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The Iraqi Ballerina Who Won't Stop Dancing

Leezan Salam has risked her life to keep dancing in Baghdad.

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.聽 But in recent times its dancers have become targets for extremists who think ballet is un-Islamic. 聽Leezan has risked her life to keep dancing.

Image: girl taking part in a ballet lesson
Credit: SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images

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