
<P>Military model: two dancers from the Macedonian National Theatre promote help to sell weapons at a Skopje arms fair.<P><B>Macedonia's ballet girls bite the bullet at arms fair</B><P>By Christian Jennings in The Daily Telegraph<P> <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>DANCERS in Macedonia's corps de ballet have been drafted into the race to sell weapons in the newest Balkan war zone.<P>Two weeks ago, Olga Bojev, 29, and Marija Josifovska, 21, principal dancers at the National Theatre, were involved in A Night of Romantic Ballet. Now, with two friends, they find themselves clutching 9mm handguns, dressed in jumpsuits and camouflage paint as they encourage buyers at the Skopje arms fair.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P><A HREF="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=003864436460684&rtmo=asRe8XaL&atmo=rrrrrrrq&pg=/et/01/5/11/wmace11.html" TARGET=_blank><B>more...</B></A><P><BR>This is particularly interesting for me as I spend a fair amount of time establishing links between Amnesty International and dance companies on the theme of Dance and Human Rights. I'm currently manning an AI information table at the performances of BRBs 'Arthur' at Sadler's Wells. Together with other themes, the links between the Arthurian legends and modern day conflict form part of choreographer David Bintley's approach. <P>Amnesty is not opposed to the arms trade in general, but rather where arms are used for internal oppression and the terrorising of civilians in civil war situations. However, Amnesty currently has a campaign on the control, or lack of control, over the production of small arms. A particular concern is the way that arms companies in the UK and elsewhere license production in other countries to avoid UK arms export rules. This is where a lot of those arms come from that we see in the hands of children in Africa and elsewhere. <P>Thus, although I'm not a pacifist, I do find something chilling about this story. It forms a resonant antithesis to dance works like 'The Green Table'. <P><p>[This message has been edited by Stuart Sweeney (edited May 12, 2001).]