The celebrated choreographer talks about realising artistic ambitions, occupying space and why making a living from dance shouldn’t be a dirty concept
When Vicki Igbokwe was 16, she was working full-time in a jewellers. One day she said to her manager: “I think I want to be a choreographer. I don’t quite know what they do, but I know they make dances that make people happy.” Igbokwe remembers this epiphany vividly, she tells me over Zoom. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” said her manager.
It wasn’t the obvious career path for someone with no formal dance training, nor for someone who at the age of 14 had become the carer for her seriously ill mother (and three younger siblings), taking on adult responsibilities that left little time for pursuing artistic plans. But Igbokwe went home that evening, applied for a BTec and set off on a career that led to her creating her own blend of house, contemporary and west African dance styles, founding the company Uchenna Dance, working on the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony and this year being the first recipient of the AWA Women in Dance award.
