Vivian Boateng operates VDF, a children's dance & drama platform in Ghana
BASED IN: GHANA
VDF isa dance and drama company for children with the commitment of discovering talents in young people and giving them the platform to showcase it. I am in a part of the world where Arts is not considered as important compared to science and math and our goal is to educate people on how important the art is to the complete development of a child hence our motto: Providing balance to academic excellence. I studied science in high school but did not find fulfillment in it. I was drawn into dance and drama and went on to pursue it at the School of Performing Arts in University of Ghana. I was one of the four students selected by a team from Mandy Fouracre Dance Academy, a ballet school to train in ballet and that was when I discovered the great essence of ballet and dance for children. I continued to research into the importance of arts for children during my masters program and that gave me the motivation to start my own dance program for children to help build their confidence and channel their energy into something positive.
Where do you see your company in the next 5-10 years? What's the dream?
In the next 5 to 10 years VDF should be in every region in Ghana training more students and creating more employment for graduates from the School of Performing Arts. I also hope to get some affiliations to international dance companies or schools where our students can get exposure through exchange programs with children from other countries.
Where are you based?
We are based in Accra. We do not have our own space yet. Getting a space is pretty expensive so we do an after school in about 13 schools and hope to get a property soon so we can carry out most of the plans we have for the dance factory.
How important is having a strong network? Who is your mentor? How did you go about getting them to mentor you?
My kind of work is built on integrity. Parents can decide to pull their children out or not enroll them and they will not lose much because it is not an academic work. Having a strong network saves you from making certain mistakes. It opens doors for you and makes clients have confidence in what you do just by your association. Uncle Ebo Whyte of Roverman Productions is one of my mentors. I am a part of his group so I learn so much from his creative works, organizational skills and values. I seek council from him from time to time. Kate Hammond is my mentor when it comes to teaching dance. She has a dance school in UK and gives me teaching materials and ideas for my company. I met her through facebook. She used to teach at MFDA where I had my teacher training in ballet.
Do you believe in being profitable from day zero or do you think "investing and learning then succeeding" is the way to go?
I do not believe in being profitable right from the start. Well, it is nice to make some profit but I always invest and put back into the business the profit I make so I can get better and better. I use my profit to travel to learn more so I can teach my students. I invest in training my team of instructors by bringing teaching artists from other countries to give us dance workshops. Our end of year recitals are performed against a set and students are awarded medals and certificates. These are all investments I put into the program to make it attractive and to give my students a sense of achievement. I know a time will come I will get sponsors who will cater for all these and I wouldn’t have to use my money.