the Diaspora space, by organizing and leveraging a powerful voice and creating talents in the entertainment industry as well as motivating and supporting organisations and philanthropist committed to social responsibilities and also facilitate the positive change currently hitting the Diasporan regions.
Another major challenge according to Mr. Nyankom is the western media biase which has been reporting information that often make Africa look so bad and unattractive to the western world.
“As a foundation we will eliminate all these negative and false pieces of information so that the real information about Africa will be sent to these western media who will in turn, make it available to the Diaspora by way publications in their various media organisations,” he stated
On her part, Madam Janet Edna Nyame, the Executive Director for NCC mentioned that part of the commission’s mandate is to promote Ghanaian culture internationally and also identify and give exposure to and support creative individuals and their activities for societal benefit. According to her the aim of the competition is to help unearth and develope the talents of our youths who love to play and dance as amateurs or professionals.
She further stated that the Commission’s major role in the upcoming competition is to spearhead a successful competition by coordinating with five other African groups. This competition will among other things give the teeming youths who are interested in exhibiting our culture through dance to show their skills and talents in a way they are comfortable with.
“Our culture is our wealth, and there is a strong link between our Economy and Culture, the challenge before all of us is how to process our culture to create wealth and provide employment for our youth,” Madam Janet added.
In conclusion she urged everyone especially the youth to partake in the competition to develop their dancing skills in any of the disciplines.
–Prosper Agbenyega
