(MENAFN- The Peninsula) AFP
Lagos: After one viral video in 2020, Nigerian Anthony Madu went from pirouetting on the dusty streets of Lagos to dancing in the corridors of a prestigious British dance school.
Madu's extraordinary story, which has seen him become a celebrity and even receive a handshake from Queen Camila, has been documented for the silver screen and was to be released on Disney+ on Friday.
The documentary follows the teenager over a year, between 2021 and 2022, when he leaves Nigeria for Birmingham's Elmhurst Ballet School.
"I really feel really proud of myself, but it's also surreal at the same time to see yourself in a movie as to me it's just my life," Madu told AFP.
"I often think why me and what if the video of me dancing hadn't gone viral? I think it must have been faith," he added.
Madu was spotted by Elmhurst Ballet School after a video of him pirouetting in a disadvantaged area in Lagos, a city of 20 million people, went viral.
He has since been nicknamed the "Nigerian Billy Elliot" in reference to the 2000 film of the same name in which a working-class British boy develops a passion for ballet.
"I feel a sense of freedom and that I am where I am meant to be at this point in my life," Madu told AFP.
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