ROMA children from the Wild Poppies programme have started preparing for a major concert, which should take place in the autumn, under the leadership of well-known singer Ida Kelarová. The SITA newswire reported the plans, announced by Lucia Čierna, programme co-ordinator for the civic association ProDonum.
Ida Kelarová worked with the talented children for the first time during a four-day spring workshop at the Senec Lakes. Twenty-two children gathered at the Družba Hotel in Senec from April 3 to 6 to show off their dancing and singing talents. According to Čierna, ProDonum approached Ida Kelarová about co-operating with children from the Wild Poppies programme last year.
Working in the Czech Republic, as well as other countries, Kelarová has organised courses and workshops aimed at "opening one's heart, finding inner strength and expressing one's truth". She founded a civic association, Miret, to support the integration of the Roma minority into mainstream Czech society and was happy to co-operate with Wild Poppies.
The children too said they enjoyed working work with her. They agreed it was a unique experience: "Ida is a big idol for me. She is an excellent singer, but she also has a lot of energy, she is very brisk and honest," said singer Adriana Gáborová, 16, from Fiľakovo.
Ida Kelarová will visit Slovakia twice before the autumn concert, to participate in its artistic development and work with the children who will perform in it.
