alonewiththemoon | sad NYT article

on the Iraqi National Folklore Group, a dance troupe.

Dumoaa Jamal was with the group for 10 years, but her uncle forced her to quit after the invasion because he deemed it too dangerous. But she returned three months ago, and tries to allay his fears by making sure she comes to rehearsals dressed in inconspicuous clothing and a head scarf hiding her long flowing hair.

“I wish it could be 24 hours a day,” she said about the group’s rehearsals. “When I enter the theater, it is as if everything from outside is gone. It is as if I have entered a different world.”

She feels like a bird on stage, she said. Later, when she has donned her head scarf, scrubbed the makeup from her face and stepped outside, reality returns. There is no more dancing, only walking as invisibly as possible.

I think that last sentence is one of the saddest things I have ever read.