Ballet is not usually a form of dance that is associated with the African continent. But Nigerian ballet teacher Daniel Ajala is on pointe and breaking those barriers.
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00:00In Nigeria, dance is not outside of daily life, it is at the center.
00:10Dance is universal, and anyone is free to choose what style of dance they would like
00:15to do.
00:16However, as in many African countries, traditional dance forms are often preferred to Western
00:21styles and ballet in particular is the hardest hit.
00:26It is said to be foreign or culturally less relevant.
00:29So what happens when someone in Nigeria wants to dance ballet?
00:34The universality of dance shows that even in the indigenous African dances that we have
00:38here in Nigeria has a link with ballet.
00:41We have like a marriage to the two cultures and that has been able to give a very unique
00:48approach to how people feel about ballet.
00:50Can ballet break boundaries and transform lives in a place where it's never been seen
00:55before?
00:56Let's meet the barrier-pushing Daniel Adjala, a ballet dancer from Lagos.
01:01Ballet can break boundaries because there is something very special about ballet, which
01:06is its uniqueness.
01:07There's something different about it, there's a fresh feel about it.
01:11And speaking from a very experiential point of view, I think that ballet has been able
01:16to help us achieve certain things that if we're actually doing other styles of dances,
01:21we might not be able to achieve those kind of levels.
01:25I think that it is something that is worth giving a try to.
01:28For example, we've actually had some of the best ballet teachers in the world teach our
01:32students.
01:33We've been able to get to places that we are the only Nigerians in the whole building.
01:41So this is what ballet can do.
01:43The self-taught dancer turned his passion into a mission to establish Afro ballet.
01:50Let's check out what obstacles he had to fight against and why his passion for ballet has
01:54never let him give up.
01:57It's been a very, very new approach to giving them classical ballet, which they're not really
02:02used to.
02:03And so we're trying to orient them and give them more orientation to ensure that they
02:08can actually know that this is not like selling off Nigerian art, like we're very, very interested
02:14and invested in our own dance style, which is our own indigenous dance styles.
02:19And that's why we're doing something called the Afro ballet, where we can actually infuse
02:24classical ballet with some African ballet movements.
02:28Thanks to social media, ballet is gaining importance in Africa too.
02:33How has this encouraged Daniel to not only indulge in his own passion for dance, but
02:38also to enable dance as an educational and growth opportunity for others?
02:43I decided to turn my dream into reality on the 9th of September, 2017, because I wanted
02:51to create that as a day where and the moments where children can actually have dance education.
02:58And it's been such a very amazing seven-year journey to see that this passion that was
03:03just something that we can just call a passion has become something that can be very life-changing,
03:10bringing a lot of children from different homes.
03:12And today we have some of our students gracing international stages that were not opened
03:18to them before.
03:19And that shows that the passion is indeed a mission.
03:23With limited awareness of ballet and societal perceptions labeling it as elitist or gender-specific,
03:29how did Daniel overcome these challenges?
03:33Most importantly, because there is no belief system, it is belief, for example, I'm going
03:37to use dance as a case study, they think that it's a waste of time.
03:42And there is no continuity, it's just a thing for the now, where people think that, oh,
03:47just go and have fun and you can actually get something better to do in future.
03:53But there's been like a, there needs to be like an orientation that what you can actually
03:58start little, that passion can become a career path for people.
04:02A typical day at the Leap of Dance Academy is filled with lots of rehearsals, because
04:07the kids will come right from school down to the academy to take dance lessons.
04:12And this shows that they have a very serious itinerary for every week.
04:20For Daniel, ballet is more than dance.
04:23It's a tool for empowerment, education, and self-expression.
04:27But what makes him stay so dedicated to this art form?
04:30And why does it matter so much to him?
04:33I am not only educating the dancers of tomorrow, but also educating the audience of tomorrow's
04:38theater, meaning that if they are not going to actually want to do dance professionally,
04:42they are going to be able to support the arts tomorrow.
04:45And so it's involving being able to like give them the opportunities, the platform, the
04:50discipline, the tool for life that can be used in all facets of their lives, not just
04:55because they want to become ballet dancers.
04:57Globally, there are a handful of black ballet dancers.
05:01Through the Leap of Dance Academy, Daniel is inspiring a generation to dream, leap,
05:07and dance.
05:08The question now is, how far will this leap take them?
05:12This leap will take them very far.
05:15And I'm not just talking about just them becoming professional dancers.
05:19I'm also talking about them doing other things in life.
05:23Example, they might want to become doctors and bankers tomorrow, but the lessons and
05:29things they've learned from Leap of Dance can be used in other areas of their lives.
05:33So that's the bigger picture.
05:35He's a person that wants to bring out that star in you that you think you don't have.
05:42Seeing them from one place to the other, you know, maybe I watch them on the Instagram,
05:48on the Facebook, seeing them, I'm impressed.
05:51Daniel Adjala's journey shows that with vision and determination, barriers can be shattered.
05:57In Lagos, the vibrant heart of Nigeria, Afro Ballet is redefining creativity and proving
06:04that the impossible can become reality.