Richie: Making Waves With Dance

Port-Harcourt-raised Richiee Emmanuel has taken dance to a new level with his videos gone viral. His consistency and dexterity with dance styles are exciting to watch, and hardly would a trending song pass without him making a video for it.

Not even his over-a-decade in dance could wane his strength.  What is noticeable is that he has leverage on the new ways of doing things, joined the relevant social network, and collaborated with his fellow dancers.

Like every endeavour, Richiee Emmanuel has had his fair share of tribulations. His parents did not believe so much in dancing at the start. He had to prove himself by being consistent and striving to be better at his trade. Most of his early performances were done free. He even trekked to some of the venues. For a creative person in Nigeria, this is a relatable journey.

Richiee Emmanuel was once a participant in the popular Maltina Dance All competition. The contest allowed him to travel across the country and connect with likeminds. Richiee Emmanuel’s intimidating talent has not gone unnoticed as Les Twins, one of the world-renowned dance groups, has given him a co-sign.

The Afrobeats movement has always been upended with dance. Without dance, there can’t be Afrobeats. Right now, a dancer like Richiee Emmanuel needs to be celebrated for his efforts at promoting the genre with his dance videos.

Kaffy and Poco Lee might have blazed the trail in dance, but Richiee Emmanue and the new dancers on Tiktok and Instagram are all out to take it to the next level with their different dance styles and steps.

There is a twenty-four-second-long video on Titktok, Poco Lee, the dancer who is popularly known for the Zanku dance style, and Richiee Emmanuel dance to Victony’s song “Soweto.”

Their arm movement and body activity all sync. It shows the amount of rehearsal that would have gone into making the video, not forgetting the number of visual takes. They both laugh at the end of the video, with their cheeks fully spread.