The Nigerian school of dance and the boy who made it to New York City Ballet #worldballetday2020 - Dance Saturday
Hello everybody and welcome back to another blog post,
I wanted to write a post for this a lot sooner but I guess it's better late than never in this situation. In dedication to #worldballetday2020 that happened a couple weeks ago, I wanted to talk about the amazing Nigerian ballet school, Leap of Dance Academy.
Never before have I been more humbled about a dance school than I have with Leap of Dance Academy. They have overcome much adversity by showcasing the amazing and often, overlooked, indigenous ballet dancers of Nigeria and through this they have proven to many people on a global scale that, yes, Nigerian dancers can not only dance ballet well but also execute ballet steps with a professional level of precision and dance the style gracefully. I saw many of the students on video on the dance school's Instagram account and I must say that I was thoroughly impressed. All the students were working hard by practicing their technique at the barre and across their faces was a huge smile that could only be caused by the shear love of ballet. It was inspiring to see such humble students with such a passion for ballet which is not traditionally associated with their own culture.
After watching the viral video of Anthony, a student at the ballet school, execute his amazing fouettés on camera, I knew that he was going to go far and his scholarship at the New York City Ballet Academy just proved it. He is now working hard everyday to improve his skills in ballet and all I can see is a dancer blossoming into an elite professional. What differentiates students like Anthony from everyone else is not just where he comes from but also why he's there. For many dancers, we grow up to do dance because it was something that was introduced to us at a young age by our parents. However, with Anthony and the other students, they are there because they love ballet. They don't take any dance class for granted because each class they do is valuable to them.
I love watching African dancers perform their traditional African tribal dances because I think it's so different from the way we dance here in the UK and I think that that's what makes it so refreshing to see. However, I think its also refreshing to see these indigenous populations perform something that's entirely different to them because it just shows how influential the culture of dance is to many people around the world.
We often associate ballet with the very European, aristocratic way of dancing, even connoting it back to the classical Modern Renaissance period where the Italians were first formulating the style. However, we never care to think about how popular this style of dance is and how it's being enjoyed by a rich diversity of people across the world, by those who are rich, poor, black or white, Asian or European, professionals and adult amateurs.
I'm not a ballet dancer myself and whilst I love dance, I was never properly trained in ballet, but I truly enjoy watching ballet not only because it's a disciplined art form but also because it's an art form that has the magical power to make people feel empowered through just moving their body. I think that this was what I was thinking a lot about for this #worldballetday. How empowering ballet is to so many different people across the world, to the audience and dancers alike. ❤️
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