You HAVE an impact
-9 Cities -8 Dance schools -4 Live performances -7 Professional videos
My Swiss Tour 2022 is about tolerance, culture and creativity. It’s two month long. From the streets of Lagos with Passion.
FRIENDS, WELCOME!
My name is Oziano Oriaku, I’m a professional dance artist, dance choreographer, and dance director. I am very happy to introduce you to my project!
As an artist, and as a kid of Lagos’s ghetto, I’ve always had two major dreams in life: appear on TV alongside my favorite singers and travel the world. I have reached my first goal a few years ago, featuring in music videos that accumulate more than 15 millions views. Today, THANKS TO YOU, I have the chance to make the second one come true. This is where your support is going to: make my journey possible and viable. Right now, I am touring Switzerland to take part in various art projects and I need your help to make it happen. Everything is planned out and it is huge: I am teaching in not less than 8 dance schools, performing in 4 festivals and venues, and creating art projects in 7 cities with the best Afrobeats dancers of Switzerland.
BUILD UP A BETTER LIFE
The goals I’m pursuing with this journey are twofold. Mostly, I want to create the opportunities that I need to build a better life for the people I love, my team (NOTE: Oziano is currently giving job opportunities to 6 persons), and myself back in Lagos. Life on Lagos Mainland is extremely rough. I am building up my career, with zeal, but yet the outcome of every day stays uncertain, especially when you are an artist. Eating three meals a day is something that only belongs to a minority; it’s a «standard» of life that you have to fight for daily and that is very hard to reach. Below, I’ve tried to give an insight of my story in a few words. Some milestones that could make it possible for you to get to know me and the story of my reality.
TOURING SWITZERLAND
By Touring Switzerland, I will not only create a source of revenue for myself and my professional dance structure back in Lagos, but also push my art further. Being around professional artists from different backgrounds, inspiring each other and exchanging about art and dance will allow me to reach new levels of quality, originality and relevance. It is also essential in that it will strengthen my professional network in an extremely powerful way: an international network is very hard to get. Finally, performing here and creating with others will help me achieve substantial milestones in my career by releasing meaningful and impactful art.
SHARE THE CULTURE
By teaching about Afrobeats and the Nigerian arts traditions, I will also support my culture. Teaching the right information, going back to the roots, is extremely important to alleviate cultural appropriation. Must of all in an art industry where Afrobeats is becoming one of the major genre and already getting torn apart.
I CAN’T MAKE YOU UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS FOR ME
Humanly, this journey will be a huge experience. Discovering a new reality, nature, culture, and people is a unique chance, even if I know that it will not be easy. In Nigeria, most people will never travel outside the country in their entire lives. I can’t make you understand how important this journey is, when you come from a place where you have no horizon… So you must know that you are having a real impact!
A PROOF THAT EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE, EVEN FOR A GHETTO BOY
This Tour of Switzerland is a proof that passion can lead you anywhere. I have fought all my life to be able to grow as an artist and build up my life. Today i am proving that it is possible, even when you start in the streets.
My Swiss Tour 2022 is about culture, creativity, and tolerance. Help me make it possible.
THE DETAILS OF THE TOUR
29.05, Lausanne: Workshop Afro/ID Concept
31.05, Fribourg: Workshop Ryhtm’n Bounce
01.06-03.06, Bern: BounceUrban dance camp
11.06, Basel: Workshop Coruba Soundsystem
12.06, Basel: Workshop with Chiara May
xx.06, Solothurn: Workshop Tanzkeller Solothurn
16.06, Bern: Workshop BounceUrban
19.06, Fribourg: Workshop Mastazz Dance & Co
21.06, Fribourg: Live performance Fête de la Musique
24.06, Bern: Workshop Afroswiss festival
25.06, Zürich: Live performance Afrosummer Jam festival
26.06, Lausanne: 2nd Workshop Afro/ID Concept
29.06, Villars-sur-Glâne: Workshop Evydanse
01.07, Zürich: Live performance Buju show
03.07, Fribourg: Discovery workshop Collectif Toucouleur
05.07, Zürich: Workshop Dem-A!-Dis Dancecrew
06, 07, Fribourg: Live performance Belluard Festival
11.07, Fiesh: Workshop Ateliers du Futur (not public)
26.07, Estavayer-le-Lac: Live performance l’Estivale festival
What your money is going to be used for
FROM THE STREETS OF LAGOS WITH PASSION - GETTING A VISA AND NOW MAKING THE TOUR POSSIBLE!
Guys, I have got a two-month visa, and this is literally exceptional! Getting a visa is a huge investment of time and money. Like, for real, it’s hard to imagine. Iklos and his family made it possible and I’m super proud. It’s a huge victory and now we need you guys for the last step.
THE DETAILS OF YOUR SUPPORT
In the following part you can see the details of your support. I need support to make the Tour possible, viable and refund all the prepayments done for the visa and the logistical cost. In total, I need 4981 CHF to make this possible. Additionally, we wanted to give you the possibility to also support my project in Lagos. Let me tell you again how much all that means. WHAT you are making possible! We are talking about literally changing lives.
1) REFUND PREPAYMENTS (visa and flight) - Details:
Passport: CHF 107.00
Compagny registration: CHF 93.00
Vaccin: CHF 121.00
Yellow vaccin card: CHF 13.00
International travel insurance: CHF 400.00
Flight booking: CHF 100.00
Traveling to the Swiss embassy in Abuja (2x): CHF 510.00
Visa application: CHF 86.00
Equipement: CHF 90.00
Flight round trip to Switzerland: CHF 1100.00
TOTAL: CHF 2651
2) THE TOUR - Details:
Transportation costs: CHF 480.00
(12 events, CHF 40.00 / event)
Production cost: : CHF 1000
(7 cities, 7 professional videos CHF 150.00 / video)
Food: CHF 400.00
(20 days outside, CHF 20.00 / day)
Touristic visites: CHF 200.00
Crowdfunding rewards: CHF 250.00
TOTAL: CHF 2330.00
SUPPORT MY INFRASTRUCTURE FOR YOUNG DANCERS IN LAGOS
Any support will be appreciated with high consideration
TOTAL +: CHF 4981.00
PASSION 
TOLERANCE 
CULTURE 
CREATIVITY 
GRATITUDE
Getting to know each other better
First of all, thank you for coming that far in my world. As a last part of this crowdfunding, I’ve tried to write down some milestones of my story, to give you the chance to get to know me better. I feel that it is important because it’s probably the only way for you to better grasp where I am coming from, and thus what your support means! Much love!
CHILD OF LAGOS
I was born on September 21st 1993. I am an orphan and a «Child of Lagos». It has not been easy in the city. Daily life is obstructed/ loaded by to many ups and downs, such as the traffic (holdup), scarcity of equipment, lack of structures, lack of resources, or the lack of opportunities. For example, the traffic in Lagos is so crazy that whenever I am going to my rehearsal ground or to work, whereas I am supposed to get there in 30 minutes, it will take me 3 to 4 hours. (NOTE: the traffic is called «holdup» because it’s literally holding you up, on the same spot, in the stress of the traffic, for hours, every day)
HOW I LEARNED TO DANCE
I learned to dance outside, on the field. I had no music box. In Lagos electricity goes on and off everyday, while sometimes you have no electricity for days at all. So I learned to dance without music. There was no equipment or infrastructure; obviously no mirror. I didn’t even have proper dancing shoes because shoes are very expensive to get. So the ones my parents got for me, they have never allowed me to wear them for dancing. I was only allowed to wear them for special occasions such as birthday parties, to church, etc..
Yet, I had a lot of passion for dancing and that’s why I kept doing it.
Along the line, getting dance jobs wasn’t easy and without constant jobs, it was extremely difficult to pay most of the bills, such as my house rent, feeding, clothing, transportation, electricity bills and family expenses.
MY DAD USED TO TELL ME TO NEVER GIVE UP
I had to quit dancing for a while and went to serve a businessman who sells luggages, hoping to have a business to back up my dance career. I served him for 4 years hoping to get a settlement (being a self-boss). One year before the end, I lost my dad. From that day on, my boss made working under him unbearable, despite the fact that I struggled so hard to make his business grow. Yet, I didn’t give up working for him because I had no other choice then.
Sometimes, when he was not around, I would rehearse in the shop while on duty, because I was working from 8am till 11pm daily, so there was no opportunity and time for me to rehearse. One morning, he caught me dancing and straightly fired me. I begged and cried but he sent me back home.
The reason for him sending me back home was because he didn’t want to settle me. It is common for most business owners not to settle their servant when it’s almost time for freedom. And because my dad, who was my guarantor, was already dead, he knew I couldn’t benefit from any protection (NOTE: after 4 years of serving, it is so that the boss should grant his ward with a capital to start his.her own business).
I had lost everything, but I was motivated not to give up (NOTE: Give on working, on trying to build up something, and mostly on himself), because my dad used to tell me to never give up.
HAWKING FOR SHOES
I wanted to go back to my dancing but then I had no dance shoes (NOTE: If you don’t have shoes, you can’t work as a dancer, because obviously you need to have shoes to perform on stage or do any promotion job), that was what led me to hawking snacks in traffic, which is the most stressful job to do. Hawking in traffic requires lots of strength and energy, because most of the time you are running after a moving vehicle to sell something to someone in the vehicle under the sun and in the rain. The risky part of it is that while running after a moving vehicle, you are vulnerable to accidents, which happen often. A lot of people do this job, so the concurrence is high and the reward small. It is very hard because for every snack you sell you get 50 Naira, and you sell maybe 5 to 20 snacks a day, sometimes not at all. (NOTE: 50 Naira is worth 12 Swiss cents. So, it means you are doing 0.50 to 2.00 CHF a day). Through the process of hawking, I saved some money to buy my shoes, then stopped hawking. I started having some little dance job to take care of my mom because she was very sick. Yet I couldn’t save enough money for her treatment so she died of a stroke and diabetes.
Thereafter, things haven’t been easy, because there were no jobs (pandemic). It was so hard to feed, not even to talk about paying the house rent. My landlord sent me packing out of his house because I couldn’t pay for it so I went to squat with a friend. Yet, by never giving up, I could bring myself back on my feet and push my career forward. My passion for dancing is huge, because it is the one thing that makes me the most happy. Always. Dancing helps me to be patient when learning new things, as well as helping me grow in life.
GIVING MY GUYS THE OPPORTUNITIES I’VE NEVER HAD
So far, not giving up, I have achieved to work with some of the biggest celebrities in Nigeria, such as Teni, Falz, Qdot,Timi Dakolo, 9ice , e.t.c. Presently I have boys I train and take care of (they are between 18 and 24). It’s my team. I am giving them job opportunities, building their skill level up, and I also provide to their needs with the little ressources I have. They look up to me; I am their role model. I wouldn’t want them to pass through the difficult things I passed through in life trying to push my career in dancing. Because of the difficult challenges like mine so many young dancers feel depressed and quit the race.
My biggest value is to elevate myself to be in the standard to elevate other people. My dream is to see my guys grow with me and give them the opportunities I have never had. Daily, I am working on creating a healthy structure. This means providing a good rehearsal ground (NOTE: in the city of Lagos, where everything is so packed and crowded, there are only very rare fields you can use to train, even outside.), good dance shoes, and also be a leader that will not cheat on them but teach them in the right way.
HAPPYNESS
As you know already, being an artist is not easy in Nigeria. Mostly depending on your background. This Tour, that represents my biggest dream, to see outside of Nigeria, is only made possible by you, by the help of your generous donations, and my gratefulness is hard to express in words. I am feeling so happy to have the visa and to be able to come to Switzerland.
I am looking forward to meeting you in person and talking about life.
May God Almighty bless you.
PS: below, a video where I’ve tried to put my project in words. I have never done this kind of video in my entire life, and I was feeling very stressed, because the stakes are very high. Please consider these words as the expression of my joy and excitement!