Daddy-daughter duo bond through dance, TikTok

From the tender age of eight years old, dancing was always his passion, but having a daughter who 'eats, sleeps and breathe' the art form was more than a dream come true for Juss Dance also known as 'JD'.

His newfound love as a popular social media influencer and comedian has skyrocketed after a viral comedy skit with his daughter, Keelie. The proud father of two, said though he is more into working as a choreographer lately, he is delighted to know that his passion and legacy will live on through Keelie.

"I honestly think it's a blessing, seeing that a lot of people don't get time to spend time with their dads and other people don't have father figures in their lives. So I have to say thanks to God that I really get time to spend with my father, knowing that we share a similar interest and I can go to him for help for anything dance related. It just makes me want to share this moment with everybody who's willing to watch," the 16-year old told THE STAR. Keelie, who will start 11th grade at The Convent of Mercy Academy 'Alpha' is eyeing studies at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. While initially perturbed by her schoolmate's responses about her growing fame, she has become much more hospitable towards her peers as she now understands the reason for the overwhelming attention.

The daddy-daughter duo was birthed from Keelie introducing TikTok to her dad, and matriculated quickly into them creating an unscripted comedy skit. JD said after realising that his daughter had an account filled with "poor quality videos", he decided to add some light to her page.

"So mi start carry her around in the community to shoot videos with my phone with a better quality [and] nice background and mi used to cheer her on [during her routines] and shi wudda affi dweet over and over until she ketch it," he said. "But one day we were having a conversation about her wanting a new phone and she wanted an iPhone 11 and mi seh 'Weh mi fi get money fi buy dat?' and we were joking about it. Then I said 'What could she say fi mek mi find dah money deh anyweh it fi come from?'. And she said 'Alright can I get a boyfriend?' And we made that into a skit." The video had 300,000 views in quick time, with persons using their sounds to remake videos.

JD said that he shares a similar bond with his son, but the youngster is more into football.

"I try to encourage and guide them where their interest lies. [However] I use this to spend time with my daughter because as parents, we should try to meet kids at their level and then help to pull them up. When [Keelie] introduced me to TikTok, I used it as a way of understanding her more and what she likes. So I'd recommend to parents that whatever your child is into, instead of bashing it and [discouraging] them, try to understand why they are into it and get yourself interested," he advised. Keelie admitted is can be difficult to balance school and social media.

"I have to keep up my social media in case school doesn't work out for me and that can be my job in the long run. But I also have to remember that I have school presently and I have people that look up to me so I have to make sure I maintain a good balance between both," she said.

Going forward, JD plans to transition into promoting and acting while continuing his work as an MC. JD, given name Manawe Simpson, said during the peak of his career, he was the leader of dance troupe Untouchable Squad, who placed second in Dancin' Dynamites during their last year of competing. JD won the World Reggae Dance Competition in 2008 and was featured in major music videos such as Rihanna's Man Down, Drake's Find Your Love, and Konshens' Do Sum'n.