Madu… From dancing in The Rain to UK Ballet School

The journey of Nigerian teenager, Anthony Madu, has been captured in Disney’s original feature documentary, Madu. Madu, the young ballet dancer whose video dancing in the rain barefooted went viral in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, grew up in a community with no dance schools, let alone classical ballet schools.

Without the chance of a formal training, he taught himself through watching videos and copying moves that fascinated him. He got a scholarship at the 100-year-old Elmhurst Ballet School in the United Kingdom (UK) and travelled in 2021 to start another phase of life.  
  
The documentary takes viewers through Madu’s journey from Nigeria to the UK, his struggle, the quality of care he received and his growth. The film was first screened in Nigeria at the 2024 iREP International Documentary Film Festival.
   
In late 2020, the Co-director Director of the documentary, Joel ‘Kachi Benson who won the Venice Award in 2019 for his virtual reality documentary, Daughters of Chibok, met with Madu and his family in the late 2020 when Madu was 11 years. Madu articulated his vision and passion despite his young age and his journey to the limelight started. The documentary is a celebration of his hard work, diligence and inspiration.

Three years later, the documentary on him, which showcases his resilience, is birthed. The special screening, which held at KAP Hub on Friday, July 26, 2024, was the first time his parents, friends and loved ones would see the film. Speaking on the Project, Benson said: “I worked with Matt Ogens and we directed this together and shot for about a year.”