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Special Olympics Uzbekistan athlete Volodya Ignatyev (in brown T-shirt) strikes a pose with the professional break dancers. UNICEF provided T-shirts to the Special Olympics Uzbekistan gymnastics team. Photographer: Martha Jo Braycich, Special Olympics Europe/Eurasia |
Special Olympics Uzbekistan athlete Volodya Ignatyev loves to break dance, as spectators at Opening Ceremonies discovered. As a team of professional dancers performed, a small figure darted from the audience and onto the stage. No one knew who the dancer was but his “Toprock,” “Downrock,” “Power Moves” and “Freezes” were as acrobatic, athletic and rhythmic as the professionals. A handsome, slightly built 15-year-old with a fringe of dark brown hair almost covering his eyes, Ignatyev wowed the audience with his fancy footwork before halting into a stylish pose, and then dashed back into the darkness of the theatre.
Ignatyev applies his break dancing skills to rhythmic gymnastics, a sport he has recently started to learn. His coach, Saryo Suleymanova, a coach at a local mainstream sport school, said that Ignatyev's parents, who he lives with in Namangan, are very proud of him. After Opening Ceremonies, his mother cried with happiness when the coach called and told her about her son's performance. Ignatyev, who wants to be a professional break dancer, had his chance to strut his stuff one more time when the break dancers put on an impromptu show at the hotel where the Special Olympics gymnastics competitors were staying. Hanging back shyly at first, Ignatyev only leapt into the center of the break dancers when they waved to him to join them. Forming a circle, they clapped as this new star wowed the audience once more, coming one step closer to realizing his dancing dream.
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