By Fawaz Adebisi
Yeni Kuti, the daughter of the late Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, has been recognized as a World Master Dancer by the International Dance Council (CID), the official umbrella organization for all forms of dance in all countries of the world.
This was disclosed by her brother, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti, on Wednesday via his Instagram account.
He congratulated his sister for the well-deserved honor and praised her for her dancing skills and choreography.
“YK POWER CONGRATULATIONS 🍾 well deserved. Yk used to danced with the Positive Force Band. YK choreographs all Positive Forces dance steps. YK has being doing this for over 3 and a half decades o. What a FANTASTIC dancer she was and still is. Congratulations again @yeniakuti love you loads. We celebrate you🤗💯🎶🍾❤️,” he wrote.
Yeni Kuti is also the founder and pioneer of [Felabration], an annual music festival conceived in 1998 in memory of her father Fela Kuti, and a prominent advocate of African culture and heritage.
According to the CID website, the World Master Dancer title is awarded to “dancers who have made a significant contribution to the art of dance, either as performers, choreographers, teachers, researchers or organizers”.
The title is conferred by the CID Executive Council upon recommendation by CID members or prominent personalities in the dance world.
Yeni Kuti joins other distinguished dancers from around the world who have received this recognition, such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Pina Bausch, Maurice Béjart, Margot Fonteyn, Martha Graham, Rudolf Nureyev, and Astad Deboo.
