Dancers from Fama and Danza Down dance together on World Down Syndrome Day | EDP España

This morning the EDP Gran Vía Theatre opened its doors so that people with Down's syndrome and dance lovers could enjoy a very special masterclass given by the official dancers and choreographers of the musical Fama and thus enjoy culture again, which has suffered so much during the pandemic period, and celebrate World Down's Syndrome Day.

More than ten dance students from the non-profit association Danza Down- Compañía Elías Lafuente, together with David Valls, María Torrescusa and Nuria de Córdoba, dancers and choreographer of Fama, rounded off the morning by performing together on the theatre stage, after the masterclass, the dance to the song I'm gonna live forever, to the applause of the audience.

Dance is an activity with numerous benefits for people with Down's syndrome, being for them a therapeutic activity that provides them with security, self-esteem, balance, musicality, beauty and fun as well as discipline and order. In short, it improves the educational, cultural, occupational and social integration of people with disabilities.

Carmen Fernández, brand and communication director of EDP Spain, brand sponsor of the EDP Gran Vía Theatre: "Since we started sponsoring this theatre three years ago, it was clear to us that we wanted it to be the perfect space to show that at EDP we are the energy of people. We celebrated the reopening of the theatre after the pandemic by inviting the healthcare staff who have suffered so much during this time, we got our theatre to welcome for the first time the elderly in residential homes on their first outing and today we are here supporting young talents with intellectual disabilities to fulfil their artistic dream".

Elías Lafuente, founder and director of Danza Down - Compañía Elías Lafuente, a dance company made up entirely of people with intellectual disabilities, especially Down's syndrome, declared that "this type of initiative is always very important for the visibility of artists with Down's syndrome. The fact of being able to participate in a team that provides them with artistic goals and aspirations, and to be able to show society their worth on stage, is highly positive from any point of view". And she adds: "Dancing with professionals like the ones from Fama has been wonderful".

The EDP Gran Vía Theatre is the first theatre that has been transforming people's energy into electrical energy for charitable causes for the last three years. The sounds produced by the emotions of the audience that attends its performances every day (applause, cheers, laughter...) are captured by a meter that collects the vibrations in decibels and converts them into kWh to donate to different associations and social causes chosen by each company that steps on stage. In total, 312,989 kWh have already been registered from these seats, the equivalent of the average annual electricity consumption of 100 homes. All this energy has been donated to different charitable causes.

On this occasion, as a novelty, the measuring systems were directly on the dancers, who wore anklets with an accelerometer to measure the kinetic energy they generate when dancing, which will be converted into money. All the money raised today will go towards scholarships for dance training at Danza Down - Compañía Elías Lafuente for children and adults.

With this action, to promote the full integration and improve the welfare of people with disabilities in the field of performing arts, EDP once again positions itself as the energy of people, thus celebrating the third anniversary of its sponsorship of the theatre.