Nigerian artist Kafayat Shafau, often known as Kaffy, began dancing to improve her mental health.
In a recent interview with Channels TV, Kaffy shared that growing up with a single father, she found peace in dance.
She then said she turned her dance into a fitness awareness activity at Lagos’ national stadium to “give people life”.
“I would say God aligning… Preparation and opportunity meeting itself. When I started dancing, before I even thought of it as a profession, I always saw it as something to help me with my mental health. It is funny you guys are talking about mental health,” she said.
“And growing up in that average Nigerian household, you have split parenting like divorce parenting. As a young teenager, you are trying to navigate through life. Dancing was that art form that I found solace. I used it as ‘let me escape to somewhere where I can become something.’
“And when I kinda related with other people in the social environment. I found out that people needed some escape whether for fitness awareness reasons. And I started exploring that at the national stadium.
“That was where it really started. At the national stadium, I was doing it for purely fitness awareness. Then I used to be a size 16. I was using it for weight loss…
“Dance gave them some kinda life. I was building a following at the national stadium until I found the entertainment space.”
