Kibera Ballerinas

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0:41It's a Saturday morning in Kibera, on the outskirts of Kenya's capital, Nairobi. Matatu drivers beep their horns looking for minibus passengers. Motorbikes whiff through the crowds as street vendors call out their prices. Everyone on the narrow winding street seems to be in a hurry, including 14-year-old Lydia. When I wake up, I have to do my chores, wash dishes, mop the house, and then I go for shower, I dress, then I come for ballet.

1:22Yes, ballet, classical ballet. Of all the unlikely dance forms, here in one of Africa's largest informal settlements. Kibera is home to a flourishing dance school, one that Lydia has been attending for more than five years. When I started coming for ballet, my mom went to Tanzania, so I had to stay with my father alone. He didn't have school fees for me to go to school, so I used to stay at home. Lydia's childhood has been full of uncertainty, but for her and hundreds of other children living here in Kibera, ballet has remained a constant. Ballet was a place for me to feel at home. After a stressful day of school, I come from ballet, I express myself, I find friends, we play together.

2:19So ballet has been a very helpful place for me. On Saturdays, Lydia heads across Kibera, through the crowds and past the street vendors, including her mum, who sells fried fish. Eventually, she reaches the tacos gates of Project Elimo, where she passes the white letters spelling out home to Kibera ballerinas. One, two, three, four, one, two, one. When I'm dancing, I feel joyful, I feel free. I feel that I'm expressing myself. I'm showing people who I am in the inside. And for the very first time, Lydia and her fellow dancers have the chance to show off their pirouettes, jumps and lifts on the biggest stage they'll ever have performed on.

3:22The performance for National Theatre makes me feel excited because I know people come from different places and you never know who's going to come.

3:38Guiding Lydia through to the performance at Kenya's prestigious National Theatre is her ballet teacher, Mike Wamaya. So we use ballet because it has a lot of body training components in it. Ballet, from a beginning age, teaches children body presence, teaches children body placement, teaches children body awareness. So those three components are so key when it comes to growth. Mike is the founder of the ballet school here. part of our community organization known as Project ELEMU. ELEMU meaning education in Swahili. It is so important in an African setting, I believe, because it instills that discipline of patience in you.

4:26It instills that discipline of persistency. Mike's been teaching here for more than a decade. He's passionate about the difference it can make to the lives of young people. If a child gets it in them at a very early age, it actually defines your presence. It actually defines your confidence level. This is a documentary from the BBC World Service. I'm Caroline Kimbo and we're in Kibera, sometimes known as Kibra, exploring how a centuries-old form of European dance is changing the lives of young Kenyans. Ballet, it has been good for me There are people there with ability who also have dreams I express myself, I find friends We are following Lydia and her fellow teenage ballerinas as they count down the days to their big performance Welcome to Kibla Rising!

5:40Most Saturdays, you'll find Lydia among dozens of Kibera's children learning ballet at Project Elimu. In the five years that Lydia has been coming here, she's progressed so well that she's not just dancing, but teaching too. Along with her best friend, Shelley.

6:11Shelly is 15 and seems shy at first. But when the giggles ripple through the class, there is a good chance she's got something to do with it. When we talk, I ask her about her life outside the ballet school.

6:30and my six sisters. I'm the last one. Sometimes my mother does not have her money, so sometimes we have to sleep without eating, sometimes clothes, sometimes water.

6:47It's 11 o 'clock at Project Elimu, and that means porridge time. Children line up with colourful cups in hand. Some pour the porridge into a plastic bottle, tucking it under their shirt or dress and then quietly join the queue again. There is a lot of, of course, poverty. A huge number of people are struggling. Project Alimu founder Mike Wamaya is on hand to help during mealtime. You'd find like some kids are not really well taken care of because the parents have to always struggle finding work every single day. That's why we have a feeding program for breakfast and lunch here in this space. It's very rough.

7:31There's still a huge challenge around teenage pregnancy in Kibera. There's still a huge challenge with crime amongst the young, young people. But also, the biggest, biggest problem is there are no safe spaces for children. And so you'd find children playing in dumping areas. You'd find children playing along the road, which is quite dangerous.

7:54People in Kibera live in tightly packed shacks spread over an area just two and a half square kilometres. No one knows the exact population. Estimates range from 250 ,000 to more than a million. Mike tells me that the best way to help the community is to focus on the children. I work with children because I believe change within our community lies on this upcoming generation. I use dance to help children realize who they really are. We've seen children changing. You might be wondering why dance and ballet in particular? Well, to answer that, we need to go back to Mike's own childhood. He'd always admired his great-grandmother, a traditional dancer, and felt like he wanted to do something creative.

8:48But a lack of money meant he had to give up school and get a job in a garage. Until I was walking to my work one Sunday, and there was the poster there, and they were doing auditions for a dance school. By his own admission, at 17, Mike wasn't a great dancer. but he still went to the audition and was good enough to be invited back. I remember I didn't have enough clothes to put on. I didn't even know that for you to dance you need like extra training clothes. So when they asked people like, OK, people change. Yeah, I just changed on my boxers to dance. And to Mike's surprise, after the second audition dancing in his underwear, he won a place at the dance school.

9:31It was part of the British Council, a legacy of colonial rule. And that's when Mike first encountered ballet.

9:43We had to watch a lot of videos. And luckily we had very good teachers and one of them was called Miriam. And Miriam was a diplomat here and she was our ballet trainer. Within the first year we were like, okay, doing lots and lots of dancing from 8am till 8pm.

10:06And with hindsight, he can see how that rigorous ballet training paid off in more ways than one. I was not the best dancer in my dance group. Whenever they needed 20 people, I was just maybe the 19th or 20th. And maybe I was the 21st and the 20th person would misbehave and then I would be put in. And so I would still make it. But at the end of it all, I was part of the group and I could still do the dance. Mike's made great friends during his time learning ballet. The strict training and hours together have broken down barriers between dancers, often from different ethnic groups. But as a Kenyan learning a largely white, European form of dance, Mike has still felt like an outsider at times.

10:52The dance directors would always treat you differently. Okay, you need to show muscles. You came from Africa. You need to do African dance. You just want to be treated just as a normal human being. After about four years touring with dance companies in Europe, Mike felt his knowledge of ballet could be put to better use at home here in Kenya. I came back during the post-election violence. Good afternoon. Dozens of people have been killed in Kenya and violent clashes sparked off by the disputed results of the country's presidential election. Two or seven, two or eight. Kenyans are furious and they're out on the streets.

11:32The election happened and then chaos happened. Angry that democracy has let them down. And I felt the country needs to be rebuilt. I felt there's no need for me to go back to Europe and struggle in terms of surviving as a dancer. I can use dance as a tool to help others to make it accessible, to make it easy for everyone to be able to do it. And so we don't look up to Europe for all our solutions. We have it here. One of the first people Mike started teaching was Flavian. If you met me in 2008 and told me that Flavian, you will become a doctor in 2026, I wouldn't even believe you because the background was, wow, messy.

12:20Flavian was seven when she first met Mike. Back then, a lack of money meant, like Lydia and Shelley, she wasn't always able to go to school. Her home life was tough. You're trying to study, you cannot study, there are no lights, your neighbor is there fighting the wife, now people are drinking and maybe you're using alcohol to escape and there is all that drama. So it wasn't easy, honestly, it wasn't. The next day, I'm waking up, I get a chance to dance ballet and you just feel, yeah, you just feel like you've let it out, yeah, out of your chest. Ballet has taught me confidence. Ballet has taught me how to express myself.

13:09It also broadened my thinking. It also helped me realize that it doesn't matter where you come from. You You can bloom from whichever place. You just have to have that mindset. If I'm somewhere where I feel like a competition, especially when it comes to brains, I will love to do you. And soon, Flavian is expecting to graduate from medical school at the University of Nairobi. And it all started with a scholarship Mike helped her secure while she was dancing.

13:50This is a documentary from the BBC World Service. I am Caroline Kiambo and we are in Kibera exploring how ballet is changing the lives of young people.

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14:39Open, close, back, forth, action! In the years since Mike first trained Flavian, hundreds of other dance pupils have learnt ballet with Mike's guidance. And in today's dance class, some of Mike Wamaya's most promising students are rehearsing for the big show. At 18, Dustin is one of Mike's most experienced students. He seems to bend and stretch in perfect harmony with the music. When you also jump, when you point your legs and you are being captured by a camera, you see that, huh, I'm up there. But it's been a long road to get to this point. At first, when I started dancing ballet, it was awkward.

15:27People were telling me that ballet is for girls, and I was the only boy there, so it was traumatizing. Dustin was born in Kibera. He lives with his parents, four brothers and two sisters, one who danced at the school. My sister kept pushing me to dance ballet to continue. So I started dancing and learning new techniques, new terminologies. Then I started growing, growing day by day and it was fun. But Dustin says not everyone in his family has always been so supportive. My siblings back at home, they always make fun of me that I will not go anywhere with this ballet because even my elder sister was in the same shoes in where I'm in now and never went anywhere.

16:19It's something Mike has also encountered even at the height of his dancing career in Europe. My family just didn't care and not all of them knew where I was. We had one uncle who had a mobile phone and I called him once when I was in Europe. He's like, with all the things you can do there, you chose to just dance. And I was like, yeah, that's what I chose to do. He's like, find something else to do. Fix cars or sell spare parts or buy spare parts and bring them back here and sell them. But Mike's garage days are well behind him. Today, he encourages his most talented dancers like Dustin to dream big.

17:01There's one of my colleagues, we used to dance with him here. He improved, then he was taken out outside Kenya, and now he's doing concerts and festivals. I also want to be like him. For the past eight years, Mike has been inviting people to Kibera to see his dancers perform. But this time round, like Dustin, Mike is thinking big. We thought, OK, we want to also give a nice challenge to our students. And now we are having Kibra Rising. And the aim of Kibra Rising is to bring the stories of Kibra to the National Theatre. The National Theatre, built during the colonial era, was out of bounds for Mike when he was growing up.

17:50Today, it's a flourishing centre for the arts in Kenya. It's a big deal to perform there. And we hope so many people will come. My students are getting older, they're doing productions, and we want people to pay and sit and watch them. Hopefully it will work.

18:15Back at Project Elimu, preparations for Kibra Rising are gathering peace We are two weeks from performance The set is being built, costumes are being fitted And the rehearsals are getting more serious

18:34I come for practice every day And try to be better than I was each day so that I can be able to correct them before the day of the show so that I can do my best during that day. But today, 14-year-old Lydia is taking a break from rehearsals. She's taking me beyond the turquoise gates of Project Elim, down a narrow path to her house.

19:08Lydia introduces us to her mom Caroline. She's taking a break from her job selling fried fish. We've been dancing with Lydia, so we came home to see where she's from. Okay, so tell us what ballet has done for Lydia.

19:28Ballet has helped Lydia a lot. I cannot even describe it. The people running the ballet project have really helped me. They pay Lydia's school fees. I would not have managed to pay her school fees. Ballet has become part and parcel of Lydia's life. I sometimes tell her to skip a day, but she always insists on going. She's always there by 8 a.m. She says it keeps her physically fit. She just loves dancing ballet. They also get fed there. When she's there, she's assured of having breakfast and lunch. She also has some space to work on her studies. If she didn't have that ballet program, she won't have those meals.

20:11Neither would she get a space to study. She has very high hopes of succeeding in her ballet career. She keeps telling me that, Mama, I'm going to study abroad. This ballet will take me abroad. I know ballerinas are doing well out there. She believes ballet will take her places.

20:38We are now just a week away from the performance and the dance floor is full of movement. In one corner, Lydia is practicing her plies, those deep knee bends that are the foundation of ballet. Nearby, a younger group are walking through their port de bras, arms sweeping gracefully through the air. And over the other side, Dustin lifts Shelly high above his head as they rehearse one of the toughest moves in their routine. Soon, they'll be doing this in front of an audience at the Kenya National Theatre. Good girl, almost.

21:28It's the big day. The 200 capacity hall in the theatre is full. The audience takes its seats, the lights dim and Mike Wamaya walks on stage. So ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Kibla Rising!

21:50A clever mix of choreography allows the dancers to showcase their skill. From pure classical ballet on points, to African and contemporary dance.

22:12And in the crowd is Flavian, Mike's former student who's now training to be a doctor. Watching these kids perform just takes me back. I'm seeing dreams, honestly, because I know if they're going to dance and be ambitious and be passionate. Me, I'm seeing doctors, I'm seeing engineers in future, and I'm also seeing great ballerinas. Hi, Dustin. Hi. How are you? I'm fine. It was a marathon, heavy, but we did our best. And standing next to Dustin is his dance partner, Shelley. My favorite part was when he was lifting me up.

22:55This lift is particularly tricky because it involves Dustin holding Shelly high above his head with his arms straight while she lifts one leg up behind her. It requires absolute trust from Shelly and tremendous strength from Dustin. Sometimes I pinch her, but today he has improved. I want to thank you for being the best partner. is you have been flexible. Your weight is not that much. But I can just say you have been the greatest partner ever and I will always want to dance with you in each and every dance. Also feeling proud after the performance is Lydia. The best part of the performance was the last performance we did which had energy and people were cheering and everyone was happy.

23:46I told my mom to come, then she said she won't be coming because she has to go and sell fish. But Lydia's mom did manage to make it after all. It was really a special moment for her.