Bahian dancer wins scholarship in renowned dance company

Directly from Bahia to the United States , Uostton Di Alcantara 23 years old, is packed to make his biggest dream come true: studying at The Ailey School .

The school, located in New York, is the largest center dedicated to dance in the city and also has one of the most important programs in terms of teaching.

Born and raised in the Altos de Coutos neighborhood, in the suburbs of Salvador, the dancer has studied dance since he was 14 years old and his passion for movements came when the young man began to see his cousins ​​dancing. It didn’t take long for him to ask his mother to attend ballet classes.

Initially, Valdelice dos Santos was resistant to her son’s requests. She was afraid that he would suffer prejudice, but the dream screamed louder and he found in his mother one of her biggest fans.

”My mother and sister [Michele Dandara], and my grandmother, who has passed away, were my biggest foundations. They gave me a lot of support. I didn’t have to work during this period and my mother, despite needing a lot of help – she is a maid -, gave me the greatest support on this journey”, he said in an interview with the CNN .

The young man began to study ballet in high school, starting his studies at the Dance School of the Cultural Foundation of the State of Bahia (Funceb). It was at this school that he graduated as a dancer and where the dream, still distant at the time, of studying at the Ailey School was born.

Uostton began to prepare since last year to pass a company scholarship. On June 18 of this year, after trying for the second time, he was approved.

Before he can leave for the US in the second half of this year, Uostton needs to raise funds to cover room and board. And it was on the internet that he found a way to get it: he started an online crowdfunding.

To study in the United States, he has to prove to the school that he can support himself financially for one year. The costs for this period, according to him, are R$ 140,000, which include airfare, accommodation and food.

So far, the dancer has raised more than R$24,000, which corresponds to 17% of the money he needs. If it weren’t for the 100% scholarship, just for academic expenses, he would have had to pay US$7,339 per semester – the equivalent of more than R$39,000.

“I opened the email and had to read my name about five times to believe it. I cried with happiness, but I didn’t have much time to think. I started doing my own crowdfunding on the internet with the aim of making my dream happen,” she said.

During the three years of the full-time course at the Ailey School, Uostton will study contemporary dance and take the opportunity to delve deeper into the studies of dance history.

“It is very difficult to be in our place [de jovem negro]. We know it’s complicated, but we have to hold on to what supports us. We doubt ourselves because we’re trying to prove that we’re 22 times better, because otherwise, we can’t be seen. We need to believe in our process and make them respect our history,” she concludes.

* Under supervision of Giulia Alecrim.