Israeli protesters resist influence of ultra-Orthodox

With its department-store-sized windows, the Kolben Dance Company's
studio faces a busy Jerusalem plaza, but few passersby have ever
glimpsed one of the troupe's rehearsals inside.

The studio's
shades were drawn three years ago, after extremists from the city's
large Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Jewish community threatened employees and
defaced their ads. The fundamentalists called the dancers' revealing
clothes and mixed-gender moves "provocative" and a violation of Jewish
modesty laws.

The management acceded to the pressure, but inspired
by grassroots protests against religious coercion that took place in
Israel last year, it reopened the windows in late November.