8-Year-Old Choreographs His Own Ballet Recital After His Was Cancelled

This little guy is going places!

An 8-year-old choreographed a full ballet recital for himself and his sister after learning his dance studio’s performance had been postponed due to the pandemic, Good Morning America (GMA) reports. 

Maximus Turner is much like any other 8-year-old. He’s smart, he likes to have fun, loves his sister, and he’s handling the pandemic the best an 8-year-old can. But when Maximus learned that his dance studio’s end-of-year recital was canceled due to COVID-19, shortly before his family moved, he decided to have his recital at home, enlisting his sister as one of his dancers. 

“I love doing recitals. I love when I get to learn new tricks, and when I get to practice ballet,” Maximus said.

Since two, Maximus has been dancing “nonstop,” his mom Michelle Turner told GMA. As a military family of four, they move a lot, and it’s not often easy on Maximus and his 6-year-old sister Liliana, but they make it work. Whenever the family moves, the first thing Turner said she does is search for a dance studio and pick a house around the studio. Then mom and dad go to see if other boys are dancing to gauge what type of environment Maximus will be in.

Since he was born, Maximus has lived in five different places, getting acclimated each time. Turner shares videos of her son’s dances as well as real-life stories about his journey to Instagram as a way to share his gift and break down the stigma surrounding Black male dancers.

“Today, we had to have ‘the talk.’ The conversation that most people don’t want to see Maximus’ heel stretch when they first meet him – including doctors, grocery shoppers, new neighbors, your sister’s friends, the movers, and many boys…We then talked about how some boys may make fun of his heel stretch, say dancing is for girls and call him names. We talked about how those people could be bullies, how to respond and how those people didn’t deserve to be his friends,” Turner captioned one of the photos of Maximus in his signature heel stretch pose. 

While it isn’t easy for her to have these convos, Turner believes it’s necessary to remind him to “surround [himself] with positive vibes [and not] let negative people bring [him] down.” She hopes that he will continue to pursue his dream of becoming a professional dancer and breaking stereotypes. 

If there was one piece of advice Maximus could share with other boys, he said it would be, “They don’t need to be scared.” 

Keep going, Maximus! We love watching you share your dance skills with the world!

Photo Courtesy of Michelle Turner