Arts: Thrilling From The Bones: A Model Choreography of Inimfon Iniama
Art is synonymous with skills, and so is Inimfon Iniama. A conscious look at what the young woman does with her bones and body can suggest to anyone that she is skilled.
Apart from growing children, whose bones are referred to as green due to flexibility and ability to adjust to any condition, it takes only a dexterous creature to twist and twirl the bones and the body to popular admiration. Such is an art that has purpose, especially to communicate and entertain the people. One element, talent, is certain because it gives the force to the action just like the winding of bones and body to create an art form, dance, that entertains the people and leaves an enduring message.
The bones and body of Inimfon Iniama are great resources she deplores to thrill her audience and communicate to them through her choreography. Iniama’s performance at the 2025 Diaspora Wonderland Event at Africa Centre for the celebration of culture, creativity and connection was an exhibition of a refined talent accentuated in the twisting of her bones and twirling of her body.
The performance was classified as wholesome covering the entire message of the event, which had to do with defining African identity in the face of global landscape.
Iniama engaged her audience, who were participants at the event with kinaesthetic skills and choreographic abilities. Her display of physical action and movement complemented the role of the ballet dancer of the western world and that of an African performer, which she submitted with steps for the Nigerian tunes by Davido.
She began the show as a masquerade, typical of African performance style and even the Athenian or Greek style of the 6th century; and ended without the mask (concealment).
That indicated the trajectory of the early mask performances in the theatre which has metamorphosed into current popular tradition. The use of Nigerian pop music to interpret her movements in the dance responded to a postmodern interaction of a collage of traditions and cultures that add up to popular culture.
Creativity was alive in the performance. A typical African masked performance is performed by the men, but the talented lady wore a mask, and began her performance in the mask. So it was quite thrilling to see how a female dancer was able to manipulate the masked attire in such a physical performance.
The display was a testimony for mature and stable management of space, emotion, expression, balance and weight. Iniama’s performance demonstrated that she has wealthy grasp of Rudolf Laban movement analysis in such a way that she understands her body, makes adequate use of it within the given space in order to deliver quality performance with her movements. Her audience marvelled, applauded, stood and screamed at the way she thrilled them with choreographic and kinaesthetic twists.
Iniama graduated from the University of Calabar in 2018/2019 academic session. She was the best student in Dance and Choreography and among the top ten in the graduating class. She received dance lessons at undergraduate level from a renowned dance scholar and a former Director of the Nigerian National Dance troupe, Arnold Udoka.
Just like the event in the diaspora wonderland event, Iniama’s education in the art of dance and choreography has formed her as a diplomat to fuel global creative interactions.
