By Christy Anyanwu
Pastor Segun Lawal has groomed several dancers and it’s not an overstatement to say that lots of people doing dance shows now in Nigeria came from his dance club; Spirit Of David. The dreadlocked dancer, aside being President and Chief Co-ordinator of Spirit of David, is also a 2008 Fellow of Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington DC.
He tells you his focus is developing stage and performing acts presentations but his main focus has been Spirit of David in the past 20 years. They have performed on 10 university campuses in the country. Spirit of David has had 94 shows in 42 cities of the world. Lawal spoke to Sunday Sun about his firsts at an event in Lagos recently.
First day on stage
I was 10 years old and it was in Devon, England. It was a dance competition and I won because I danced for three hours non-stop and never repeated a move and the judges said they had never seen anyone dance so passionately without repeating a single move.
That’s kind of reflected in the Spirit of David. We have had 94 shows and we have never repeated any dance.
First stage performance
That was way back in 1988 at a show labeled unorthodox at the University of Ife.I was an ordained pastor in school. They saw me doing this dance and the school went wild.
It was the largest show in UNIFE history besides Fela’s. Fela attracted the largest crowd in 1979 and in 1997; Spirit of David attracted the second largest crowd in that school’s history. We broke all known norms, never before had a Christian event been gated, never before had it been called a show, no music, no drama, no sermon. It was just dance and 84 people surrendered their lives to Jesus.
First day of your hairstyle
Have you heard about the Nazarene vow? Every time I see myself, I remember I have a covenant with God. It’s not a fashion statement. I’m not really that kind of person; my hair is a reminder of the promise I made with God.
First day with your wife
She was very stubborn. I tried to get to her laugh and for one hour she did not laugh. Tell her till date that she made me to tell jokes for one hour and she would just sigh. I was impressed by her maturity. She’s a great dancer. We work together quite well.
Your experience with your first child
It was an amazing and unique experience. Right now, he’s almost 14 and plays for the Barcelona Academy.
He’s a great footballer. I did everything for that boy except breast-feeding. I bathed him, put him to sleep, and taught him Mathematics before he could even talk. I tell men to spend time with their kids fathering them.
First trip abroad as Spirit of David?
That was to Burkina Faso in 2007 and we were about to start Celebrity Phase 2, a TV show. Some traveled by road, some traveled by air.
It was a two-day trip for us that went by road and was so exciting as we stopped at different places. We had a good caravan and it was memorable, because the journey made the stage production also great. We could talk about the journey on stage, it made it richer.
We passed like 17 security and border posts to get to Ouagadougou and we had to learn French for three months before the trip as it was a French-speaking country.
First car
It was a Mercedes Benz straight engine A-20. I loved that car and I named it favour because I didn’t dream of getting such a nice car for the price.
The seller slashed the price for me. He didn’t just want to dash me the car. It was a red Mercedes Benz. I have had several cars since.