Ballerinas turn one of Kenya’s largest slums into a stage for a Christmas show

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — With perfect pirouettes and plies, dozens of young ballet dancers gracefully moved between the makeshift iron houses of one of Africa’s largest urban slums, spreading Christmas spirit.

Hundreds of residents in Kenya’s Nairobi cheered as the nimble ballerinas, wearing Santa hats and sparkling colorful outfits, turned the dusty narrow roads of the neighborhood of Kibera into a dance-worthy stage on Saturday.

The annual show was a hit.

Organized by the Kibera Ballet School, one of the east African country’s smaller institutions that provides free lessons to children who otherwise wouldn’t have had access to this kind of training, the production was the result of rigorous practice.

For months, the children rehearsed in modest community halls while juggling their household chores, which included fetching water in plastic jerricans in the neighborhood with no clean running water.

Like the rest of Africa, Kenya boasts of a youthful population — with a median age of 19 — and the ballet school, funded by a local non-government organization, aims to give some of them a creative outlet.

For Kibera residents, the early Christmas ballet show is a celebration of community resilience and creativity.

“We don’t have grand stages here, but we have talent,” one observer said and he watched the dancers.

As the final routine ended with a synchronized bow, applause echoed throughout the neighborhood.

At that moment, the future for these young dancers gleamed a little brighter.