In a quiet neighbourhood tucked in the heart of Gaborone, a girl no taller than a dining chair is perfecting a pirouette. Her name is Lelentle Letsididi. She’s nine years old, and she’s headed to Belfast.
Yes, that Belfast.
In July, the Gaborone-born little dancer will travel over 10 000 kilometres from Botswana to Northern Ireland, where she’ll compete in the World Lyrical Dance Championships. It’s a long way from the tiled floors of the Bella-Rosa Ballet Academy, where she first discovered that movement could be magic.
“It started out small,” her mother told this publication seated beside her daughter after a Saturday morning rehearsal. “Just a ballet class. Something to try. But soon we realised this wasn’t just a hobby. She had something else—something you can’t really teach.”
The class was in 2023. Barely a year ago.
Since then, Lelentle has moved forward with the determination of someone chasing a dream. Starting with the delicate precision of ballet, she has expanded her repertoire to include jazz, lyrical, and acro dance—a hybrid style that combines ballet technique with fluid, expressive storytelling. It’s lyrical dance that has propelled her to the world stage, yet she still finds joy in all kinds of movement, whether leaping into a pool or sprinting across the school field.
Childhood, with a Side of Grit
At first glance, Lelentle is like any other nine-year-old—soft-spoken, with a ready smile and a fondness for YouTube clips. But there’s a quiet intensity in her that flickers when she talks about performing. “She watches dancers like Nia and Maddie from Dance Moms,” her mother says. “She’ll rewind and rewind a clip until she gets the move.”
The living room becomes a rehearsal space. The mirror in the hallway, a makeshift stage. Like many children of her generation, Lelentle’s artistic education unfolds in pixels as much as in studios. Yet there’s nothing virtual about her determination.
Her schedule would make most adults wilt: school by day, dance practice in the afternoons, and a cocktail of gymnastics, athletics, and swimming thrown in for good measure. “She likes to keep busy,” Tsitsi says. “I don’t think she knows how to sit still.”
But dancing at this level also demands resilience. There have been wobbles—missed steps, costume malfunctions, the occasional bout of nerves. “Stage fright caught her once,” her mother says. “She forgot a routine mid-performance. Froze. But she bounced back. She always does.”
One Ticket to Belfast
The World Lyrical Dance Championships are no small affair. Dancers from across the globe—some barely taller than their own shadows—will descend on Belfast to compete, connect, and showcase months, if not years, of practice. For Lelentle, it’s a first taste of that scale.
But it’s not just the prestige that excites her family. It’s the representation. “She’s showing young girls here what’s possible,” says Tsitsi. “That you don’t have to wait until you’re older. That your dreams can start now.”
In a country where dance isn’t always seen as a viable career—or even a serious pursuit—Lelentle’s path stands out. She’s not the child of professional artists. Her success has grown out of persistence, a supportive family, and a deep personal drive.
And while her feet are constantly moving, her aspirations stretch further still.
“She says she wants to be a vet,” Tsitsi says with a warm smile. “And she dreams of competing in the Olympics too. I believe she can do both—she’s full of determination!”
Grace in Small Movements
Back at the academy, Lelentle lines up with other dancers her age, waiting for her turn at the barre. There’s a flash of nerves before the music begins, but once it does, her expression shifts. Her limbs lengthen. The tiny girl disappears, and in her place is a performer—confident, graceful, precise.
In that moment, you forget her age.
When she dances, it’s like she’s bringing a beautiful story to life,” Tsitsi says. “You can see her joy and passion in every movement.
And what a story it is—of passion, discipline, and a belief in possibilities that stretch far beyond the studio. Come July, the lights will go up in Belfast. And in that moment, Botswana’s little dancer will take her place among the world’s best—not just to compete, but to inspire.
Because sometimes the biggest dreams are carried by the smallest feet.
