In June 2020, a minute — long video where a young ballet student dancing in the rain began popular on the Internet.
The popularity of the video has attracted people's attention on the unlikely story of a ballet school in a poor small town of Lagos, Nigeria: the Leap of Dance School. Set up in 2017, the school has changed the lives of its students, providing them a place to dance and to dream. And in the last few months, it has inspired influential people in ballet to lend a hand. Seemingly overnight, a world of chances has opened up. The students have received invitations to attend famous schools and companies overseas, and the school has received lots of donations, which helps them build a proper space and a real dance floor.
For now, the Leap of Dance School is housed at the home of its founder, Daniel Owoseni Ajala. Every day after school, Mr Ajala's 12 students walk to his apartment, where he pushes aside his furniture (家具) to leave a space to dance.
When Mr Ajala, 29, set up Leap of Dance three years ago, he had only a dream: to open a ballet school for students who were serious about learning the art form and possibly being a professional dancer one day.
As a child, Mr Ajala became crazy about ballet after watching Save the Last Dance. The 2001 movie tells about a young ballet dancer who overcomes all kinds of difficulties and finally achieves her dream.
Mr Ajala taught himself by watching lessons and professional companies on YouTube; he also signed up for a few crash courses in ballet which take a very short period at a local dance center. And so the Leap of Dance school was born.
