Fourteen-year-old Daniel Keyser from Strand has returned from two weeks of intensive ballet training in New York, where he trained with international dance legends and performed on stage.
Strand, South Africa (11 August 2026) – Receiving superior dance training, watching a hit musical on Broadway, cycling through Central Park and visiting Times Square were among the highlights of 14-year-old ballet dancer Daniel Keyser’s trip to New York.
The talented boy from the Strand shared some of his experiences after two weeks of intense training at the prestigious American Academy of Ballet (AAB) in New York.
Keyser was awarded a scholarship to attend the AAB’s Summer School of Excellence dance training programme, attended by 200 young dancers from across the world, after a two-hour-long audition in Cape Town in November.
He was invited to audition after achieving 95% for his Classical Ballet Grade 5 examination in October and scoring 97% for his Modern Final Grade examinations in November.
The dancer, who flew to New York on July 9 and returned on July 23, says the excellent training was the best part.
“I am a better dancer now. The teachers were incredible. They showed us specific techniques, making some difficult moves easier, because now I know which muscles to activate.”
He enjoyed learning new choreography – especially from Kevin Durwael, the artistic director of the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp and the award-winning French choreographer Camille Perrier. Keyser also had the privilege to attend classes by the legendary Gilbert Mayer, 91, from the Paris Opera Ballet, who has coached famous dancers such as Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov.
Keyser, a Grade 8 pupil at the Parel Vallei High School in Somerset-West, says they trained for at least six hours a day.
“I really enjoyed it. We started class at 9 o’clock, had an hour lunch break, then trained again in the afternoon. And on some evenings, we rehearsed for a show.”
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South Africa, We Have SO Much Good News to Share With You!On the last Saturday of his trip, the students performed two shows in the large auditorium at the AAB College with Keyser participating in three items, including an excerpt of Don Quixote.
Sightseeing in New York was fun.
“We spent a morning cycling through Central Park, which was great. Also, Times Square is even more impressive in real life than what it seems like when you see it online”.
One of his dreams that came true was to see the rap musical Hamilton.
“It was brilliant. I’ve been listening to the soundtrack since about 2019, and finally got to see it live at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway. They sing so fast, and the choreography was amazing. I especially liked the wedding scene where the story rewinds, and my favourite part was “Right Hand Man”.
As a souvenir, the dancer got himself a Hogwarts hoodie from a Harry Potter store. He brought his mother, Lise-Marie, poster prints of a variety of front pages of the New Yorker magazine. He got his father, Renier, exotic chocolates one can’t find in South Africa. His gifts for his 16-year-old sister, Jenna, were a Stanley cup, a NYC cap and some Matcha powder.
Keyser started dancing when he was five after accompanying Jenna to a ballet class and deciding he prefers ballet to gymnastics, which he had participated in before.
His AAB scholarship covered 65% of his expenses and the rest – R63 300 – was raised through a BackaBuddy campaign.
Lise-Marie says: “As a parent, it was a hard decision to let him travel to the US without us because he is still so young. But the whole experience has been so good for his personal growth – he went there a boy and came back as a young man. We are very proud of him.”
Well-known Cape Town ballet teacher Barbara Schreuder accompanied Keyser.
“What I appreciate about Daniel is that whenever I pointed out a detail of the training that he had missed, he took the input and applied it, so he made visible progress every day. And during the final performance, he really shone on stage.”
On the morning when he arrived back at the Cape Town International Airport, he went straight back to school and, in the afternoon, he started rehearsing for a dance production.
“That was a bit rough because I had jet lag”.
Keyser has made new friends, mostly with dancers from the US.
“We’re definitely keeping in touch.”
In future, he would “love to learn” more moves in acro, a dance style that combines classical dance technique with acrobatic elements and tumbling.
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