By Jairo Rodrigues
She’s beautiful, she’s sassy and she’s now a million-dollar dancer. Nadata Nyantie Vancooten danced her way into the hearts of judges, Guyanese and danced off with $1 million in the first ever GT&T-sponsored Feel the Beat dance competition.
Speaking to The Scene right after she was named Guyana’s dancing queen, Nadata was elated. “It is an honour to be Guyana’s first Feel the Beat star,” she said. “I am so thankful to everyone who believed in me; supported me and gave me the encouragement. I will continue to do my best in whatever I can do to make it work. Thank you GT&T for making all of this possible so Guyana can look out for nothing but the best in the future to come.”
Nadata’s mom then walked up, holding a photo of her daughter and the two did a celebratory dance.
But the competition wasn’t plain sailing for Nadata, although she is an extremely talented dancer. In fact, she was almost voted off early in the contest.
In an earlier interview with The Scene, Nadata revealed that she was born on the 23 January, 1990 at the Georgetown Public Hospital. She grew up in Albouystown with six other siblings, her mother and grandmother. Her mother is a constable in the Guyana Police Force and when she was busy at work her grandmother would look after them. Nadata said growing up was not hard because her mother tried to give them the best. Nadata was always active in her school’s activities especially dancing. Her mother always tried her best to support her – she would help develop ideas and finance the cost for the costumes. She described her family as very supportive.
But before she rocked out on the national stage, Nadata was a dancer with the Crystallites Dance Company. Nadata first heard of the Feel the Beat competition while at Crystallite dance studio. Her instructor announced the auditions of the dance competition but he advised them not to enter since he didn’t feel they were ready.
Nadata went home and discussed it with her mom. She recalled saying, “Mommy I stand a chance in this competition” and her mother replied that she was backing her daughter up 100%. Nadata went ahead, filled up the form and sent it in. “That was my opportunity, my moment and I took it,” she said.
Asked about the entire experience of the competition, she answered, “The whole experience was really good for me. I got to manage each and every dance style they threw at me.” But Nadata had to make sacrifices. She said it was a bit challenging how every week they had to come up with new ideas, everyone had to cooperate and many times she was back and forth from work during her lunch hour just to make it to rehearsals. The elimination round was not pleasant for Nadata, she describes it as nerve-wracking. “Yes I was always afraid of elimination, but I excelled and learned – like every young dancer. I showed motivation and the ability,” she said.
Voted off
During the first weeks of the competition the competitors were given a chance to vote off the weakest dancer. The girls had to eliminate a girl and the boys the same. Nadata said, “Well most of the girls voted me out, they obviously saw me as a threat. I saw it coming but being the kind of dancer I am – I just put forward my best and today I have become a strong competitor. As a dancer you have the ability to push yourself, no one else can do it – that’s your gift you need to portray.” It was mentioned that the judges saw Nadata’s potential and decided to keep her in.
Nadata described being on stage as exhilarating and self-motivating. “When I’m on stage I normally jump into a whole newcharacter; the whole other me that persons wouldn’t see. My focus becomes a whole new priority, all my efforts and passion is in my dancing that’s what makes me a good dancer today.”
She is motivated by her fans, but mostly by her adoring family because none of them ever had an opportunity as huge as Feel the Beat. “My sisters and cousins always told me that one day I’m going to make the family proud. They motivate me in everything; they make me so much stronger,” Nadata commented.
When asked where she draws inspiration from or who inspires her moves she replied, “Beyoncé mostly because she speaks about her career and how coming up wasn’t easy.When I see that any average person can come from any background or a normal neighbourhood, it gives you the extra motivation to push yourself. I see myself as Beyoncé – a strong black woman, right.”
If it’s one thing that Nadata is famous for, it’s her impeccable solo performances. For the last weeks of the competition, she choreographed ‘Kill Clive’: a fictional storyline of a heated, menacing relationship with Chief Judge Clive Prowell. First the dance expressed the homicidal end to his life and their relationship. The next week she topped it off with the sequel – his burial and her ultimate closure. When asked how she came up with the ideas, she revealed, “I wanted something dramatic; a marriage relationship. I had this song that I always used to listen to, so I went on the internet and saw that Beyoncé sang the same song in her own version and I decided I would use it. Then I had to get a concept — who would be a good target for me to kill? [Since the song was centred on a dying relationship] I was thinking and thinking, I decided to go along with the song – be a bride who was stood up and was waiting so long to get married. I was like: ‘alright, I will use Clive’. Mom disagreed and said ‘Girl how you will do that!’ I just told her to relax.”
With her friend Stacy helping with the concept and situation, Nadata finished the routine in a night.
“The next week now, I said: ‘I got to bury him.’ I had to get a follow-up, a part 2. It came from my thinking; I always study my songs before I actually dance them.” She continued to emphasize on the importance of dramatization and expression. “Dancers must always have a song they can connect with.”
Asked to comment on her competition in the finale, she said that Dominic was “just fun since the start. We always had a warm and friendly connection.”
As regards Patricia, she said, she never knew what to expect, but was always prepared since she knew Patricia would bring it.
In her spare time Nadata likes to go riding or just gather her thoughts and stay focused on dancing, other than that she goes to church. She describes herself as the ‘average Jane’ and not one to party or go clubbing since she finds loud music annoying. After being abroad for the past two years, she is now a sales supervisor at a small clothing store at Stabroek Market.
When asked what is the next chapter for her in relation to dancing she said she plans on excelling more on her dancing and to get more exposure.
In the future, she also plans on going back to the University of Guyana to study Business Management. She wants to have her own business, a dance studio and manage a family at the same time.
