Ghanaian dancer, Lisa Naa Quama Darko, affectionately called Lisa Quama has expressed why she decided to venture into dancing although her parents are financially buoyant enough to cater to her needs.
She stated that she has her personal ambitions and did not want to depend solely on her parents for support, adding that she wanted to work and earn money by herself to avoid being a ‘spoiled child.’ “My parents worked for their money. I really loved to dance and didn’t want to be punished,” she said.
According to her, money was not her primary aim at the beginning because dance was less valued at the time. However, she preferred to join her colleagues in performing at events without being paid.
“I was more of a hustler. Forget my parents. I mean, we’re okay. I didn’t want to bother them with this dancing thing because I was smart in school. So they understood the fact that I was getting good grades so I could do whatever I wanted to do because I was getting the grades for them and I could do the dance for myself.”
Lisa Quama
The dancer saved her school ‘chop money’ to pay for dance lessons during vacations, allowing her to nurture and improve her dexterity.
She was also determined to buy a car for her mother from the savings she made once her activities started generating income. She made sacrifices by wearing the same clothes repeatedly to prove her worth to her parents, which she eventually did, even though her mom already had a car.
“I didn’t think about myself and used to save a lot. I said it jokingly that I would use this thing to buy a car for my mom. So whenever I got money, I would divide it into three; some for tithe, my savings account, and the one for the car.”
Lisa Quama
Currently, Lisa Quama is driving her mother’s car despite it being registered in her (mom) name and is also one of the well-known female dancers in Ghana, who is equally gaining recognition beyond the country.
Dancer Recounts School Suspension After Dance Video
Lisa Quama recounted how she faced suspension after making a dance video in her school uniform while in Senior High School.
She narrated that she was asked to make a dance video in her uniform to promote Nigerian singer Teni’s song ‘Billionaire.’
Unfortunately, she agreed without a second thought, not realizing the potential consequences of posting the video on social media
A few days later, the school authorities spotted the video and issued her a six-month internal suspension with hard labor, along with other colleagues who appeared in the video.
“Somebody posted the video on Facebook, which is where the older people are, and my headmaster saw it and sent it to the old students’ group, and they started asking why the uniform was all over the internet. Back then, dance was not respected.
“It was on a Saturday, so when the headmaster found out, he called me out during our Monday assembly, and I was the entertainment prefect by the time. So I was suspended internally with my friends and was tasked to fetch 50 buckets of sand every day. Our school was on a hill, and the sand was down.”
Lisa Quama
However, after enduring the punishment for a week, some of her male colleagues also received the same penalty. They then unofficially stopped, leaving the boys to complete the work.
Currently, Lisa Naa Quama Darko has become one of the most recognized and celebrated alumni of the school and the reason why most JHS students enrol in the school. “Now when I get to the school, they don’t even want me to leave. They want me to talk to the kids and involve me in their programs,” she said.
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