Donations and dance clinics: How Champion Rollie is creating different narrative for Ghanaian dancers

For a country that prides itself as the birthplace of one of modern music's most unique genres (high-life), it is unsurprising that Ghana is home to some of the best and most outstanding dancers, as music and dancing have historically shared a successful union.

From the Pushas through to the Slim Busters to the Incredible Zigis of this world, Ghana has historically produced great dancers whose rise to stardom was built on the rhythmic movement of their bodies to either a beat or a well-laid-out song.

While the successes of these incredible dancers have been well-documented and celebrated for their role in the growth of Ghanaian creative arts, their story is largely limited to their craft, with little to nothing about the extension of their influence to other spheres of life, particularly in the charity space.

The advent of new media platforms, particularly TikTok, has given rise to a new crop of Ghanaian creative minds who are leveraging the audio-visual-driven platform to create a name, inspire others, and obviously 'put Ghana' on the map.

A major beneficiary of the meteoric rise and influence of social media platforms is the Dance With Purpose (DWP) group, whose success story, though not credited solely to TikTok, cannot be told without mentioning the platform which has facilitated the rise of the group and its members from the ashes of obscurity to Ghanaian stars with global credentials.

An incredibly noticeable feature of the DWP story is how, unlike their predecessors, they are extending their influence and brand into other spheres of Ghanaian society and going from mere dancers to individuals touching lives with their divinely guided talent for dancing.

Leading this charge is Roland Frimpong Nyarko (known widely as Champion Rollie), who is touching lives with his Champion Rollie Foundation. With this foundation, Champion Rollie is moving from being a mere dancer who graces big stages in Ghana and beyond to a man with a heart of gold, inspiring and providing opportunities for the less privileged in society.

Formed barely two years ago, the Champion Rollie Foundation has undertaken various initiatives and projects, three of them being of gargantuan proportion. The first major project undertaken by the Champion Rollie Foundation was the food truck project in 2023, which saw over 5000 persons on the streets of Accra, from the Accra Mall to the busy marketplace of Kantamanto, enjoying various meals handed to them by the foundation and its dedicated volunteers.

The second was a donation and health screening exercise where hundreds of Ghanaians underwent free medical screening while receiving various items from the foundation, including food, clothing, and more.

The biggest and perhaps the most profound activity embarked upon by the Champion Rollie Foundation was on Sunday, June 30, 2024, when Champion Rollie returned to his neighbourhood to share great moments with over a thousand children who besieged the Wembley Sports Complex in Kotobabi.

The event was a complete feast as the children received clothing and engaged in games such as bouncy castles, eating competitions, video games, a lime-and-spoon race, and other entertaining activities before the climax, which was the dance competition. At the end of a gruelling and exciting dance, ten dancers were picked to be groomed by the DWP group under the personal funding of Champion Rollie.

The surprising presence of Afronita and other famous members of the DWP group, who showed great love to Rollie and the children, further heightened the excitement around the event, which was themed "Clothe A Child, Change A Life."

For Champion Rollie, the thought of giving back to society and providing opportunities he never had to people is what drives him to embark on these cost-intensive projects.

"What motivated me was that growing up, I lived with my parents until I left home. I always saw my mom give to the people of the society. She would cook and not share with us alone but would extend it to the outside people.

"I have learned these traits from her. I love to give, so when I reached this stage of my professional dance career, I decided to go out and help the people on the streets," he said.