Dancers from the Baghdad Ballet Academy perform The Four Realms - in pictures

The school has managed to survive decades of unrest in Iraq

Dancers from the Baghdad Ballet Academy perform in a show called The Four Realms at Al Rashid theatre, in the Iraqi capital. AFP

The academy has managed to survive decades of unrest in Iraq. AFP

The music and ballet school was founded in 1968, with Russian teachers. EPA

In 1982 the government instructed that Iraqi staff, trained in Moscow, should take over. EPA

Students learn conventional subjects each morning, then go for rigorous music and ballet classes in the afternoon. AFP

The school enrols both boys and girls. AFP

Dancers from the academy get ready backstage before their performance. AFP

Dancers from the academy get ready backstage before their performance. AFP

Dancers from the Baghdad Ballet Academy perform in a show entitled "The Four Realms" at Al-Rasheed theatre in Baghdad, on February 24, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

Dancers perform The Four Realms. AFP

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