“Behind those fanciful in class beauty and costumes are lots and lots of backstage hard work. With very little or no resources our kids are training to be the best they can,” Leap of Dance Academy wrote in the caption of a video that would soon go viral.
“This is not to bring down anyone but to show their high level of dedication and committments to our program. Who wouldn’t be proud of them? What teacher wouldn’t pray for students who shows/comes to class with so much desire to learn? Kids who are ready to dance with or without conditions. Imagine what more we could achieve if we have more?” They continued.
The video that went viral was actually a clip of one of the Academy’s students. The video showed the student, an 11-year-old ballet dancer named Madu Mmesoma Anthony, dancing barefoot in the rain.
After going viral, the video soon caught the attention of award-winning actress Viola Davis. It also made its way to Cynthia Harvey, the artistic director of New York’s ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of Dance. She, along with the rest of the world, was blown away by Anthony’s passion as well as his beautiful and elegant dance moves.
“A friend who lives in the UK sent me the video. Within a day I was trying to find him,” she told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Harvey kept her word and luckily, was able to find Anthony somewhat fast. And she wasn’t just trying to have a chat with him — she wanted to find Anthony for a reason. She wanted to offer him a scholarship to a virtual three-week intensive summer workshop located in the United States.
“Where I live there are no ballet dancers like me,” Anthony later told BBC News. “When people see ballet they think it is only for girls, they don’t know that it is not only for girls.”
“How I want them to see me is that when I am dancing they know that there is a male ballet dancer. I dance ballet because I love dancing. The feeling that comes over me is as if I am dreaming,” he said.
“When my teacher told me that plenty people had seen my video, I was very, very happy,” Anthony continued. “I look up to my coach… When he’s dancing I feel very, very happy, as if it is me that is dancing.”
His self-taught teacher, Daniel Ajala, began teaching at the Academy in September 2017 and is a mentor to all of the children.
“I have identified that he is actually a very committed student,” Ajala said of Anthony to BBC News. “Right from day one, he has always been very time-conscious. We are changing the narrative about the stereotype of male ballet dancers. Boys can actually do ballet and they do very well because, in ballet, there is something we call a pas de deux [a dance of two], where the male ballet dancer lifts the girl.”
“Male ballet dancing is here to stay,” Ajala added.
Anthony’s mother did not always know that her son was a dancer, although she has had a hunch in the past. And regardless, she is very proud of him and supports whatever he wants to do.
“He never told me but I noticed it in him,” his mother shared. “When he will be stretching his legs, his hands… I said, ‘What kind of nonsense is this?'”
“Whenever he is dancing, I feel happy. I have joy watching him dancing. This is my son, I can’t believe this!” She laughs.
Anthony’s mother goes on to give some pretty amazing advice to all parents: When you discover your child has a talent, support them so that they can go far with it. She also notes that every child has a talent, we just don’t always do a good job of discovering it. What a wise and supportive mama!
“Special shoutout to all parents who have have allowed their boys to dance. Speaking from the Nigerian perspective most children are enrolled in school to have a white collar job but never to become a dancer. We hope supportive and inspirational mom like Anthony’s mom has given us a reason for early child talent discovery,” the Academy said.
It is so important that we give our children the space to discover their passions and talents. And then when they know what they want to pursue, it is just as important to support that! It’s a beautiful thing.
Watch the video that went viral below.
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https://www.instagram.com/p/CBjt6B-A0aM/
