Moya David’s TikTok account is full of energy. From clips dancing alongside fruit and vegetable vendors in our neighbourhood markets to brightening up a police lady’s face, Moya has become a famous figure in the internet.
He is popular for ambushing strangers on the street, before charming them into sharing a dance with him or just cheering them up.
With more than 450,000 followers on the popular app and an impressive accumulated 5.3 million likes, the content creator and choreographer shows that he is skilful in his chosen craft.
But how did it all begin?
In a sit-down with Radio Maisha’s Mwende Macharia on Tuesday afternoon, the popular dancer talked about his path to professional dancing and content creation.
Moya said dancing is a passion as well as a gift for him, one that he grasped from an early age when he was about eight or nine.
“I would go to roadshows where they were issuing prizes like hats to onlookers and I’d be the first one there,” Moya said. He grew up in Mai-Mahiu and Kiambu, shifting to Nairobi in 2018.
“I know one or two things about radio, I was the best producer in my time!” said the Journalism and Public Relations graduate.
“I tried to give other professions a chance, but my heart called to dance. There is a point when I vowed not to dance again and instead focus on my budding journalism career,” he said.
He added: “In time, I however realised that the money to be made was actually in dance. That’s how I stuck to it.”
When probed on how much he makes from his craft, the young dancer only said that when taken seriously, the art is a reliable and sustainable career path.
“If you work professionally, you will make money. But if you do it inconsistently and just for fun, it won’t be that easy.”
He began dancing professionally in 2018, launching his TikTok profile the following year.
“I’ve taken on many dancing jobs in the local scene, appearing in music videos for Nameless, Khaligraph and many others. I’ve performed in big stages internationally and locally,” he said.
When he kicked off his dancing career, he started out solo, but later on saw the need to come up with a group, launching his own dance academy.
Speaking about whether his cheeky stunts have ever got him in trouble, Mayo said that such acts cannot go without hitches. He then narrated one of the worst encounters he experienced.
“It was back when I was doing martial arts skits. This time, my crew and I went to Amboseli, and it seems we messed with the wrong ones when we tried to prank the Maasai traders!” he said.
“Our aim was to deliver content but those guys could not get the joke. At first all was well, but when I took one of the Maasai’s men’s goods intended for sale and threw them on the ground, his friends quickly joined him to confront me.”
Moya said that the scuffle cooled down as he and his friends bought a few things from the Maasai traders.
“Ilibidi tununue rungu,” he noted humorously.
The charming content creator also opened up about a viral moment- one that has made its rounds on social media hundreds of thousands of times. It’s a clip of him dancing for a female tout before offering her a bar of chocolate, making her blush and smile.
“I think she loved it so much because she went weak in the knees. My videographer and I had to make sure she didn’t faint.”
How does film his charming clips and skits? Moya said that first, he identifies a target, then his camera-person sets up his equipment.
“Once my camera-person is on the set I’ll jump in and the show starts. It has to work, if it backfires, it’s not (good) content, so it has to be perfect,” he said.
The talented dancer maintained that none of his stunts are staged, and every single clip is a thrilling adventure for which he is unsure of the result.
Speaking to upcoming creators, Moya urged the youth to actively pursue their ideas and not give up on them.
“Don’t be afraid to implement your idea. You never know if that’s where your breakthrough will come from.”
