parttime kenyan beggar parttime dancer
Last Updated : GMT 09:03:51
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today
Last Updated : GMT 09:03:51
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today

Part-time Kenyan beggar, part-time dancer

Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today

Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Part-time Kenyan beggar, part-time dancer

London - AFP

When Sylvester Barasa, whose legs have been withered by polio, is not begging at the side of a highway in the Kenyan capital he is part of a contemporary dance troupe. "It's a way of surmounting my handicap. It means I don't see the polio as something important any more. I don't pay attention to it any more," he said. At 34, Sylvester is one of the most emblematic figures in the Pamoja modern dance troupe, which started five years ago and which brings together able-bodied and disabled dancers. Polio at the age of 10 left him with both legs withered but he has developed the shoulders and chest of a bodybuilder and a very strong stage presence. Barasa admits to living in a "very tough environment". That is something of an understatement, given that he leaves the shanty town of Kayole every morning and parks his wheelchair in the middle of Wayaki Way, where he sits in the sand as trucks rumble past incessantly, whipping up clouds of dust. He went with a friend to a rehearsal of Pamoja shortly after the troupe was set up. "I felt shy, I was afraid people would laugh at me, but they encouraged me," he recounted. Pamoja, which means together in Swahili, was set up by the Israeli-Canadian choreographer Miriam Rother and soon went from being an experimental workshop to a company putting on at least a show a year. "I get many things from dancing, I get flexible. I didn't know what contemporary dance was but I came to realise it is something that makes my body feel good," said Barasa, a father of four. There are 13 dancers in the company, although the latest performance earlier this month featured only five. The able-bodied dancers bring their skills. The disabled dancers, rather than trying to hide their handicap, make it dance, pushing their body to its limits to take part in collective ballets or improvise solos. None of them seems to have any inferiority complex. John Kihungi, 40, who moves around clutching a pole as tall as he is, describes himself as an acrobat and says he sometimes puts on impromptu shows for tourists in front of hotels on the Kenyan coast. "When I joined Pamoja I felt I'd come to the right place," he explained. During rehearsals "I give new ideas to the dancers - my acrobat ideas," he said proudly. On stage meanwhile two young women who walk with a stick launch into a duet where they form arabesques with their arms and join hands above their heads. "Our credo is that we don't care whether you have no legs, whether you're paralysed at the waist, or whether you've been amputated. We're interested in what you bring to the character you're playing on stage," the company's director Joseph Kanyenje said. He said he is impressed by his dancers' progress, both on stage and in everyday life. "Some have had good job interviews. Three now work as civil servants and another is a hotel receptionist." "It's all in the mind," Kanyenje says stepping into the shoes of one of his disabled dancers. "People sometimes look down on me, but this evening they're looking up at me because I'm the one on stage."

almaghribtoday
almaghribtoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

parttime kenyan beggar parttime dancer parttime kenyan beggar parttime dancer

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

parttime kenyan beggar parttime dancer parttime kenyan beggar parttime dancer

 



Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Skincare PR Performance Full Year 2017

GMT 09:22 2018 Monday ,22 January

Skincare PR Performance Full Year 2017
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today New hunt for flight MH370 gets under way

GMT 11:03 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

New hunt for flight MH370 gets under way
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Modern colorful bedroom renovation

GMT 10:57 2017 Thursday ,21 December

Modern colorful bedroom renovation
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Puigdemont candidate for Catalan president

GMT 13:56 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Puigdemont candidate for Catalan president
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today Turkey detains dozens more

GMT 10:47 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

Turkey detains dozens more

GMT 20:57 2017 Tuesday ,26 December

Erdogan Arrives in Port Sudan

GMT 12:39 2017 Sunday ,10 September

Leadership's unlimited support

GMT 08:42 2013 Wednesday ,18 September

Kuwaiti crude price down $1.44 to $107.04 per barrel

GMT 13:05 2016 Tuesday ,26 January

China fears halt market recovery

GMT 20:15 2016 Tuesday ,14 June

QNB raises $2.75bn in tier 1 notes sale

GMT 20:57 2014 Wednesday ,17 September

Egypt Mufti Shawki Allam wraps up visit to Lebanon

GMT 17:10 2012 Thursday ,10 May

Israeli forces detain Gaza fishermen

GMT 15:38 2016 Friday ,22 July

ANB reports $417.9m net profit in first half

GMT 15:54 2015 Sunday ,08 February

British stars vie for BAFTA glory ahead of Oscars

GMT 15:31 2017 Thursday ,05 January

Morocco’s GDP to Increase by 3.9% in 2017 Q1: HCP

GMT 12:21 2015 Saturday ,29 August

Wheat stock beyond safe limits
Almaghrib Today, almaghrib today
 
 Almaghrib Today Facebook,almaghrib today facebook  Almaghrib Today Twitter,almaghrib today twitter Almaghrib Today Rss,almaghrib today rss  Almaghrib Today Youtube,almaghrib today youtube  Almaghrib Today Youtube,almaghrib today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

.almaghribtoday .almaghribtoday .almaghribtoday .almaghribtoday
almaghribtoday almaghribtoday almaghribtoday
almaghribtoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
almaghribtoday, Almaghribtoday, Almaghribtoday