Embed

Bolshoi: Pas-de-Brazil

Brazil’s Bolshoi Theatre School turns favela kids into ballet stars

Brazil is famous as the land of carnival, samba, football, and now... classical ballet! The Bolshoi Theatre, which probably boasts the world's greatest ballet company, only has one ballet school outside Russia, and it's in the Brazilian city of Joinville. Talented children are selected from all over the country to learn classical dance and theatre in the best traditions of the famous Russian ballet school.

Students have to pass a difficult entrance exam to get into the Bolshoi Theatre School. It also offers free education to children from deprived backgrounds. © Cleber Gomes

The Bolshoi school isn't just about producing world-class ballet dancers; it’s also a grand social project. Children from deprived families get the opportunity to change their lives through art. At the start of the project in 2000, only five or six children applied for each spot. However, word soon spread throughout Brazil and beyond and now, more than 100 children compete for each place in the rigorous eight-year programme.

Since Julia’s family couldn’t afford to send her to the final selection stage at the Bolshoi Theatre School, she came up with a fundraiser ‘Julia is saving up for the Bolshoi’. She danced at church gatherings, meetings; anywhere she could, passing around a donation box.

The Bolshoi School is a dream for many Brazilian families. Stories about children from the most impoverished favelas having the chance to train with world-class instructors from the Bolshoi provide a fertile ground for touching media reports that inspire others. More than 200 pupils, mainly from low-income families, receive scholarships that cover the full costs of their education including transport, meals and medical care.

Amanda Gomes has always dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina. After finishing the Bolshoi School in Joinville, she was invited to join the junior company at the Zurich ballet. However, fate brought her to the Tatar State Opera and Ballet Theatre, where she fulfilled her dream.

In Joinville, RTD’s Ekaterina Kozhakina meets students to see how the Bolshoi ballet school gives them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She also learns of the sacrifices the parents make to give their children a future in ballet. She then travels to Russia, where some of the graduates are already performing professionally with renowned ballet companies, including the Bolshoi itself.

Erick Swolkin is a graduate of the Bolshoi Theatre School in Joinville. There aren’t many foreigners in the Bolshoi company in Moscow, but Erick and his girlfriend, Bruna Cantanhede, have joined the corps de ballet after finishing school.

Follow stories the mainstream media ignores: Follow RTD's Twitter

WATCH TRAILER
Please rate this film

2.09(232 users)

Published: 25 September 2019 11:52

Duration

26:20

Tags
Watch this film in Russian

don't miss

26:33
Arts and Culture 07 March 2016 00:00

Dance of the Little Swans. The Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet auditions young dancers

26:33
Arts and Culture 06 May 2013 00:00

Ballet, Sweat and Tears. The painful journey from young hopeful to prima ballerina

26:33
Society 06 March 2017 00:00

FavelaLive. Rio’s Children, caught between football, drugs and police brutality

26:33
Society 31 July 2015 00:00

Occupy Tower. Living in the world’s tallest slum - the "Tower of David"

26:33
Arts and Culture 18 July 2011 00:00

Alla Sigalova: ordinary life

26:33
Crime and Terrorism 14 December 2019 18:00

Paraguay: The Weed of Discord. South America’s biggest weed supplier: Illegal cannabis production and the war on drugs

26:33
Crime and Terrorism 06 March 2023 12:00

The Cocaine River . Amazonia locals killed in drug dealers' territorial disputes

26:33
Arts and Culture 17 April 2014 00:00

The Big Ballet. Dancing Dreams of Plus-Size Amateurs

26:33
Arts and Culture 04 July 2011 00:00

The Bolshoi of Siberia

26:33
Society 21 August 2017 00:00

Rwanda Pirouette. 23 years after Rwanda’s genocide; peace, stability and ballet

26:33
Society 07 October 2016 00:00

The Shegué, the Sorcerer and Che Guevara. Saving the Congo's 'witch kids'

26:33
Discovering Russia 19 February 2024 12:00

We Are Russia! World-famous Russian athletes and performers return to their hometowns to showcase the country they love.

26:33
Society 26 April 2017 00:00

Granny Fight Club. Africa’s rape victims are learning to fight back

26:33
Crime and Terrorism 04 March 2019 11:10

Machete Boys of Congo. Kulunas: Inside the brutal world of youth gangs

26:33
Society 12 February 2016 00:00

SOS: Sold Out Slaves. Kenya's growing child prostitution crisis

26:33
Society 02 October 2017 00:00

Congo: Cycle of life. Cycling club gives youth hope amid poverty & violence

26:33
Arts and Culture 27 March 2015 00:00

Moiseyev Ballet. Captivated by Genius

26:33
Personalities 01 December 2017 00:00

Jungle M.D. Brazilian neurosurgeon’s quest to help indigenous tribes and save the Amazon rainforest

26:33
Society 20 April 2018 00:00

Model Prisoners. Brazilian prison’s beauty pageant rebuilds inmates’ self confidence

26:33
Arts and Culture 03 June 2020 01:34

From Russia with Art . Passionate ambassadors on a mission to promote Russia’s cultural heritage

VIEWER’S CHOICE: 1,000,000 VIEWS AND MORE

VIEW ALL