11-Year-Old Boy From Nigeria Receives Scholarship From New York Dance School After His Barefoot Ballet Performance Impressed Internet

Aug 13, 2020

11-year-old Anthony from Leap of Dance Academy moved viewers all over the world with a video of him dancing ballet barefoot in the rain outside of his school in Nigeria. Now that the video of the passionate dancer has circulated all over the internet, Anthony has been offered a full scholarship to attend the American Ballet Theatre in New York's virtual Young Dancer Summer Workshop.

The original video was posted to Leap of Dance Academy's Instagram, by Anthony's dance teacher Daniel Ajala. According to USA Today's cincinnati.com, the video caught the attention of Cynthia Harvey, who was a former principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre and is now the artistic director of one of America's most distinguished ballet schools, ABT's Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School of Dance.

According to cincinnnati.com, Harvey told the Cincinnati Enquirer:

“A friend who lives in the UK sent me the video. Within a day, I was trying to find him...in that video, I saw a boy who was a perfect example of the tenacity someone can have when they have love and a dream. It was immediately obvious how much determination he had.”

Harvey contacted Anthony and his teacher Daniel Ajala within days and offered Anthony a scholarship to the three-week ABT virtual Young Dancer Summer Workshop, and Ajala involvement in ABT's National Training Curriculum for teachers.

Daniel Ajala opened Leap of Dance Academy back in 2017, and according to cincinnati.com he was a business major before he became a self-taught dancer and opened up the dance school. A business and PR representative at Leap of Dance Academy told Bored Panda: 

“It made us just feel very overwhelmed and grateful. We can not believe our eyes, and the outpouring of support, sometimes we think we’re dreaming. God has been so gracious to us by providing all these things. Anthony is very excited and has always been a hard worker, so he is happy to continue working towards his dreams and have this opportunity. Anthony is currently in ABT virtual summer intensive."

The representative continued: 

"The main goal for our school is to have our students represent ballet in Nigeria well and bring it to the forefront while showing the elegance of ballet, but also letting our culture shine through."

It surely seems that Leap of Dance Academy's status will certainly become more international since the video brought so much attention from all over the world. Anthony's hard work and dedication as a ballet dancer certainly earned him and his teacher these scholarships. 

It's so incredible to see Anthony get the recognition he deserves! What do you think of him getting a scholarship? Let us know your thoughts and be sure to pass this on to others!