Shoki, Dab And The Dances That Light Up Nigerian Parties

The music industry is a very big space for anything fun and exciting. From sweet songs that we sing to lyrics that make us gbedu, these are 10 dance trends that ignite the spark at any Nigerian party.

• Makossa is an African dance art inspired by the steps of Awilo Longomba. Dancing makossa is pretty simple; you only need to shake your waist while moving your feet to the rhythm of the song.
• Galala was, and still is the dance for champions. Although it was popularized by street locals, galala actually is a gyration dance. So if you kill your show, if alert enter, if you pass your exam or you get a new job, you should dance galala.
• Moonwalk is one of Michael Jackson’s legacies and dates far back as 1981. As funny as it might look, it is quite difficult to do. Try walking forward and sliding backwards at the same time. Now you see what I mean?
• Alanta Everybody loves to dance alanta – school children, office workers, and even business CEOs. The style involves bending your hands and carrying one leg up at the same time. Shout out to Terry G for making this possible.
• Shakiti Bobo is a Nigerian dance named after the viral song from 2015. One time when Ciara came to Nigeria, she saw a pro-dancer doing the shakiti bobo, and she loved it so much that she asked them to teach her.
• Shoki is the dance that has become rampant at many owambe parties today. There’s a funny story behind the shoki dance, some say it was borrowed from the way beggars do when asking for alms. Lol! Almost true though

• Yahoozee is a popular dance move inspired by a classic Nigerian club song. It is believed that the dance form was how Yahoo boys celebrated the success of their online hustle. Shout out to Olu Maintain for inspiring this one.
• Azonto The azonto dance used to be quite a big deal. It originated from a traditional dance called ‘Kpanlogo’ but was however made popular by Ghanaian artiste, FuseODG. The azonto is so good, it still has the potency to rock a party.
• Dab is a new school type of dance that many of us Africans adopted from abroad. In Nigeria, it was the afro hip-hop lads that commercialised the dab. Moreover you can dab to anything! Ask a Nigerian, they’ll show you how.
• Zombie Walk This is Abami Eda (Fela’s) signature move. For a man whose music was so empowering, Fela sure did know how to catch a few trips while at it. The zombie walk will always go perfectly with Fela’s Afrobeat sound.

Don’t you just love all the moments of sheer happiness you feel when doing the “Shoki” or even the “Yahoozee” dance from way back? If you thought we missed out any popular dance, please tell us in the comment section below.