Young Kenyan ballet dancers stage early Christmas performance
Al Jazeera
The holidays have come early for residents of Kibera as more than 100 local ballet students stage a performance.
As the sun sets on the narrow streets of Africa’s largest informal settlement, children hurry to change from daily clothes into pointe shoes and other ballet gear.
Fifteen-year-old Brenda Branice is among the dancers and can’t hide her joy. It’s time for the Christmas performance in Kibera, one of the busiest neighbourhoods of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi.
Instead of a stage, there is dust-covered plastic sheeting in an open field. The holidays have come early for residents as more than 100 local ballet students perform. They have been practicing every day after school.
“I am happy to be a ballerina,” Branice said. “I am also happy to entertain my friends.”
Eyeshadow sparkles. A girl’s braided hair swings. Some dancers go barefoot.
