Jamaica Gleaner Published: Sunday | May 29, 2011
Yann Selo (left) and Jamaican artiste Ce'Cile. - Contributed
Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter
He is the organiser of the Summer Dance Battle in French Guiana, a singer and student, but Yann Selo said he is passionate about all his areas of involvement.
The Sunday Gleaner recently spoke with Yann Selo during his visit to the island. As the director of the Summer Dance Battle that takes place in French Guiana in August, Yann Selo is actively seeking contestants from different countries, including Jamaica, to participate in the competition.
"I have to run all around the world to select all the teams I want for the competition, like Martinique, Venezuela, Russia, Jamaica, and Switzerland. They will dance to all genres. We will use the winner of 'Dancin' Dynamites' and Orville Hall will train them to represent Jamaica," he said. Flava Expressions won this year's edition of 'Dancin' Dynamites'.
Yann Selo said Hall will also choose two other persons to join the group for the dance battle. In addition, he said Jamaican artistes like Brick and Lace, Lady Saw and Ce'Cile will perform at the event, where he will also be showing his singing abilities.
Having started the competition seven years ago when he just returned from France with a completely new idea, he said it has grown tremendously
"The first edition was a big success and each year after that we evolve. Each year it grows and now people can't imagine a summer without Summer Dance Battle. It is an event that you ought to see with your family. Everybody loves it and now it's an obligation to do it," Yann Selo told The Sunday Gleaner.
With the dance competition gaining much success, Yann Selo is currently pushing the music career he started in 2006 when a producer asked him to do some zouk music (traditional music of French Guiana).
But with reggae and dancehall all around him, he said the genre also interested him.
Never Planned to be a singer
However, Yann Selo did not always plan on being a singer.
"I didn't think I had a good voice when I was young. It was very late that people started to tell me I could sing," he told The Sunday Gleaner.
Since then, he recorded a zouk album called Open Book that also had a little reggae and soca. Now, he is working on an album called Melting Pot that will be released in October.
The first single from that album is Call Me, which is a collaboration with Ce'Cile, while the second single is You Got It, with Elephant Man.
The artiste said he is trying to acquire a fanbase in Jamaica. However, "in French Guiana everybody know me now through the Summer Dance Battle, but now they know me through my music." In Paris, where he lives and studies, he said it is more challenging to become recognised, especially as a black artiste.
Yann Solo has also produced an artiste called Terry Brival and in the future he wants to do production work for another act named Scarlett.
As a child, Yann Selo was involved in acting and he said he wants to start acting in sitcoms and, depending on how well it works out, will move on to act in a movie.
As a student who is learning sports education, the director of a dance competition and a singer, Yann Selo said it sometimes gets difficult to manage his time.
"It's very hard, people in French Guiana don't know how I do all that. I am just passionate about what I do. I never asked myself if I could make it, I just do it 'cause I love it. Sometimes I get really tired. The most difficult time of my life begins in April when I have exams and preparations for the Summer Dance Battle," Yann Selo said.
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