Looking at the other pictures, the hijab is pretty interesting because it cuts a completely different silhouette than the standard leotard. From ballet I've seen, the girls are all pretty uniform, so someone dressed differently would draw the eye. So if she wanted to be a ballet dancer, she'd have to be the lead, which is much harder to do. But the idea of them starting their own performing arts center, where everyone can dress how they like, throws all that out the window, they would sort of have to rethink all the rules and make something new (which you kind of expect from the people who wouldn't get in to the "traditional" ballet classes). And I'm all about the people experimenting with the new art not just putting on a show, although you know that would be the climax, but building awareness for what they're doing, doing ballet in the streets or in found locations like how underground dancing is portrayed in movies... I can see it being like the ballet version of Step Up or something. And I don't want it to sound like I'm putting her being Muslim aside, I just want there to be more than "you can't ballet dance because you're Muslim" "I'll show you" etc.

Chris, apart from pursuing this young woman and her family's actual story, I zeroed in on what you did: A performing arts center which supports and promotes alternative expressions of creativity. Not sure what you do with it, perhaps it's only a secondary element of some other story, but I can see the spot in my head and think it could offer a lot of fun possibilities.

Scott, many thanks for the series. I see that this one has potential of a thriller. Two weeks ago, I have watched a movie Timbuktu, where a woman caught singing by fundamentalists was publicly whipped. Muslim scholars are divided about dancing. Most agree that it could be permissible if there is no gender mixing, no alcohol, no effeminate moves, not excessively, etc. What if this 14-year old ibecomessuccessful, very famous. But fundamentalists take her dancing as a blasphemy and she becomes a target for kidnapping and execution