Rising from a background of poverty, choreographer Seyi Oluyole is helping to keep young girls off the streets. Her organization Dream Catchers Academy provides them with free education, music, dance, and arts training.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 Dancing away from street life.
00:05 That is the dream of many homeless children in Lagos
00:09 because having to live on the streets
00:11 is very different from dancing in the streets.
00:14 - When I think of my past of how I was homeless,
00:17 how I cannot eat twice a day.
00:20 And once I just start dancing, it always makes me happy.
00:23 - It is estimated that there are over 100,000 children
00:29 living on the streets of Lagos alone,
00:31 with many more living in the streets.
00:33 That is children who beg and steal,
00:36 but have homes to return to each night.
00:38 - Homelessness in children in Lagos
00:39 can come out of so many factors.
00:42 And then there are also cases of children
00:44 who are experiencing abuse.
00:46 And then because of that,
00:47 they run away from guardians
00:50 that they were living with in Lagos.
00:51 Sometimes it's poverty, you know, it's constant inflation.
00:56 If family is okay living somewhere,
00:58 all of a sudden they can no longer pay their rent.
01:00 The child from that family also becomes homeless.
01:03 There's also the case of the breadwinner of the family dying.
01:06 Why are you, is it the camera?
01:09 You don't know this dance?
01:10 - She, Oluyole herself, grew up in poverty
01:13 and experienced abuse.
01:15 Today, the choreographer wants to provide the average girl
01:19 a chance of achieving their dream.
01:21 - Relax, relax.
01:22 My decision to break the cycle of poverty
01:25 has different periods.
01:27 The biggest inciting incident for me was when I was 12.
01:30 As at this time, my family was also homeless.
01:33 We had been homeless for about two years then.
01:36 And I just really wanted more for myself.
01:39 I wanted to start breaking the cycle of poverty
01:42 for myself first.
01:44 What prompted the idea of starting Dreamcatchers Academy
01:46 is from my passion.
01:47 I love the art, I love dancing.
01:50 Also, most importantly, one thing that is very important
01:52 when breaking the cycle of poverty is skills.
01:55 You know, it's very important for people as they grow children
01:58 to just have skills.
01:59 And so for me, that's basically what Dreamcatchers is about.
02:02 We do dancing, singing, crochet, visual arts,
02:05 just lots of skills for the kids.
02:07 - After completing her degree in English language
02:12 at the Covenant University
02:14 and a master's degree in human service
02:16 from Bellevue University in the United States,
02:19 Sheyi returned to Nigeria in 2014
02:22 and started hosting formal dance classes
02:24 with some 20 children,
02:26 attending the very first dance class.
02:28 - One of the biggest challenge would definitely be funding
02:33 as a non-profit and also the constant inflation in Nigeria.
02:37 Another thing is misconception.
02:41 - That's the thing of joy that makes me happy.
02:51 Anytime I think about my father's death,
02:55 if I dance, it makes me more excited and happy.
02:58 - Everything changed when Sheyi decided
03:02 to start making videos of the dancers.
03:05 That was in February, 2015.
03:07 - Yes, I started posting on Instagram in 2015
03:13 because I became aware of Instagram.
03:15 And then the plan then was that
03:17 dance to recent song of artists
03:19 and if they like your work,
03:20 we invite you to video shoot.
03:21 But fortunately for us at that period,
03:23 when we dance to DJ Spino's song,
03:25 the international audience loved it.
03:28 And then the video was just going around.
03:30 - But this is only how it started.
03:37 How it went along was not predictable at all
03:39 for Sheyi and her kids at the Dreamcatchers Academy.
03:42 - Okay, so now I'm coming back to know about Dreamcatchers
03:47 from the video that we posted in 2018
03:51 of the kids dancing to DJ Spino and Noel's song.
03:54 And that wasn't really what we were expecting.
03:56 It was a new song and the whole plan was that
03:58 DJ Spino would sit and maybe invite us for the video shoot.
04:01 Before we knew, Bella Nigel reposted it,
04:08 Rihanna reposted it, Naomi Campbell reposted it.
04:11 And Naomi Campbell was like, "We'll see you guys soon."
04:13 Apparently she had a trip in Nigeria
04:15 and then when she came to Nigeria,
04:16 she said she really wanted to see the kids.
04:18 And then she came to Ukuru,
04:20 she saw the kids and yeah, that was it.
04:23 - Seems that Sheyi's dream has come true.
04:26 But despite the success,
04:27 challenges remain for the Dreamcatcher and the children.
04:32 Obtaining financial support to house, feed,
04:35 and school the kids has been difficult.
04:38 - I just look at where I'm coming from.
04:41 In like Mary Mary's song, I've come too far to give up now.
04:43 So that's just the motivation.
04:47 Like I have done this for too many years
04:50 that it would just not make sense to give up.
04:55 - Facing that nearly half of all children
04:58 aged five to 14 years in Nigeria
05:00 are involved in child labor, according to UNICEF,
05:03 Sheyi requires the children attend school
05:06 before they can be in the dance troupe.
05:08 - In terms of ensuring that young people
05:11 are inspired by what I do,
05:13 one thing I always say to every young person
05:15 is trust the process.
05:16 Like it's not immediate.
05:17 And eventually you'll make it.
05:20 So I'll call you a kawali, you'll make it.
05:22 - Sheyi and her Dreamcatchers are living proof
05:25 that dance can be used to communicate,
05:27 to evoke emotions, and tell stories,
05:30 as well as change young people's lives.
05:32 - Through dance, number one,
05:33 is to create opportunities for them.
05:35 Because you know, for children that have been down through
05:37 the incoming from poverty too,
05:39 that you cannot become anything.
05:40 What dancing does is that it opens their perspective.
05:43 And most importantly, to use that as a way
05:46 for these children to change their lives
05:47 and the lives of their families.
05:49 (children singing)
05:52 (upbeat music)
05:55 (upbeat music)