THE STARA ZAGORA OPERA MARKS THE WORLD DAY OF THE DOWN SYNDROME 21 MARCH

The World Day of the Down Syndrome /CDWDSD/, 21 March, is an international day of being informed, which has been marked officially by UNO since 2012. The date the 21^st day of the 3^rd month was chosen to show the uniqueness of the threefold /trisomy/ of the 21^st chromosome, which causes the Down Syndrome.

On this day we have the chance to make a difference.
A better chance in comparison with any other day!
The Stara Zagora Opera is emphatic and supports with its long-term program “We Are Musicians” children and young people with special educational needs, among whom the most eminent and eager for stage performances are namely the children with the Down Syndrome. In the period of one calendar year the Director of the Stara Zagora Opera Ognyan Draganov, the opera singer and logopedist-therapist Rusalina Mochukova, together with her team, with their developmental and communicational achievements, turned the theatre into an attractive and desired place also for artistic presentations of the participants in the program. The children with the Down Syndrome are exceptionally musical, artistic, seeking soloist performances and fascinated by the applause and the new challenge. The first video directed by Ognyan Draganov was made exactly with the participation of Hristoslava Koleva with the Down Syndrome. There followed her participations in roles in the children’s version of the ballet “The Sleeping Beauty” together with the children from the Children’s and Adolescents’ Studio for Opera and Ballet, as well as in the opera spectacles of “Attila”, “Tosca” and “Cavalleria Rusticana”. On the birthday of “We Are Musicians” Megi /with the Down Syndrome”/ performed in a unique rap rhythm the specially written by Margarita Georgieva for her and “We Are Musicians” poem!

On 23, 24 and 25 March – together with Hristoslava Koleva, in the spectacle of the rock opera “Esmeralda – Notre Dame de Paris” on the stage of the Stara Zagora Opera will appear Ivan Bakoev too /also with the Down Syndrome/. The children have rehearsals, they have their special artistic tasks. Hrisi and Ivan will have their first guest-performance in the capital city with the cast of the Stara Zagora Opera on 19 April, when will be presented the spectacle of “Esmeralda – Notre Dame de Paris” on the stage of Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture in Sofia.

Thus, on 21 March we all from the Stara Zagora Opera, together with friends and people with the same cause, raise our voices, which support the rights, inclusion and welfare of the people with the Down Syndrome.
Learn about their world, and you will receive the purest and the most genuine love in music, dance and smiles!

We wish good luck and journey to Hrisi and Ivan, good luck and journey to Megi, Paola, Bozhidar and Martin, to all magnificent and so talented children from “We Are Musicians”!