11 year old Nigerian boy's ballet video goes viral

11-year-old's ballet video goes viral   

11 year old Nigerian boy's ballet video goes viral 

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhc8fE9-AsU

An 11-year-old boy has achieved fame after a video of him dancing in the rain outside his home in Lagos, Nigeria went viral on social media. Anthony Mmesoma Madu impressed people worldwide with his skill, enthusiasm, passion and dedication. The Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis saw a video clip of Anthony and put it on her social media feeds. She tweeted: "We create, soar, can imagine, have unleashed passion, and love, despite the brutal obstacles that have been put in front of us. Our people can fly." Another social media user said: "As adults, it is our job to help each child find their talent and to support them...The joy from this propels them in all things they do."

Anthony is one of 12 students at the Leap of Dance Academy. The academy is in a poor district of Lagos. It provides free dance lessons to underprivileged children who have nowhere to practice. The academy's founder, Daniel Ajala Owoseni, told BBC News: "We are changing the narrative about the stereotype of male dancers." Anthony said: "Where I live there are no male ballet dancers like me. When people see ballet they think it is only for girls, they don't know that it is not only for girls." He added: "How I want them to see me is that when I am dancing they know that there is a male ballet dancer. The feeling that comes over me is as if I am dreaming."

Warm-ups

1. BALLET DANCERS:  What do you know about Ballet? What adjectives do you associate with it?
3. SCHOOL: Students A strongly believe ballet should be part of the school curriculum; Students B strongly believe the opposite.  Discuss.
4. TALENTS: How can we get children to soar in these skills? What are the difficulties? 

	How	Difficulties
Dance
Coding
Art
English
Sport
Singing

5. FAME: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word "fame". 
6. DANCE: Rank these with your partner. Put the best forms of dance at the top.

• ballet
• breakdancing
• disco
• tango
• tap dance
• flamenco
• folk dance
• rain dance

Vocabulary

    Paragraph 1

1.	fame	a.	Drive, push, or cause to move in a particular direction, usually forward.
2.	go viral	b.	The condition of being known or talked about by many people.
3.	dedication	c.	Released from a restraint.
4.	soar	d.	Of an image, video, piece of information, etc., that is circulated rapidly and widely from one Internet user to another.
5.	unleashed	e.	Increase rapidly above the usual level.
6.	obstacle	f.	The quality of being committed to a task or purpose.
7.	propel	g.	A thing that blocks one's way or prevents or hinders progress.

    Paragraph 2

8.	leap	h.	Jump or spring a long way, to a great height, or with great force.
9.	academy	i.	A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.
10.	district	j.	A place of study or training in a special field.
11.	underprivileged	k.	A representation of a particular situation or process in such a way as to reflect or conform to a set of aims or values.
12.	founder	l.	An area of a country or city.
13.	narrative	m.	Of a person not enjoying the same standard of living or rights as the majority of people in a society.
14.	stereotype	n.	A person who starts an institution or company.

Before reading / listening

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if 1-8 below are true (T) or false (F).

1. A boy has achieved fame after ballet dancing in the rain.     T / F
2. An Oscar winner posted a video of the boy on her social media feeds.     T / F
3. The actor suggested her people could not fly.     T / F
4. Someone said a child's joy propels them in what they want to do.     T / F
5. There are 120 students enrolled at the Leap of Dance Academy.     T / F
6. The academy wants to change the narrative about stereotypes.     T / F
7. The boy said there were plenty of male ballet dancers where he lives.     T / F
8. The boy said he often dreams about dancing around the world.     T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1. fame
2. impressed
3. dedication
4. soar
5. propels
6. district
7. underprivileged
8. narrative
9. added
10. feeling

1. neighbourhood
2. fly
3. sensation
4. moved
5. story
6. pushes
7. commitment
8. went on to say
9. stardom
10. deprived

3. PHRASE MATCH: (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1. An 11-year-old boy has achieved
2. Madu impressed people worldwide
3. despite the brutal obstacles that have
4. help each child find their
5. The joy from this propels them
6. The academy is in a poor
7. free dance lessons to underprivileged
8. We are changing the
9. the stereotype
10. The feeling that comes over

1. with his skill
2. of male dancers
3. in all things they do
4. children
5. me is as if I am dreaming
6. talent
7. narrative
8. fame
9. district of Lagos
10. been put in front of us

Gap fill

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

impressed
fame
propels
soar
find
viral
clip
obstacles

An 11-year-old boy has achieved (1) _____________________ after a video of him dancing in the rain outside his home in Lagos, Nigeria went (2) _____________________ on social media. Anthony Mmesoma Madu (3) _____________________ people worldwide with his skill, enthusiasm, passion and dedication. The Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis saw a video (4) _____________________ of Anthony and put it on her social media feeds. She tweeted: "We create, (5) _____________________, can imagine, have unleashed passion, and love, despite the brutal (6) _____________________ that have been put in front of us. Our people can fly." Another social media user said: "As adults, it is our job to help each child (7) _____________________ their talent and to support them...The joy from this (8) _____________________ them in all things they do."

Put these words into the spaces in the paragraph below.

narrative
dreaming
underprivileged
stereotype
see
district
founder
not

Anthony is one of 12 students at the Leap of Dance Academy. The academy is in a poor (9) _____________________ of Lagos. It provides free dance lessons to (10) _____________________ children who have nowhere to practice. The academy's (11) _____________________, Daniel Ajala Owoseni, told BBC News: "We are changing the (12) _____________________ about the (13) _____________________ of male dancers." Anthony said: "Where I live there are no male ballet dancers like me. When people see ballet they think it is only for girls, they don't know that it is (14) _____________________ only for girls." He added: "How I want them to (15) _____________________ me is that when I am dancing they know that there is a male ballet dancer. The feeling that comes over me is as if I am (16) _____________________."

Comprehension questions

1. Where is the boy's home?
2. What did the actor who posted the video win?
3. What did the actor say her people could do?
4. What did the actor say has been put in front of people?
5. What did the actor say propels children in the things they do?
6. How many students are there at the Leap of Dance Academy?
7. To whom does the academy provide free lessons?
8. What did the academy's director say he is changing?
9. What stereotypes did the director say he is changing?
10. What does the boy want people to know?

Role play

Role  A – Ballet You think ballet is the best form of dance. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their dance forms. Also, tell the others which is the worst

Role  B – Breakdance You think breakdance is the best form of dance. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their dance forms. Also, tell the others which is the worst

Role  C – Tap Dance You think tap dance is the best form of dance. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their dance forms. Also, tell the others which is the worst

Role  D – Tango You think the tango is the best form of dance. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their dance forms. Also, tell the others which is the worst   Role E- Flamenco You think the Flamenco is the best form of dance. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them what is wrong with their dance forms. Also, tell the others which is the worst

Discussion - Ballet Dancer

1. What did you think when you read the headline?
2. What images are in your mind when you hear the word 'ballet'?
3. Would you like to achieve fame?
4. What do you think of ballet?
5. What is your favourite form of dance?
6. What are your hopes for Anthony?
7. What do you have a passion for?
8. How do you deal with obstacles in front of you?
9. What do you like to create?
10. What things do you find joy in doing?

11. Did you like reading this article? Why/not?
12. What do you think of when you hear the word 'dancer'?
13. What do you think about what you read?
14. How important is dance?
15. What is your image of male ballet dancers?
16. What advice do you have for Anthony?
17. How interested are you in ballet?
18. Would you encourage your children to study ballet?
19. What is in your dreams?
20. What questions would you like to ask Anthony?

Language — Cloze (Gap-fill)

An 11-year-old boy has achieved (1) ____ after a video of him dancing in the rain outside his home in Lagos, Nigeria went (2) ____ on social media. Anthony Mmesoma Madu impressed people worldwide with his skill, enthusiasm, passion and dedication. The Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis saw a video (3) ____ of Anthony and put it on her social media feeds. She tweeted: "We create, (4) ____, can imagine, have unleashed passion, and love, despite the brutal (5) ____ that have been put in front of us. Our people can fly." Another social media user said: "As adults, it is our job to help each child find their talent and to support them...The joy from this (6) ____ them in all things they do."

Anthony is one of 12 students at the Leap of Dance Academy. The academy is in a poor (7) ____ of Lagos. It provides free dance lessons to underprivileged children who have nowhere to practice. The academy's (8) ____, Daniel Ajala Owoseni, told BBC News: "We are changing the narrative about the (9) ____ of male dancers." Anthony said: "Where I live there are no male ballet dancers (10) ____ me. When people see ballet they think it is only for girls, they don't know that it is not only for girls." He added: "(11) ____ I want them to see me is that when I am dancing they know that there is a male ballet dancer. The feeling that comes over me is as (12) ____ I am dreaming."

Which of these words go in the above text?

1. (a)     famous     (b)     famed     (c)     fame     (d)     famously    
2. (a)     viral     (b)     rival     (c)     libel     (d)     rebel    
3. (a)     clip     (b)     bond     (c)     trigger     (d)     plush    
4. (a)     soar     (b)     thaw     (c)     sore     (d)     sower    
5. (a)     tentacles     (b)     obstacles     (c)     spectacles     (d)     receptacles    
6. (a)     tablets     (b)     molasses     (c)     ejects     (d)     propels    
7. (a)     urban     (b)     rural     (c)     district     (d)     ditty    
8. (a)     flounder     (b)     finder     (c)     fender     (d)     founder    
9. (a)     type     (b)     prototype     (c)     stereo     (d)     stereotype    
10. (a)     like     (b)     likely     (c)     liking     (d)     liked    
11. (a)     Wow     (b)     How     (c)     Now     (d)     Low    
12. (a)     thus     (b)     so     (c)     if     (d)     via

Spelling

Paragraph 1

1. An 11-year-old boy has dhaeviec fame
2. with his skill, aieumshstn ...
3. passion and iedcoaidtn
4. dnlesuhea passion and love
5. despite the brutal tlosebcsa
6. The joy from this polsper them in all things

Paragraph 2

7. in a poor tcridtis of Lagos
8. lessons to nrigruvedepiedl children
9. The academy's fruodne
10. changing the ienraartv
11. the etopesrtey of male dancers
12. there is a eaml ballet dancer