‘SA’s Billy Elliot’ has more than one dream
Faakhir, 12, is off to a US ballet school, hoping his drug addict mom will see him dance one day
FAAKHIR Bestman might have the world at his feet, but there is one face the 12-year-old yearns to see in the audience even more than the queen of England — his mother’s.
While he is determined to become the world’s top male ballet dancer, his mother has surrendered to a life of drugs on the streets of Hanover Park, on the Cape Flats.
“I just want her to get clean. Get off the drugs,” he said.
In July, Faakhir will join the American Academy of Ballet in New York, thanks to a partial scholarship and crowdfunding.
It is the latest step in a fledgling career that saw him secure a spot at the Royal Ballet School in London last year for a course in which he was one of two dancers who received a certificate of commendation. More than 20 dancers from around the world participated.
He also took home a gold medal from the South African International Ballet Competition two weeks ago.
In three years, Faakhir has gone from being called a “moffie” to “The Man” in his community. He has stolen hearts one jeté at a time and even receives requests for his autograph from pupils at his school and strangers in the community.
Faakhir, who is in Grade 6 at Blomvlei Primary School, will travel to New York in July with his dance teacher, Abeedah Medell, after the New York school awarded him a 25% scholarship and documentary filmmakers launched a crowdfunding drive for “South Africa’s real Billy Elliot”. In 28 days the initiative raised £3 975 (about R87 000).
Filmmakers Brian Green, from South Africa, and Dominic Ozanne, from the UK, started filming a documentary about Faakhir’s life after reading about him in The Times two years ago.
Faakhir lives with his granny and four siblings in a small, council flat. While he is excited about the trip, saying goodbye to his grandmother, Aysha, and his mentally and physically disabled sister, Akeeda — who cannot speak or walk, but miraculously smiles when her brother dances — will not be easy.
“One day I am going to study and dance in London,” Faakhir said. “I will buy a house on the bottom floor with a garden for Akeeda. She loves to feel the wind in her face. And I want my mother to live with us.”
The family survive on Aysha’s meagre government pension. She said her daughter had been using tik for years. She has taken in all her grandchildren.
“I found the youngest child in the drug den lying next to her mother. She [the mother] was so sick but I forced her to go to hospital. She was clean for so long but now she has gone back,” Aysha said.
“Faakhir is afraid to leave us here when he has to dance overseas some day but he said: ‘I’m going to fetch granny and Akeeda.’ I know he dances for Akeeda, only for her. He has been raising funds to give her a big party for her birthday on April 8,” said the grandmother.
Medell, principal of the Eoan Group School of Performing Arts in Athlone, said another of her students, Jordan Heuwel, had also been invited to dance in New York but she could not afford to go.
“It is not just dancing I am offering. Children need a place to dream,” said Medell.
One day I am going to dance in London. I will buy a house with a garden for Akeeda. And I want my mother to live with us