The musicians and dancers traveled in a military convoy to reach the competition, moving in armored cars with soldiers at the ready through parts of the country where Islamist extremists have banned their violins, drums and dance moves.

There was a dancer whose close friend had been killed for listening to a radio while he farmed. A violinist who no longer dared to play at the marriages and baptisms in the villages where he used to make his living. A young dancer who could no longer go to concerts with her friends in neighboring villages.