Ballet dancers in Erbil to receive British Royal Academy of Dance certificates

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A total of 16 young girls are at the final stage of their ballet dance preparations in order to take part in examinations to receive international awards from the British Royal Academy of Dance.

The dancers aged two to 16, have been training since last September at the Erbil Fig Club, a ballet dance center that currently has a total of 25 students.

The Fig Club – a performing arts and dance center which opened its doors in 2014 to provide after-school programs to children.

The Fig Club, known in the community as "the big purple house," has a team of 15 professional instructors from Kurdistan, the UK, Russia, America, France, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, and Syria to encourage children to pursue their love of arts and dance.

The center will submit a video of their students' ballet performances to decide whether or not they qualify to enter the exams provided by the international ballet dance center.

"The exam that we are doing is the Royal Academy Dance exam. Their association is based in Britain, but they do these exams worldwide," Denika Smith, a ballet dance trainer told Rudaw. "This is the first one that we are doing here, in Kurdistan ever. So, we are pretty excited about it and the girls have done such a great job." 

The Royal Academy of Dance is a global center in dance education and training.

The academy has been providing dance education and training for the past century.

"Through an international network of dance teachers, we support and connect a global community of more than 400,000 students, and dancers of all ages and abilities, in more than 80 countries," according to the academy.