Dancing to a better future in Ethiopia

By Elana Ringler

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Reuters Life!) - Music echoes through an overcrowded neighborhood in the Ethiopian capital, drawing dozens of children off the streets to get a glimpse of another world -- the world of dance.

Inside a garage transformed into a dance studio, the floor crackles at every jump and sunlight pours from huge holes in the tin roof.

For Junaid Jemal, who like millions of other children in Ethiopia sold goods on street corners hoping to make enough money for a warm meal, joining the dance troupe that rehearses in the studio was an escape from hopelessness.

"Most of us were working on the streets," said Jemal, now, 23 and one of the choreographers of the Adugna contemporary dance company. "They give us this contemporary dance and they believe that we can do something for the future."

At the age of 12, Jemal was one of 18 street children picked by the troupe to receive dance instruction in one of the world's poorest countries.

After five years of intensive training, Jemal became a world renowned professional contemporary dancer, receiving the prestigious Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative award for his choreography.

Founded in 1996 by international choreographer Royston Maldoom, Adugna is Ethiopia's only professional contemporary dance troupe.

Leading choreographers from Europe and Africa come to teach in the company and its members have gone on to perform at international art and dance festivals.