Iziegbe Aiwekhoe Uwadiae-Odigie (born October 20, 1995), known popularly as Izzy Odigie, is a Nigerian-American dancer and choreographer. She is the founder and head choreographer of TRYBE, an agency focused on representing Afro dance artists. She is regarded as one of the most innovative choreographers[1] in the African entertainment industry, credited for aiding in changing the perception of African street dances on the global stage. In 2022, she was chosen as CNN's African Change Makers[2] for leveraging her influence to lead a dance tour (The Pan African Passport Tour)[3] across four continents in one year, all while spotlighting the challenges African creatives face due to global perceptions tied to their nationality.[4]
Odigie was born on October 20, 1995 in Brooklyn, New York but later relocated with family back to their homeland, Edo state, Nigeria. While attended boarding school,[7] she fell in love with hip hop music and dance, often joining local competitions. She moved back to the US in 2007 and continued to pursue dance as a hobby, joining Laurel High School POMS team, competing locally and nationally at MAPDA and UDA competitions. In 2013, she gained admission into St. John’s University in Queens, New York where she was given the opportunity to start a dance team for the African Students Association. Excited to finally take on the leadership role, she founded TRYBE, and began to build their reputation in the emerging afrobeats scene in NYC.[7]
During a 2015 performance by TRYBE; Odigie came to notice when a video of her dancing with Eddy Kenzo to his hit song "Sitya Loss", reached over 20 million views.[8]
Career
As of 2019, Odigie had been on three dance tours, the Eggplant Tour,[9] the OMG Tour, and the Killin' Dem Tour, teaching her viral choreographies to the eponymous singles, with stops across North America and Asia. That same year, she was chosen as an honoree on OkayAfrica 100 women list.[10][11] The list's emphasis was to highlight women who were disrupting their own local culture whilst at the same time demanding equal access to the global stage.[12] She went on to choreograph and appear in an episode of the sixth season of the Fox US drama, Empire and became the first Afro dancer on the bill of BeautyCon alongside Cardi B, Drew Elliott, and many more.
In 2020, Odigie released her self-titled, experimental dance film, "Iziegbe".[15] A visual from the film became the official visualizer for Grammy award winner, Wizkid's single "Ginger" featuring Burna Boy.[5] The year prior, she released her "Indaba Dance Tape", which was a 6 part series in collaboration with the 2019 African Utopia Festival that took place at the Southbank Centre in London.
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