Teen dances his way to NY ballet school
MUMBAI: The son of a welder from Mumbai’s slums had a dream few Indians dared to dream – to dance with the New York City Ballet.
In a few months, that dream may be a little bit closer as 15-year-old Amiruddin Shah begins four years of training at the prestigious American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.
“I never thought I would become a ballet dancer,” Amiruddin said, though he knew from the age of 6 that he loved to move with music. “India is not on the ballet map, and I want to take India to an even higher level.”
Amiruddin began studying ballet less than three years ago when Israeli-American instructor Yehuda Maor was invited by the Danceworx Academy to teach in India.
Maor happened to catch Amiruddin doing cartwheels and backflips as part of the Danceworx jazz and contemporary dance programme for underprivileged students.
“I had no idea about ballet,” Amiruddin recalled.
He had been dancing freestyle whenever he got the chance – sometimes he was invited to perform at weddings.
Maor was impressed with how Amiruddin moved and asked to see the bottom of his feet. He discovered the boy had perfect arches for ballet and urged him to train.
Within two-and-a-half years, Amiruddin had nailed his pointe, pirouette and arabesque, “which is unheard of”, Maor said. “I knew I had found a diamond in a pile of rocks.”
Maor bought Amiruddin ballet shoes and dance clothes and helped him and another dancer, 21-year-old Manish Chauhan, win scholarships to New York’s Joffrey Ballet School. But they could not secure US visas on time.
Amiruddin and Chauhan were then offered scholarships at the Oregon Ballet Theatre starting in December. Amiruddin attended for three months, while Chauhan is still training in Portland.
Now, Amiruddin is trying to raise funds for four years of travel and tuition with the American Ballet Theatre in New York. They have enough for his first year, beginning in August. “I am so excited, but slightly scared, too,” said Amiruddin.
One day, he hopes to be a principal dancer in the New York Ballet. And eventually, he said: “I want to teach other children who cannot afford to pay for dance.” – ANA-AP