Grace and poise, tutus and pirouettes, and Faahkir Bestman. He was just three when he watched a dance movie and what he saw led him to Cape Town.

Mishkaah Medell, the ballet instructor said, “Normally the boys that come into the Eoan group they would want to do hip hop or something funky, so to have a boy interested especially at his age interested in ballet was quite unique and different.”

It’s not been an easy path. The youngster comes from an area on the outskirts of Cape Town that’s notorious for gangs, and they start in crime young.

Keeping a careful watch over his performances is his grandmother. She’s the only guardian to him and his five siblings among them his disabled sister.

What’s most eye-catching about Faahkir is his burning optimism that nothing will come between him and a glittering career in ballet.

Until Faahkir finally reaches his dream and ends up on the world’s stage he will have to continue to hone his skills here at his ballet school. It may indeed be a long and difficult road ahead for him but he is showing the steely determination to overcome it.

CCTV’s Travers Andrews reports from Cape Town.

Ten-year-old male dancer wows audiences

Grace and poise, tutus and pirouettes, and Faahkir Bestman. He was just three when he watched a dance movie and what he saw led him here.