Anthony Mmesoma Madu from Nigeria, the boy, dancing bare feet in the rain, touched Nikolay Grishko's heart so deep, that he decided to take the boy under his wing to nurture his talent, to support him every step of the way to his dream.
From now on Anthony becomes LIVE YOUR DREAM ambassador and will be mentored by a famous Royal Ballet’s soloist and Nikolay Grishko brand ambassador Fernando Montano.
Anthony is 11 years old and started his ballet training at the Leap of Dance Academy Lagos @leapofdanceacademy when he was 8 years. “He is a dedicated student and loves to be on time for classes. His favorite ballet moves are turns: a la secondé, tour l'air. He is in grade 1 ballet and he takes all the dance classes offered in the school, he is just two years in training and we are proud to see him grow” – says Ajala Daniel Owoseni, the teacher and director of Leap of Dance Academy, Lagos, Nigeria.
The idea of this project grew from an additional Diversity Search to NGgeneration worldwide program, that unites talented young dancers. Due to the #blacklivesmatter movement arousal, Nikolay Grishko decided to make an additional search for dark skin toned dancers. Three additional places to the campaign were set. Two places were given to the USA dancers Charlotte Felicity Blake from Florida and Maya Rogers from Michigan. The third place of #NGDiversitySearch was given to Anthony, the boy, who is dancing to his dream, even don't have all the ballet essentials. The place was given out of the competition as we believe that his dedication to dance says right as our the slogan of the brand: LIVE YOUR DREAM! Anthony lives his dream and Nikolay Grishko brands’ team will support him and show his fascinating story through the LIVE ballet classes and other events.
"Everyone in life has dreams and why not try to make them come true even though it may seem impossible to achieve.
I will try to be the best mentor I can for young Anthony. When I first saw the video of him dancing, it reminded me of how I started ballet, as I was in a similar situation in Colombia. Fortunately, my talent and passion helped me to become a professional dancer, but also my principles and values led to the award of a Doctorate of the Arts - Honoris Causa from the University of Bath, based on my humanitarian work and artistic achievements. Even though at times throughout my artistic career I have been told that I don’t have classical lines, that I am 'wild', and that I don’t 'fit in', I believe that in overcoming these challenges, I can use this experience and my professional network to help him, too, to become the best version of the dancer and person he can be.
I sincerely wish Anthony all the best in this wonderful adventure he is just starting." - says Fernando Montano.
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