(CNN) A 16-year-old male dancer is determined to prove that South Africa can produce global ballet stars. Leroy Mokgatle is breaking stereotypes of what a ballet star is supposed to look like. The non-muscular, slight-framed South African was told he was "too short" to be a male principal dancer.
But this year, he won the audience choice award in the prestigious 'Prix De Lausanne' dance competition. The second time ever a South African has won the award (the first was in 1988). He's also the first ever male South African dancer to win a classical medal through the 2014 Youth American Grand Prix award.
"I don't want South Africa to be seen as a country that can't produce anything," he says. "I want to change how the world sees us."
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