Qilu Evening News Qilu One-point reporter Wang Xiaoying special writer Yang Mei compiled
In June, a video captured the attention of netizens around the world: on the muddy ground, a slender, dark-skinned African boy danced a ballet, he had no shoes, no venue, but his body shone with the light of his dreams. The 1-minute video changes the fate of the protagonist, Anthony Mesoma Maddu, who recently offered him a full scholarship and will tiptoe to the United States next year on a larger stage.
Anthony Mesoma Madou, 11, from Nigeria, has seen videos of him dancing ballet barefoot in the drizzle that has garnered more than 20 million views online to date. The video shoot for him was coach Daniel Ajara, who was supposed to let Anthony find his shortcomings in his dance through the video, but unexpectedly triggered a whirlwind of networks.
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Netizens around the world were impressed by Anthony's smooth dancing style and passion for dreams, and even Viola Davis, an African-American actress and Oscar winner for best supporting actress, shared the video with 1.4 million fans on social media "Twitter" with the caption: "This reminds me of the beauty of our nation." Despite the cruel obstacles in front of us, we create, we fly, we are good at imagining, and we have unfettered passion and love. Our people can fly!"
Most importantly, the video impressed Cynthia Harvey, artistic director of the American Ballet Theatre. "A friend who lives in the UK sent me the video and I started contacting him the same day." She said. Harvey contacted Anthony's coach, Ajara, and last week the American Ballet Theater decided to offer Anthony a full scholarship and invited him to an online summer course hosted by the theater. Next year, Anthony will travel to the United States for more training.
Anthony Metsoma Maddu
"I was very surprised and very happy. Thank God for making this video a hit. I was ecstatic when I learned of the 2021 American Ballet Theatre scholarship. Anthony said, "I can fly, it's something I've been looking forward to for a long time." Ballet helped me do it!" In an interview, he was on a muddy street in Lagos, Nigeria, just finishing a ballet performance with his classmates. "Ballet is hard to learn, but you can do it with hard work." He made no secret of his love for ballet, "Every time my mother asked me to run errands, I would go there [to school] to learn to dance, which made me very happy." Anthony also has a saying that makes people move: "Ballet is my life, and every time I dance, I feel like I am on top of the world."
Anthony danced at the local dance school.
From the mud of Nigeria to the American Ballet Professional Theatre Company, the network reversed Anthony's fortunes. But behind the "counterattack", it is inseparable from his efforts and the help of coach Ajara. Before the video was uploaded, Anthony studied at the dance school founded by Ajara. As a coach, Ajara is not from a cobain background, he is just a self-taught ballet dancer. At the age of 13, Ajara watched the movie "Keep the Last Dance" and had the idea of learning ballet. But he couldn't afford the high tuition and had to teach himself through the video site YouTube.
Anthony's coach, Ajara, is behind the dance school he founded.
In 2017, Ajara founded the Ballet School to support students in pursuing their dreams under difficult conditions. "Every child can learn ballet here for free, and poverty doesn't make it a reason why they can't pursue ballet." Ajara said. The school has produced "internet celebrities", and the fate of the school and other students has also changed. The school has received some donations to build a standard dance school that can be accommodated so that students whose homes are far away can live on campus. Ajara also wants to teach more people the ballet skills he has learned and continue to promote ballet in the local area. "Many people say that ballet is not an African dance, and I may never be able to develop ballet to the same extent as abroad. But for me, it's important to develop an art form with our own national identity. ”
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