In the heart of Baghdad, near the neighbourhood of Al Mansour, dancer Leezan Salam is working hard to keep the art of ballet alive.
In a culture shaped by more conservative values, Salam has made it her mission to pass on the tradition of ballet to a new generation of Iraqis.
"My ambitions for ballet in Iraq is to develop more, to increase the number of ballerinas and to have a national Iraqi ballet team," she tells The National.
Salam is a graduate of the Baghdad School of Music and Ballet, an institution with a rich history dating back more than 55 years. Despite this, ballet remains a contentious and often stigmatised art form in conservative Iraqi society. However, Salam is passionate to revive the art, educate the public, and showcase it on a national and international stage.
“After I graduated, I felt I am alone in this art, so [I believe] everyone should learn it,” Salam says.
“I have been encouraged by international groups and teams in Russia, France, Egypt and Jordan. Each country has its own ballet group, so why doesn’t Iraq have a ballet group, ballet team, national team maybe?”
Despite the challenges faced by dancers in Iraq, Salam remains undeterred. After she graduated, she had a desire to share her passion and educate the public and younger generations on the art form.
“I wanted to start looking for the talent, start teaching, open an Academy,” she says.
“And I even want to have ballet classes available in schools, all schools, like any other classes, like sport, music.”
The shortage of suitable facilities for ballet in the region was a constant challenge for Salam and her students. But Salam didn’t give up and was able to work with Cadmus International School in Baghdad as a location to start and grow her ballet academy.
"Now, I am teaching at an international school. This is one of the best things that could happen to us, providing us a place," she explains.
Today, Salam teaches more than 30 students with their ages ranging from 5 –18 years. It’s a development she regards as a significant milestone for her personal dreams and for the Iraqi ballet community.
While there are still challenges ahead for her goals to make ballet a formidable part of the culture scene in Iraq, she is motivated not only by the art form itself but by her students too.
"My students are my motivation,” she says.
“When I see them dancing and doing ballet, they encourage me to continue, to move on, to have more ideas.”
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
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Pakistan v New Zealand Test series
Pakistan: Sarfraz (c), Hafeez, Imam, Azhar, Sohail, Shafiq, Azam, Saad, Yasir, Asif, Abbas, Hassan, Afridi, Ashraf, Hamza
New Zealand: Williamson (c), Blundell, Boult, De Grandhomme, Henry, Latham, Nicholls, Ajaz, Raval, Sodhi, Somerville, Southee, Taylor, Wagner
Umpires: Bruce Oxerford (AUS) and Ian Gould (ENG); TV umpire: Paul Reiffel (AUS); Match referee: David Boon (AUS)
Tickets and schedule: Entry is free for all spectators. Gates open at 9am. Play commences at 10am
Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
- Ban fruit juice and sodas
- Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
- Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
- Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
- Don’t eat dessert every day
- Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
- Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
- Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
- Eat everything in moderation