*The Faculty (or Academy) is the popular name of a neighborhood in Sofia. Properly speaking, this is a ghetto populated with Roma people. The name “Faculty” has ironical allusion because of the high level of illiteracy and poverty amongst them. Nevertheless, the Roma culture has always attracted the world artists and composers because of its passionate and lively temper.
In 1912 featuring the conductor Todor Halvadjiev and the director Dragomir Kazakov “The Opera Companionship” presents for the first time in Bulgaria Geoges Bizet’s and Prosper Merimee’s classic “Carmen”.
One hundred years later, on 12 December 2012, in Hall No.1 of National Palace of Culture in Sofia Neshka Robeva with her dancers celebrate the twelfth birthday of the ensemble presenting “Carmen from the Faculty”. That way they pay homage to the one of the most gifted composers of all times and the aficionados of Bulgarian opera art.
The play “Carmen from the Faculty” follows the original libretto of the classical “Carmen” only partially. It also includes the music of Rodion Shchedrin, “Del Padre” band, “Joro Matev Band”, “Transformation” and different adaptations of Bulgarian and Roma folk music. The place and time of events, the heroes are modern. But the key topics are the same as all around the world – the femme fatale, love and jealousy, the passionate female nature, the Destiny and free choice, and above all, the magic of a dance.
 

Original Music: Bizet, Shchedrin, “Transformation” band, “Joro Matev Band”, “Del Padre” band
Libretto: adaptation of Prosper Merimee’s “Carmen”
Director, Choreography: Neshka Robeva
Art Lighting: Svetoslav Robov
Costume Design: Anna Kirilova
Assistant Director: Aneta Ashikova
Assistant Choreographers: Galina Marinova, Elena Karasaeva, Veselin Danchev, Vladimir Kostadinov, Silviya Mladenova, Monika Velichkova, Martin Doychev, Dimitar Stankev