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Syrians Find Hope, Healing in Dance

Some Syrian young people are learning that dance is a healing release from their many war-related worries.

For an hour each week, they study Latin dance at a school in Damascus. Recently, the group stepped energetically to the sounds of salsa music.

The students are led by 42-year old Adnan Mohammed, a teacher at the dance school. This group is learning the basics of Latin dancing.

Mohammed says the class helps his students forget the troubles of war — if even for a short time.

After class, "They come out a different person," he said.

"I believe we are giving them the energy to stay in the country," he added. "Now there is a reason for them to stay."

More than 500,000 people have died in Syria's civil war, which began in 2011. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's military forces have crushed most areas of uprising. Rebels remain in control of a few areas.

For the past several years, conflict lines have been frozen¹. But, damaged areas have not been rebuilt. An economic crisis² has set in, also. Many Syrians are struggling to find work and make enough money to meet the needs of life.

Mohammed first opened a dance school 15 years ago. He says people still kept coming to his classes throughout the war.

But the coronavirus pandemic was an unbreakable barrier to business. It shut everything down.

With pandemic restrictions³ now mostly lifted, students have returned to class, looking for a temporary escape.

Yara Zarin is an engineer who is also a teacher at the Dance Nation school, where Mohammed teaches.

Zarin used the term exhausted⁴, meaning very tired, to describe how people feel.

"People are exhausted nowadays, we can sense a lot of frustration⁵," Zarin said.

Zarin explains that the school's goal is to provide the space where, for "an hour or two ... you can be yourself."

The dance school offers classes during the week and also dance parties.

Small performances have made a comeback in the country recently, especially in and around Damascus. Last month, hundreds of young people gathered for a techno dance party at a former factory near the city. The event included music, dancing and a big laser light show. The party was one of the biggest public entertainment events since the war started.

Ballroom⁶ dancing schools were popular before the war among some parts of Syrian society, including three large schools in Damascus that have survived the war.

For student Amar Masoud, the dance classes are a "breath of life."

"Sometimes, I end up missing classes because I have to work," he says. "But I still try as much as possible to" come to the school.

Mohammed, the teacher, has a second day job to keep up with expenses. He asks for government support to help bring back dance to how it was before the war. He dreams of representing Syria in international events.

"There needs to be a federation⁷ created just for dance so that this can be like before the war, where we would go and represent Syria in Arab and Asian countries," he said.

For Maya Marina, age 30, dancing helps her deal with difficulties.

"Music takes us to another world," she says. Marina adds that dancing is a break "from the pressures, the anger, the difficulties."

Words in This Story

salsa – n. a type of popular Latin-American music

techno – n. a type of electronic dance music that has a fast beat

frustration – n. a feeling of anger or annoyance⁸ caused by being unable to do something : the state of being frustrated⁹

federation – n. an organization that is made by loosely joining together smaller organizations

1 frozen   

adj.冻结的，冰冻的

参考例句：

• He was frozen to death on a snowing night.在一个风雪的晚上，他被冻死了。
• The weather is cold and the ground is frozen.天寒地冻。

2 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

5 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

6 ballroom   

n.舞厅

参考例句：

• The boss of the ballroom excused them the fee.舞厅老板给他们免费。
• I go ballroom dancing twice a week.我一个星期跳两次交际舞。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

8 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

9 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》