‘Dance is beautiful': Kenyan slum reaches for ballet stars

Bravian Mise hits a series of grand jetes - leaping like a gazelle across the cramped living room - and pirouettes during an exhaustive rehearsal at his home in a Kenyan slum.

The 13-year-old has been practicing ballet for four years and is among a hundred or so children who have been rehearsing for months to perform Tchaikovsky's Christmastime favorite "The Nutcracker" in Kenya's capital Nairobi.

The famous ballet tells the story of young Clara, who receives a painted wooden nutcracker shaped like a soldier for Christmas.

At night, the toy comes to life and fights against a mice invasion until the nutcracker-turned-prince defeats the evil mouse king and carries the little girl to his magical kingdom far, far away.

"I had never heard of this ballet before performing in it," Bravian says, a smile plastered on his face.

"I love dancing, I dance because it's beautiful."

Before the curtains open, dancers are put through their paces by Cooper Rust, an alumnus of the School of American Ballet, and director of Dance Centre Kenya - a non-profit giving lessons to underprivileged youngsters in the city.

"It is important to show the world that ballet is not just for one type of person," the American instructor, a former professional ballerina, told AFP.

"Ballet is about skill and talent, and drive and passion, not socio-economic background."

Lofty dreams

Despite Kenya's burgeoning dance scene, the country does not host a professional ballet company.

"We are getting there," counters Rust.

But a lot needs to be done, and funding is a constant problem.

At the Nairobi National Theatre, the young troupe made up of children aged between seven and 17 executes perfect...