IRAQ: BROTHERS PRACTICE BALLET AND MUSIC LESSONS PRIVATELY AS SCHOOL CLOSES DUE TO VIOLENCE.

Record ID: 648244

  • Title: IRAQ: BROTHERS PRACTICE BALLET AND MUSIC LESSONS PRIVATELY AS SCHOOL CLOSES DUE TO VIOLENCE.
  • Date: 20th June 2005
  • Summary: (MER1) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JUNE 16, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. SALAH SABAH PLAYING OUD AND HIS YOUNGER BROTHER KARAM PERFORMING BALLET MOVEMENTS 2. KARAM SABAH PERFORMING BALLET MOVEMENTS 3. CLOSE OF SALAH HAND PLAYING OUD/ PAN TO HIS FACE 4. KARAM DANCING 5. (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) SALAH SABAH, SAYING: "The school summer training courses were cancelled because of bad security conditions. Behind us (the school building) there is al-Muthanna airport, which is a U.S. military base and you know every hour there is an explosion or there is an incident, so teachers said we cannot take the risk of keeping students coming and going." 6. KARAM PLAYING VIOLIN WITH HIS TUTOR 7. KARAM PLAYING VIOLIN 8. KARAM AND HIS TUTOR PLAYING VIOLIN 9. KARAM'S TUTOR PLAYING VIOLIN 10. KARAM AND HIS TUTOR PLAYING VIOLIN 11. (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) MUHANNAD FOUAD ABDUL HADI, KARAM'S VIOLIN TUTOR, SAYING: "I give Karam lessons in his house because under current conditions we cannot train him in a public place. You know, because of the security situation we can not give lessons in another place." (MER1) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (FILE - 2004) (REUTERS) 12. WIDE OF ROAD NEAR MUSIC AND BALLET SCHOOL WHERE CAR BOMB EXPLODED NEAR MUTHANNA AIRPORT, KILLING AT LEAST 35 PEOPLE/AMBULANCES AND FIRE ENGINE AT END OF BRIDGE 13. AMBULANCE LEAVING BLAST SITE 14. PEOPLE HAULING WOUNDED INTO AMBULANCE/ POLICE , PEOPLE AND IRAQI SOLDIERS STANDING NEAR 15. IRAQI SOLDIERS NEAR DAMAGED CAR (MER1) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (JUNE 16, 2005) (REUTERS) 16. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MUHANNAD FOUAD ABDUL HADI, KARAM'S VIOLIN TUTOR, SAYING: "A blast took place here one day and a killing there in another, but we have managed to maintain contact despite explosions and the bad security situation the Iraqi people are living. We have managed to adapt ourselves to these conditions and we will go on despite the bad situation." 17. CLOSE OF OUD/ PAN UP TO SALAH'S FACE 18. NOTES 19. SALAH PLAYING OUD 20. (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) SALAH SAYING: "Music needs tranquility. You cannot play music in a chaotic atmosphere, it needs peace to help the player unite with the instrument and to give him the feeling that he is alone with the Oud." 21. VARIOUS OF SALAH PLAYING OUD WITH TUTOR Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 5th July 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BAGHDAD, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVA17NJVO2AR2BPGF33Q5IFCYVIG
  • Story Text: Brothers practice ballet and music lessons privately
    as schools forced to close due to continuing violence.



    In a country where sounds of blasts have become the
    familiar rhythm of life, Salah Sabah holds his Oud and
    starts playing to challenge the fear gripping the city
    streets outside.

    When he plays the Oud, Sabah forgets about the
    brutality of life outside the walls of his house. He
    cheerfully plays, while his younger brother Karam practices
    ballet dance movements to the tunes.

    Sabah and Karam are students of the Baghdad School of
    Music and Ballet, which is one of the projects supported by
    the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) with
    International through Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), one of
    several ACT International members working in Iraq.

    The school was established in 1968. Known for its
    commitment to academics, music and dance, the school has
    nearly 300 students in grades one through 12. Apart from
    ballet lessons, in all, 15 different kinds of instruments
    are played by the students.

    But as elswhere in Iraq, violence interuppted the
    harmony.

    "The school summer training courses were cancelled
    because of bad security conditions. Behind us (the school
    building) there is al-Muthanna airport, which is a U.S.

    military base and you know every hour there is an explosion
    or there is an incident, so the teachers said we cannot
    take the risk of keeping students coming and going," said
    the 13-year old Sabah.

    Unable to pursue practice in school, Sabah's family
    brought two tutors, one for Oud and the other for violin to
    give lessons to the two brothers.

    "I give Karam lessons in his house because under
    current conditions we cannot train him in a public place.

    You know, because of the security situation we cannot give
    lessons in another place," said Muhanned Fouad Abdul Hadi,
    who teaches violin to Karam.

    As fear of all kinds of violence is part of everyday
    life, armed guards stand by,patrolling the concrete walls
    around the school.

    Last year the school building was rocked by a powerful
    explosion at the edge of the nearby defunct al-Muthanna
    airport, now used as a military base for Americans and
    Iraqis.

    The powerful suicide car bomb, which ripped into a
    throng of men waiting outside the army's main recruiting
    station in the heart of the capital, killed at least 35
    Iraqis and wounded more than 100 others.

    "A blast took place here one day and a killing there
    in another, but we have managed to maintain contact despite
    explosions and the bad security situation the Iraqi people
    are living. We have managed to adapt ourselves to these
    conditions and we will go on despite the bad situation,"
    said Abdul Hadi, a member of the Iraqi National Symphony
    Orchestra and a teacher at the Music and Ballet School.

    Shortly after Saddam Hussein was toppled, thieves
    looted the school , ripping open cello cases and prying
    keys from pianos for their ivory. Torn tulle costumes lay
    crumpled on the dressing room floor.

    Later on, members of a Norwegian symphony orchestra, in
    co-operation with NCA, collected money to replace the
    school's instruments.

    And for Sabah and his brother, the tunes of music and
    dancing are ways to deal with the dramatic events. Their
    dream is to see their capital city once again safe so that
    they can tear down the walls around the school and share
    the music with others.

    "Music needs tranquility. You cannot play music in a
    chaotic atmosphere, it needs peace to help the player unite
    with the instrument and to give him the feeling that he is
    alone with the Oud," said Sabah.



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