Lovette Otegbola is a versatile Nigerian dancer, choreographer, and founder of the Lagos-based dance company, Lovette’s BITS, and a dance studio that showcases children’s talents with a focus on ballet. In this interview with TONY OKUYEME, she talks about her dance style, choreography, Lovette’s BITS, challenges, and her thoughts about live theatre in Nigeria
Can you tell us about your background and how you got started in the dance world?
I started as a dancer with Products of a Love Spring (BLW in Ife), then joined the Spirit of David Gospel Dance Club in 1999 while still studying at the University of Ibadan.
I then proceeded to the Society for the Performance in Nigeria under the guidance of Pastor Segun Lawal because SOD was helping SPAN in the early days.
This is where I wanted to study dance and also I learned to teach dance classes to children. This was how I found myself as a dance teacher and slowly learned the art of choreography.
As a choreographer, what inspires your creative process and how do you develop your choreography ideas?
Anything can inspire my creative process. Sometimes it’s a song, sometimes could be stuff happening around me, or fabric patterns; sometimes it’s my mood, sometimes it’s a project and what the client wants. So I don’t limit myself to anything, I just make sure that I connect with the project or the work that I’m doing. And the rest is history.
What do you believe sets your style of choreography apart from others in the industry?
I love simplicity. Sometimes this may not always work, but simplicity is the key to my projects. There may be things in the choreography that may be complex to the ordinary eye but to me they are simple and I keep this so that it’s easy for me to build on in future.
I also stand out because I like to be versatile in my choreography I don’t like to keep just one style except if I do not have a choice. But I like to mix and match, it helps me grow the performance piece in any direction I would like to take it to.
As a dance consultant, what advice do you typically give to performers and choreographers looking to improve their skills?
My mantra is keep learning we don’t know it all, and we need to keep training to get better at our craft. So, my advise is that they should never be afraid to learn and never be afraid to learn from anyone.
Even a child can teach you things you will need to build your career on, so never stop learning. Also give knowledge, when you give knowledge you are able to deposit and so you can be able to credit yourself as well because you will need to train while you are training others.
How do you approach teaching and educating others about dance and choreography?
In Nigeria, it is actually very difficult to teach people out there what dance and choreography is especially when it comes to various distinct styles.
Nigerians love glamour; we are not technique lovers. We like to see Glitz; we like to see glamour, but unfortunately that is not all dance and choreography are about. Choreography is used in many other disciplines apart from dance, and not many Nigerians understand that. We hope that we can learn as we grow.
You run a dance company called ‘Lovette’s BITS’. What inspired you to set up this dance company?
I was inspired by my love for teaching children but I also wanted to see the performing arts especially in dance grow with children having a platform to perform not just at school events but also to set a standard for them where the world is their platform they can grow and also experience what children in the other parts of the world experience or how they experi – ence the performing arts especially dance.
Can you share some of the highlights from projects you have worked on?
‘Celebrity Takes 2’ Season 1 by Skye Bank and Spirit of David gospel dance club; Let’s Dance Africa by Multi choice Nigeria; ‘Project Fame West’ Africa by Ultima Studio and MTN, Seasons 8 & 9; Guinness campaign ‘Made of Black’; ‘The Voice Nigeria’ Season 3 by Airtel, Livespot, UN1TY Nigeria; ‘The Fuze’ talent show season 2 and 3 by Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers; Livespot X by Livespot Nigeria Ltd; and Headies Awards show, to mention a few.
As a choreographer and Artistic director: Lovette’s BITS recital and showcase 2016, 2017; Lovette’s BITS Movies and Musicals (supported by Livespot ltd and Eko hotel) 2018; The Lovette’s BITS recital and showcase 2019 (staged January 2020);
‘Carols of the Bells Christmas’ video project by the class of 2020; Lovette’s BITS ‘Wonders’ (2021); Lovette’s BITS ‘Dreams’ (2022); ‘Over the River’ Christmas video project by class of 2023; and ‘Carols of the Bells 2’ video project by class of 2024.
Challenges you face as a creative and artistic director, and how you overcome them…
Every creative has a point where they have something I call writer’s block just like writers. And sometimes it’s just funding to be able to create a masterpiece. It may also be that you are limited with resources to be able to create your masterpiece. Like my lecturer Rick would say even though you think that they are obstacles those obstacles are a room to create something new so don’t give up.
Lovette’s BITS Dance studio
At Lovette’s BITS Dance studio we try to give children proper training in ballet equivalent to anywhere in the world. At the studio we just do not only train children in classical ballet but we also train children in the art of performing and we stage productions that give them a platform that is world standard as much as we can even with the limited resources that we have. Our passion is to make sure that every child that steps into our world experiences what it’s like outside of the shores of this country.
Why Ballet?
Ballet is one dance art that has not grown fully in Nigeria. We have many instructors posing to a ballet teachers but are not ballet teachers. We like to keep the tradition of that particular dance art as pure as possible. That is because many parents, schools proprietors and clients expect ballet should be a lot of stunts like gymnastics and acro dance have but Ballet isn’t that.
On plan to add cheerleading by February.
In trying to grow the art form in ballet we realised that parents and some clients do not understand the difference. The reason why we’re introducing cheerleading is to give children an alternative, especially children who love stunts tumbling etc. Cheerleading is a sport and it is a growing sport in Nigeria.
We would like to come into that space and see how to raise squads that can also compete out outside this country and make us proud.
How do you stay current with trends in dance and choreography, and how do you incorporate these trends into your work?
I am lucky I have two amazing teenage children who are dancers as well. They feed me with every trend going on and this makes it easy for us to incorporate trends into our work.
Also our line of work requires that you constantly train so this also helps because we are constantly training it helps us to be able to also give us information with what is trending.
Most challenging experiences so far.
Funding, adequate space that we can use for different trainings, not just teaching ballet but also exploring theatre, singing, adding cheerleading, Afro urban dances, cultural dance and many other areas of the performing arts. We would want to have a centre for children to study various art forms.
What Nigerians should expect from Lovette’s BITS this year, 2025?
We are committed to serving children of all ages so in 2025 we look forward to doing that and also staging our next production. We also work with schools and we hope for better collaboration with our existing clients and new ones willing to work with us.
What are your your thoughts about live theatre in Nigeria today?
The theatre needs to give rise to new talents; we need to explore the possibilities of having children also be a major part of the Arts.
I believe that we haven’t explored this enough, possibly because of our culture or busy schedule. it is possible to raise a children’s theater that speaks of our rich culture and also that can perform anywhere in the world.
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