The Iraqi Ballerina Who Won't Stop Dancing

Available for over a year

Leezan Salam from Iraq is a student turned teacher at the Baghdad School of Music and Ballet. The school was set up in the late 1960s to give students both an artistic and a full academic education.  But in recent times its dancers have become targets for extremists who think ballet is un-Islamic.  Leezan has risked her life to keep dancing. Image: girl taking part in a ballet lesson Credit: SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images