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<\/a>However, that doesn\u2019t stop Nyakam from communicating and showing the passion he feels for dancing. His love doesn\u2019t just show in his moves onstage\u2014it\u2019s in his expressions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDance for me, it\u2019s the life,\u201d he says. \u201cYes, it\u2019s life. It\u2019s inspiration. If I got no inspiration, it mean[s] that I\u2019m [dead].\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Nyakam has been dancing since the age of three, joining Cameroon\u2019s National Ballet at the age of 14. He became the main lead for the company at only 16. Nyakam says that his love for dancing started early\u2014very early.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember it was maybe three years old, but when I ask my mom, \u2018Mom, do you know when I start to dance?\u2019\u201d he says, laughing, \u201cshe said, \u2018Baby, when you was in my stomach, and [when] I was listen to music or I go some place that had music, you was dancing.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean that he has always had an easy time with dancing in his family. Nyakam says that dancing just wasn\u2019t a career path back when he was growing up.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just funny because everybody was saying, \u2018Wow, Merlin is [a] very good dancer.\u2019 But for them and for many people, it was cultural. I mean, the dance was a part of the culture, so it was not a walk. So, they was happy, but they want me to go [to] school because you could not say my walk is \u2018dancer\u2019 at that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n But he fought his way to the top\u2014Nyakam is now a choreographer and teacher and has won many awards. He created his own company in the 1990s, and he won a dancing award a year later. Nyakam also danced for singer Ang\u00e9lique Kidjo on her FIFA World Tour, and he remains her choreographer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe dance with our body [when] we have to have a conversation,\u201d says Nyakam. \u201cWe have to say some story, and it\u2019s very important for me, when we dance, we have to know where the movement go[es]. You know, it\u2019s the expression of the body, so all the body, it\u2019s speaking, and sometimes maybe we don\u2019t need to understand what the body [is] saying. But we need to get some emotion.\u201d<\/p>\n Nyakam\u2019s theory of dance starts with traditional African dance\u2014where his first inspiration came from\u2014and then eases into all the rest, letting the passion flow and come together. Nyakam invites everyone out to the show in February to see the passion for themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I really invite everybody to come, and come with family,\u201d he says. \u201cBring the kids, mother, father, elders\u2014together.\u201d<\/p>\n