Whiz Kid of The Week: Mohammed Omari Ali

Name: Mohammed Omari Ali

Grade: 12th

School: LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts

Accomplishment: When Mohammed was ten years old, his mother enrolled him African dance class. In no time, it was obvious he had a talent for dancing. Following that, he started taking tap, then modern and then ballet, where he excelled in them all. It was clear Mohammed was a performer.

By age ten, he had a manager and was signed with the two top talent agencies in the country, Abrams and CESD. He started acting, and by age 13, Mohammed won an Adelco Rising Star Award for his performance in the play “Storm Stories.”

Mohammed is also a member of the CAC-Youth Arts Academy at the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. He is an honor roll student and a member of the National Honors Society at LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, where he just wrapped a performance in the lead role of Othello.

Key to awesomeness:  Mohammed says he believes the number-one key to awesomeness is discipline. He points to his Muslim upbringing and the time spent in dance and karate classes as a young boy as the foundation for that discipline.

“Discipline and passion are the keys to awesomeness. You have to be disciplined, you have to be on time; and you have to be able to move like water, because nothing is set in stone and things are always changing,” says Mohammed. He adds that he tries not to let outside elements distract him and always tries to make sure that whatever he does, he executes it well.

“Practice makes progress,” says Mohammed. “But you have to also be passionate about whatever you want, so that it is fun. The fun isn’t in achieving the goal; the fun is trying to get there.”

Want to nominate a Patch Whiz Kid from Bed-Stuy? Send his or her name, age, info and a photo to c.zawadi.morris@patch.com