By A.C. Robinson

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – An American-based music and dance performance group that inspires unity among young people through hip hop is attracting students from Iraq and the greater Kurdistan.

“YES Academy is a US-sponsored program designed to teach a variety of genres of American music to participants from around the country,” Mickey Davis, program manager for American Voices and YES Academy, told Rudaw English on Sunday.

Davis said the Iraqi program specifically brings together young people from across Iraq and the greater Kurdistan, including students from Baghdad, Basra, Najaf, Anbar, Mosul, Sulaimani and Kirkuk as well as Kurds from Rojava in Syria and Iran.

“The point of the program is to not only work on music but also to use music as a tool for students who wouldn’t normally have a reason to be in the same room as one another and to bring them together over a shared interest, then talk about their music and how their performances can make a larger impact in society,” Davis said.

Although YES Academy has been traveling to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region teaching different genres of music since 2007, this year the program focuses on rap and hip-hop music, beatboxing, breakdancing, and ‘Pop & Lock’.

Referring to the protests sweeping Iraq’s southern provinces, Davis said music and dance is a way for students to express themselves.

“The students are adding their voice to the young energy that this country has which you’re seeing play out in real time in other cities with these peaceful protests,” he said.

“A lot of these students, what they’re talking about in their music, what they are expressing in their dance, and what they’re trying to do with music is an alternative response to the environment in which they find themselves.”

Around 50 students of all ages are taking part in the program this year, performing in Kurdish, Arabic, and English.

YES Academy has organized classes in nine countries with participants from 16 different nations across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. All instructors are music and dance professionals from the US.

The music and dance programs began in Erbil on July 15. Students are working towards a final performance taking place at Family Mall at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Entry to the public is free of charge.

Photos: A.C. Robinson

Rudaw