Young ballet dancers dream of life beyond Kenyan slums

From Isha Sesay, CNN

April 13, 2011 5:43 a.m. EDT

Beautiful dance in tough neighborhood

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Poverty and crime are widespread in Nairobi's Mathare slums
• Around 40 Mathare students are taking after-school ballet classes
• School teachers say skills learned through dancing have improved pupils' concentration
• UK-based charity Anno's Africa is behind the classes

(CNN) -- In Kenya's giant Mathare slums poverty and crime are widespread. But youngsters there are getting a chance to realize their potential -- by learning ballet.
Mathare, in Nairobi, may seem like an unlikely place for ballerinas in training, but around 40 students living in the tough neighborhood take beginner lessons once a week with instructor Mike Wamaya.
"It's new and it's what they like," Wamaya explained. "And it's what they never believe they could have ever done."
The instructor says learning ballet could help change these children's lives. Read More>>