Can you imagine synchronising your body with a melody your ears cannot perceive and expressing your emotions through something you yourself are unable to experience? The performers from dance troupe Zhestim (from the Bulgarian word "zhest": gesture, mimic) do exactly this and are incredibly good at it in a country where conditions for the hearing impaired are not exactly welcoming.

Bulgaria lags behind in taking care of its hearing-impaired citizens, which is a real paradox as it is a country that had a special school for their needs as early as 1898, when the German educationist Ferdinand Ubrich founded it in Sofia. In 1934, the Society for the Protection of the Deaf was founded, followed by a special kindergarten for hearing impaired children in 1956.

Decades later, however, the initial success has been marred. One can hear not only about lack of governmental support, but also how the chairman of the Union of the Deaf in Bulgaria, Vassil Panev, was accused of "40 years of totalitarian and tyrannical management, lack of transparency, and gives horribly low paychecks for workers at Tih Trud Ltd (www.tih-trud.com)".

After all these discouraging facts, it is a relief to hear of a dance troupe of gifted young people who have overcome their physical problems and have shown how talent and determination can reveal a new and better world to them. Ten years ago, Maria Atanassova, now the artistic director, founded the troupe and has been successfully developing it ever since. Awards, standing ovations, a documentary by Ilko Doundakov called Pred Boga razhdame se ravni (Before God We are Born Equal) and a lot of hard work: Atanassova reveals why dreams are worth fighting for.

Working with people with hearing impairments is not only a real challenge but also an act worthy of respect. What exactly provoked your interest in this type of artistic expression?

My first encounter with hearing-impaired children was when I started working as a teacher in the School for Deaf and Hearing Impaired Children Professor Decho Denev, in the Pavlovo borough of Sofia. I was unprepared and felt dismayed at the time, for until then I had only worked with vocal groups and dance troupes for children who hear normally. I did my best to introduce these children to various extracurricular activities, and in my everyday contact with them I couldn't help noticing the desire of some of them to dance, sing and improvise movements they had previously seen on TV. Somehow, spontaneously a group of about 15 or 20 kids was formed with whom I started to work on easy songs with elementary choreography. It was nice and enjoyable, children became interested and readily joined in. Our first audience was comprised of students and teachers from our school, gathered in the school gym on special occasions. Thus, the challenge was born in a very spontaneous and natural way. I did not think we could reach such a professional level. From the initial 15 or 20 members, only seven stood the test of time and are still part of Zhestim.

I have seen your performers on stage and I dare say they are better synchronised than some "standard" dance troupes. Does the fact that your dancers are not actually guided by the sounds of the music but by the dance routine in their head help them concentrate better on their performance?

The most important thing that helps them orientate is to perceive the music correctly with their other senses. It is a long and complicated process, because they do not hear the music. (The music) must be explained to them, broken down into measures (as in the musical term) and rhythmic groups. However, this is not merely enough. Music must be perceived emotionally as well, because the expression of a particular dance is not only by means of steps and movements, but also the emotional charge, that reaches the audience. The dancers need external help to verify their rhythmic accuracy, to focus on dance plasticity and acting skills.

Some members of the troupe are also successful students in pantomime at NATFIZ (National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts). Is there any successful co-operation between you and their artistic director Alexandra Hong in regard to other projects connected with the development of the young and talented hearing impaired?

Yes, the students you are talking about are now in their third year in the academy. This was a big dream ours: for them to be able to study and go for art professionally. It is a wonderful chance to have exactly Ms Hong as an artistic director. Right at our very first meeting, she and I discussed the opportunities of common projects and actually turned some of them into reality. We made a synthesis of synchronised singing, dance, pantomime and a quality new product was there: interesting not only for the audience, but for the performers as well. We also have future plans for their professional development.

(Some of the performers also participate in the Burlesque show Silent Cinema, inspired by the great Charlie Chaplin.)

Zhestim won the grand prix in Poland and has been touring successfully in a lot of other countries. What are your impressions, despite our state being criticised for not taking enough care of disabled people, are the achievements of talented young Bulgarians equal or even superior to those of performers coming from countries where education and care people with hearing impairment are much greater?

We are very happy to have been given this award. We have won others as well, but I cherish the most the award we received from the Culture Ministry for contribution to Bulgarian culture. Meeting people from different countries and discussing our mutual problems, one can really see things are much better taken care of in favour of the impaired. As for us, we can proudly say that teaching pantomime classes at NATFIZ was made possible with the help of the state: the Cabinet, the Education Ministry and the Labour and Social Policy Ministry joined forces and there it is. We hope that in the future, we will be backed in our efforts to improve the cultural development of the hearing impaired. We are also very thankful to the management of NATIZ for embracing the idea for this class, and to the lecturers for working with such devotion with the deaf students.