A 24-year-old graduate of the NIIT in Accra, Solomon Odoi, has been adjudged the Best Dancer of the 2009 National Dance Championship, which was held at the Capital View Hotel in Koforidua.
Odoi, who represented the Greater Accra Region, where he emerged the first runner-up and also competed in 2008 Channel O Dance African Championship, received GH¢5,000 as his prize.
He was among the first five contestants who made it to the finals of the competition, which saw 19 contestants putting up splendid performances to outdo each other to the admiration and cheers of the audience.
Eric Borketey Amsuade, representing the Ashanti Region, where he was the best dancer of the competition, took the first runner-up position and was awarded GH¢2,000.
As a second-runner up, Abass Caesar, who was the first runner-up of the competition held in the Central Region, had GH¢1,000 as his award.
However, the declaration of Odoi as the Best National Dancer for 2009 was received with strong reservations by the audience.
The audience, who had remained extremely elated, screaming on top of their voices and calling out loudly the names of their favourite contestants from the beginning through the various stages of the competition, however expressed their displeasure at the judges’ decision, which some of them described as “flawed and biased”.
According to them, Borketey and Caesar, contestants number 13 and six respectively, put up not only splendid performances during the free styles and the highlife segments of the competition but also wore the most appropriate costumes.
Mr Dominic Andoh, a cultural co-ordinator and a graduate of the School of Performing Art with specialisation in dancing, said if the judges were indeed after creativity, movement to the rhythm, control and the use of space on the stage, no contestant showed talents at choreography, flair with highlife music and other uncommon talents than the first and second runners-up.
Mary Ghansah, a student at the Koforidua Polytechnic, admitted that while Odoi proved to be a good dancer, he committed a number of flaws at both segments of the competition, especially during the highlife stage, where “he missed most of his control and movements, as well as dressed very casually”.
Mr Oppong Adjei also expressed worry that little attention was paid to the creativity and costumes that Borketey and Caesar wore, which made them stand out among the 19 contestants who competed for the events.
However, one of the judges, Mr George C.N.N. Asampong, indicated that since all the five judges had enough expertise of the dancing profession and were professionals themselves “we think we made the right decision”.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic after the event, Mr Chris Adamah, the Managing Director of the Media Whizz Kids, organisers of the event, expressed satisfaction at the decision of the judges, saying “we engaged competent judges and we consider that they have made the right decision”.
Sharing his pride, the 2009 Best Dancer Champion, Odoi, attributed his winning to the “favour and grace of God and not by my ability or talent”.
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