Anthony Madu from Lagos, Nigeria, joined a prestigious dance school in the United Kingdom. He was spotted thanks to a video of his prowess totaling millions of views on social networks.
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It’s a wonderful story that makes you dream! You may remember this young dancer from Nigeria. In 2020, aged 13, he was filmed dancing barefoot in the rain on a muddy street in Lagos. The video of his feats made the rounds on social networks, in France many had seen it too. The Nigerian prodigy’s life becomes a fairy tale. The child from Lagos no longer does pirouettes in the rain. Thanks to this video, which had garnered 16 million views, he was spotted and flew thousands of kilometers from his native Africa. Today his smile radiates his 16-year-old face. He is making his dream come true.
The BBC visited him at a prestigious dance school he attended, Elmhurst Ballet School. “Hi, my name is Anthony Madu and you recognize me if you saw my video posted three years ago. And that’s me now!he explains. When I arrived in Birmingham in the UK, I saw what the classes were like, and how different it is from Nigeria. I really wanted to be here but I didn’t know how. When I found out I got a scholarship, it was another surprise.” This video moved a lot of people. Anthony’s beautiful story began in a modest courtyard in Lagos, thanks to an exceptional man: his dance teacher! A self-taught dancer. Since 2017, this enthusiast transforms his small house into a dance studio every day.
“The sky has opened”
He teaches classical ballet for free to children from poor neighborhoods. It was there that the young dancer made his debut. With Anthony’s success, several dance schools around the world offered to send scholarships to Africa for other young dancers to receive training abroad. And this is just the beginning for Anthony. His story is so fascinating that he attracted the attention of Calvin Royal III, principal dancer, the equivalent of Étoile, at the famous New York company the american ballet theater. As for his African American idol, “the sky opened” for Anthony who shows the way to the children of Africa. He tells them this: “be tenacious”, nothing is impossible.
