British dance group performs to raise disability awareness

TIRANA, April 5 – StopGAP, a world famous dance group from the United Kingdom, performed on Tuesday at the Academy of Arts in Tirana as part of the Disability Awareness Week organized by the British Council Albania in cooperation with Vodafone Foundation Albania and Help the Life Association. On Wednesday, April 6, Simon Minty, a UK expert in disability – media and employment – gave a talk at the Theatre of Metropol in Tirana. Simon’s talk was followed by the screening of his documentary around taking a group of comedians with disabilities to the Edinburgh Festival. Adina Tal, founder and director of the Nalagaat Theatre, Israel, also gave a talk at the Metropol theatre sharing her experience at Nalagaat, which is unique in the world. It is a theatre company whose actors all have visual or hearing impairments. A caf顳taffed by deaf waiters who teach their customers sign language and a restaurant staffed by blind waiters where customers eat in the dark. 300,000 people visit Nalagaat every year. The focus of the week, held from April 4 to 8 was on awareness rising through panel debates in five cities (Tirana, Durres, Vlora, Korce and Shkoder) on issues relating to disability and education, disability and arts, disability and employment and disability and the media and special education workshops around disability which will be held at schools in five cities. British Council’s focus is on generating employment opportunities for the under represented groups. Working in partnership with other organizations, it runs a programme of internships for disabled people aiming at developing their skills for the labour market.