By Adeniyi Adedeji, Ilorin
A Dance Drama professor in the University of Ilorin, Professor Jeleel Ojuade, has called on the global community to consider the possibility of using dance drama as a therapy to COVID-19.
Professor Ojuade of the Department of Performing Arts in the university said in Ilorin that dance could serve as a means of defeating the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic otherwise known as COVID-19.
The university don, who is the President of the Association of Dance Scholars and Practitioners of Nigeria, ADSPON, made the call in a press statement he issued to mark the 2020 World Dance Day.
Noting that the challenge posed to the global community by the novel virus was a very serious and perilous, one which requires all hands to be on deck, the renowned scholar said dance, as a common language across the world, had the potential to create the unanimity of opinions, which could be explored to defeat the dreaded pandemic.
Prof. Ojuade urged the international community to explore the various inherent opportunities in dance to alleviate the pain occasioned by the severe pains visited on the human race by the pandemic.
While encouraging all the global citizens to “create a space and dance Coronavirus away while observing social distancing rules within the confines of the lockdown,” Prof. Ojuade said, “Dance is healthy and has the capacity to give each and everyone life, fitness and mental health.”
Ojuade, who is also the immediate past Director of the University of Ilorin Advancement Centre, called on global agencies and other stakeholders across the universe to assist one another “in ensuring that COVID-19 is banished from the surface of the earth.”
The World Dance Day is a creation of the Dance Committee of the International Theatre Institute, ITI, an important affiliate of the Performing Arts of the United Nations’ Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO.
The World Dance Day was chosen to commemorate the French dancer, Jean-Georges Noverre, 1727-1810, who was the creator of modern ballet.
