"Dance is a place where I can express myself and distract myself from other things something outside of ballet is not making me feel so good," says 15-year-old Ana Júlia Martins, as her ballet school in a Rio de Janeiro favela risks closure due to a lack of funds. Like her, 410 students between the ages of 6 and 29 take free dance classes in Manguinhos, a favela in the north of the Brazilian city, while another 700 are on the waiting list. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES