The performance was put on by the Fig Club – a performing arts and dance center which opened its doors in 2014 to provide after school programs to children.
"We've developed girls from the age of three up to adults," Sophia Miran, founder and director of The Fig Club told Rudaw English. "It's helped them with after school activities which aren't available in the [Kurdistan] region."
She likened ballet to mathematics and other subjects in terms of teaching coordination and the way students think, adding that it also helps them physically with posture and flexibility.
Miran explained that parents often face challenges with their children due to the lack of after school activities, especially with the pressure put on students to do homework and study after school.
"In the UK we always have so many activities after school and actually just having that break from homework helps so much," she said.
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 arts and dance.
"We'd love for this to continue and to change the perception of after school activities and dance which is still a big taboo here but it is changing," Miran said.
Hundreds of families packed Saad Abdullah Hall in Erbil to enjoy "The Little Mermaid" ballet and theatrical performance, the Fig Club’s fourth show. Previous performances told the popular tales of Frozen, Rapunzel, and Aladdin.
The shows incorporate other styles of dance and theatre with the ballet.
"We do gymnastics, singing, drama, and we try to make a Disney story out of it and bring all the acts together to bring the children alive,” Miran said.
Rudaw was a media sponsor of the event.
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