Street Dance Experience lands at Re:Union Bar
The world of street dance has arrived at GCU in style thanks to a student-led event.
MSc International Tourism and Events Management student Serign Sanneh helped organise Street Dance Experience with Rudy King Bantu, which was held in the GCU Students’ Association Re:Union Bar on April 3.
The innovative idea, which was part of the Events Management Module, brought together students from across the University and raised £180 for Kilbryde Hospice. The palliative care organisation was selected by lecturers and students as the chosen charity with any profits made going towards helping those with life limiting illnesses.
Serign said: “Everyone on the course had to basically help deliver an event. Our group brainstormed a few different ideas and it was definitely difficult to focus in on one particular aspect.
“My background is in the music business and I have a music publishing company, so I obviously have a lot of interest when it comes to that side of things. At first, we wanted to do an Afrobeat theme, but we quickly realised that we may not have the audience for that in Scotland since it’s not quite as popular here yet.
“Street dance in Glasgow is actually thriving, but unless you’re exposed to it you won’t know about it. I think it’s definitely growing, especially with the American influence, and it’s going to continue to grow.”
Serign’s group helped drive interest by hosting the event in collaboration with Rudy King Bantu, a local street dancer who is known for performing in the likes of Glasgow’s Buchanan Street.
“I met Rudy is 2006 when he was studying dance at Reid Kerr College in Paisley. He’s based in Glasgow and is well known on TikTok. He’s also been involved in a lot of competitions, winning a lot of awards, and is running his own venue in Glasgow.”
Rudy’s experience combined perfectly with the events knowledge offered by Serign and his group for a successful event.
“It was definitely stressful but a lot of fun,” explained Serign.
“We had a general introduction at the beginning and then the dance part was basically giving the audience the chance to learn some moves. There was a TikTok inspired Afrobeat challenge, so we were pleased to still have that as an overall feature on the day.”
“Everyone came together and enjoyed themselves. It was a great experience and there’s been a lot of positive feedback. Overall, we achieved the aim of putting on the event and raising money for charity.
Serign added: “I’d like to thank all of our volunteers – they did an amazing job. A big thanks as well to Scotrail and Dominos Pizza for sponsoring the event and providing us with prizes. Rudy was amazing as well, so we’re very grateful to him.”
The experience has also boosted Serign’s confidence ahead of graduation, and his future career in the music world.
He said: “I previously did an HND and Undergraduate in Music Business, so this course is giving me the chance to actually break into the events side of the business.
“The chance to get actual event experience was a big part of me applying for this course. There were definitely a lot of challenges with putting on the event but that’s something that’s always going to happen, so it was really good for me to get exposure to that at this point in my journey.”
By Ross Clark
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