De9jaspirit Season 3 Winner Exoduz Dance Crew Speak on 6-Year-Old Dancer, Tribute to Mohbad, Others
- Exoduz Dance Crew made it to the spotlight over their participation in a TV show called De9jaspirit Talent Hunt
- The dance group, which included a six-year-old girl, warmed hearts with their tributes to the late Mohbad on stage
- In an interview with Legit.ng's Olumide Alake, Exoduz Dance Crew, share some exciting details about the group
Exoduz Dance Crew emerged as the winners of the third season of the variety talent show De9jaspirit Talent Hunt as they dazzled the audience with their energetic and impressive dance moves.
The dance group, which comprised Goodluck Imeh Thomas, the leader, John Joseph Akpan, and sensational 6-year-old Chikambo Annabel Obioma, won a whooping cash prize of N10,000,000, a car, and an all-expense paid trip to Kenya and the Maldives.
Source: Instagram
In a recent interview with Legit.ng, Thomas, the group leader, who spoke on behalf of the group, opened up about how the group initially started with 12 members, how Annabel became a member, their tributes to the late Mohbad, among other exciting details.
How Exoduz Dance Crews started
Thomas revealed he almost kept the idea of starting the dance group to himself because he was shy about sharing the idea.
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He said
"I got inspired by my former Pastor in RCCG Emmanuel House Parish, PST Billy Sobayo, he suggested I formed a dance group in the church although I had it in mind but I was just too shy to speak out until he said it himself, so that’s how I got the boldness to tell him my plan concerning having a dance group."
The idea behind the name 'Exoduz'
The dance group leader shared how the bible inspired their name in 2017.
"Exoduz Dance Crew was gotten from the second book of the Bible “Exodus”, we were having a dance rehearsal back in 2017 and I decided to ask some of them (past members) if they have any name in mind, there was so many suggestions but I didn’t buy it, it just didn’t sink in my head, so I had to open the Bible and my eyes went straight to Exodus, then I said to them, Exodus will be the name of this crew but we will remove the “s” and add “z” to make it look dope… so that’s how the name Exoduz Dance Crew was formed."
Exoduz dance group has three members, but it started with 12 members
Thomas, who hails from Akwa Ibom state, revealed he is unrelated to the other two members.
He disclosed that while John is also from Akwa Ibom state, Anabel is from Imo state.
He added:
"I’ve known John since 2017 few days after the crew was formed, he is the only member out of 12 that stayed up till date. While Annabel the six-years-old came in last year. So the 3 of us have been together for a year now."
How stunning 6-year-old Annabel became a member of Exoduz
Thomas revealed Annabel's mother asked him to be her dance teacher when she was five years old.
Speaking about Annabel, the group leader said:
"She is a smart little girl, I’ve been teaching from the first day she stepped into my rehearsal hall, I saw that she is a talented girl so I had to be patient with her, few weeks I started introducing her to stage performances so her confidence level can improve, I only allowed her to freestyle after that I started making sure she perfects every dance routine, trust me it’s headache teaching a 5yrs old kid till she gets to this level today now she’s 6yrs old, but I’m so proud I was patient with her and gave her a chance."
Watch a clip from Exoduz Dance Crew's stage performance below:
Teaching Annabel dance movies was not easy
Akpan confessed he had to put in much effort, including making promises.
He said:
"It’s not easy teaching her those hard steps, there are times she will cry when she feels she can’t do it or sometimes she will give you an excuse so she can go and play haha.. so I had to bring myself down to her age level, I relate with her like we are both 6yrs old, I play with her when she wants to and I never beat her because I want her to be happy doing what she loves and not be scared of me, so I just know my ways of making her put efforts in practice, which includes promising her cakes haha.. but on the other side it’s not easy teaching her trust me, I’m her teacher and I understand her better."
Why Exoduz Dance Crew paid tribute to Mohbad
Legit. ng recalls reporting that Exoduz dance crew warmed hearts online after they paid tribute to the late singer Ilerioluwa Aloba Mohbad.
Akpan revealed how they vibed to Mohbad's songs when he was alive. He added paying tribute to the late singer was done out of respect for his art.
He said:
"Mohbad’s death was trending at that moment and before his death we used to vibe to his music. It was a sad moment for everyone so we just thought we had to dance to one of his trendy songs to show our respect and also to remind the public that he’s a legend."
Exoduz Dance Crew's future plan
Thomas shared how the group intends to impact the country with their dance moves. He said:
"The next thing for us after emerging as the winners of De9jaSpiritTalentHunt is to keep pushing, show the world how good we are, have a dance academy, train people who has this same talent of dancing and to become one of most recognizable dance crew in the world not just in Nigeria."
Thomas describes De9jaspirit talent show judges
The judges on the popular talent show were actress Ini Edo, actor IK Ogbonna, BBNaija star and dancer Liquorose and singer Dr Sid.
Thomas shared how each of the judges supported and motivated in different ways.
He said:
"Ini Edo was like a mother to us in the talent show, she gave us advice and also she motivated us and all of that kept us going, made us bring our A-game each time we stepped on that stage because we didn’t want to disappoint.
"IK Ogbonna always seemed to enjoy our dance and us knowing that he loves our dance makes us want to do more next time, his judgement was always good and motivating.
"Liquorose is one of the judges we were so curious to see, she’s so supportive of her craft “dancing” and she always tells us to do more next time we step on stage and we always try to deliver.
"Dr Sid is also a good judge although sometimes his judgement makes us sad but we took every word he says seriously and we work towards it."
Celebrities Exoduz Dance Crew would love to work with
Thomas mentioned big names they would love to work with in the entertainment industry, from Davido to Chris Brown and many more. He revealed it would be a dream come true, having watched many of them as kids.
He said:
"First of all we have so many celebrities we would want to work with in the future, from the dance celebrities to the music celebrities as well but for dance let’s say “Bad Gyal Cassie, Kaffy, Liquorose, Dancegodlloyd, Poco Lee, Richieeemmanuel, Yemi Osokoya, Petit Afro and more!”
For musicians “Davido, Wizkid, Chris Brown, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, Yemi Alade and more!”
Exoduz Dance Crew's biggest inspiration is the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson
Speaking on dancers they admire, Thomas said:
"We watch so many dancers from different countries and we admire them, we just don’t focus on a particular dancer, so I would say we look up to all the dancers who are doing well in the industry, but our biggest inspiration is Late Michael Jackson."
Bella Shmurda pays tribute to Mohbad
Legit.ng previously reported that Bella Shmurda stirred emotions online with a snippet of his tribute song for Mohbad.
In the lyrics, Bella spoke heartily about their friendship's history
Reacting, someone said:
"Bella was the only artist who genuinely loved Imole we miss you Imole, you’re forever in our hearts."
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Source: Legit.ng
