As a child growing up in Umoja, Nairobi, Maulid Owino found his way into dance through a window.
A church near his home hosted young people who practised dancehall, hip-hop and gospel routines. But because his parents considered the neighbourhood unsafe, the young Maulid was rarely allowed to wander far from home. So he watched.
“I used to go and peep in the window and see some moves. I didn’t have access to the internet or anything. So that was like my YouTube,” he says.
He would memorise the movements, rush home and practise secretly in the toilet, bathroom or kitchen.
Two decades later, the 25-year-old contemporary dancer is learning ballet, jazz, contemporary dance and Pilates from professional tutors in the United Arab Emirates after earning a full scholarship to the University of the Arts Sharjah (UAS).
The journey from that church window to an international dance programme has taken six years of professional work, missed opportunities, international festivals, financial uncertainty and persistence.
It has also taken him across Africa and North America, through dance films and multidisciplinary collaborations, and into a profession he is determined to make sustainable.
“I can say, at any particular point, I don’t know what this journey holds, but I feel like it’s one of those ‘final boss’ journeys,” he says.
At UAS, Maulid is one of 98 students in his cohort, sharing a campus with dancers from Egypt, Morocco, Spain, Russia, England and other countries. His days run from 8am to 5pm, with intensive physical and technical training.
“My experience so far has been interesting and beautiful. I received a really warm welcome,” he says. “I’ve had ballet, jazz and contemporary dance classes as well as Pilates by different tutors. There’s so much to learn and we have collaborations. I’m even starting to learn a few Arabic words.”
The programme is also exposing him to choreography, theatre and theory — skills he hopes will prepare him in his career.
For Maulid, dance is more than executing steps to music. As a movement artist, he uses his body to interpret stories, emotions and ideas. A performance can follow a rhythm, a monologue or simply the atmosphere of a space.
“I can interpret stories. There’s dancing, and there’s also performing movement art. Depending on how a story is influencing my body, I can be off rhythm. I can be dancing to a text or maybe a monologue. And I can dance without music as well.”
Sound itself does not necessarily mean music. Breathing, silence and the ambience of a room can shape movement. He has also taken that philosophy into film, creating dance films in which locations, movement and natural sound become part of the storytelling.
But the confidence to perform did not come easily. At about 10, the shy boy began finding his voice through movement. In primary school, he met another dancer who introduced him to routines he had learnt from other crews. He also practised at church and performed at youth functions.
Maliud Owino dancing on stage.
Photo credit: Pool
“There was a time I was pushed into a crowd and just told to dance. Because I was really shy, I was like, ‘Today I just have to dance. I won’t speak, but now I’ll just dance.’ That’s how it started. Then confidence came.”
His first certificate came through youth competitions at Holy Family Basilica, where his mother was a coordinator for the Missionary Youth Movement.
High school deepened his interest, although not in the way he expected. After Class Eight, he joined a seminary school where such activities were limited. He practised through the Young Catholic Students club and became a familiar performer at school functions.
After Form Four, he briefly considered studying culinary arts. Then, in 2019, dance opened another door.
His twin brother, Mohammed Ayeko, was exploring dance, photography, fashion and modelling. Photographer Alekograph created a short video featuring the twins, which went viral after singer Wahu reposted it. It felt like a sign.
“I’m finishing high school. I’m going to now get to explore this,” he remembers thinking.
Covid-19 soon disrupted his plans to join university. In 2020, while occasionally helping his father with the family business, Maulid turned to YouTube to teach himself ballet and contemporary dance.
He and his brother began shooting dance videos using their mother’s phone and Maulid joined a dance crew.
The physical demands of professional dance quickly became apparent. “I wasn’t that fit. I was very slim at that time. When I ran, my knees would knock. So it took a lot of physical work to get to where I am even now.”
But dance was becoming more than technique. “For me, it is the expression that comes out and the fulfilment that lives after I’ve just done a project.”
In October 2020, he joined Dance Into Space, a mixed-ability dance company working with able-bodied and differently abled performers.
In 2025, Maulid attended a residency before being invited to an in-person audition by the Human Expression Dance Company in Singapore, an organisation he had admired for years. He had applied twice before.
With little money and no guarantee of funding, he turned to M-Changa.
“I decided to open an M-Changa and raised Sh280,000 in two weeks.”
He made it to Singapore, auditioned and participated in a workshop. But only one of nine male dancers was selected. He returned to Kenya disappointed, then a friend he had met through a skills programme told him about UAS, where his work was taught.
He applied, submitted a video of himself performing an assigned choreography and qualified for an online audition.
“They said I have a strong background in dance, like I had been trained formally.”
Maliud Owino perfoming a dance on stage.
Photo credit: Pool
Then came the scholarship interview. Annual tuition is about AED55,000, roughly Sh1.94 million, and the programme runs for three years.
After assessing his financial situation, UAS awarded him a 100 per cent scholarship and offered full-board accommodation for his first term.
“They told me to just come and start, then they will review from there.” It was a remarkable second chance.
For now, he does not know exactly where those ideas will take him, but he knows he is moving.
