LÓVA (La Ópera, un Vehículo de Aprendizaje) "Opera, a vehicle for learning" is an educational project conceived for primary schools whereby teachers turn their classrooms into an opera company. During the school year, the class organizes itself into different professional teams: dramaturgy, makeup, costumes, acting, public relations, production, lighting, stage management, scenography, choreography and music. The group creates and then performs an opera without the help of adults.
LÓVA is part of the school curriculum and has been put into practice all over Spain thanks to the enthusiasm and commitment of teachers who believe in teaching life skills to their students.
The statistics of LOVA say it all: 6.000 students, 120 schools from 15 different regions of Spain, 250 original operas created by students, and more than 100.000 delighted spectators.
Teachers interested in participating in LÓVA are required to do the intensive summer training course at the Teatro Real which has been running since 2009. This course became available at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia in 2015. As of 2017, the Liceo in Barcelona, the Asociación Rosa Sensat (Teachers' Association) and the Consellería de Educación of Galiai are part of the programme.
The European Union chose LÓVA as the top education project in Spain for developing cultural appreciation and expression among schoolchildren. (Cultural Appreciation and Expression Handbook)
LÓVA was introduced to the Teatro Real in 2006 by Mary Ruth McGinn, an American Fulbright Scholar and innovative public school teacher in Maryland (U.S.A.) who was inspired by the process of creating opera with her students. LÓVA is a project of the Teatro Real, Fundaicón SaludArte and Amigos de la Ópera. It receives funding from the Fondation Daniel & Nina Carasso (FDNC).
Every year the Teatro Real chooses a world premiere of an opera by a primary school in the LÓVA project. Three of these have been performed: "Caminando hacia un sueño" (students from Cristina Fernández, DEIPSO Juan Ramón Jiménez, Becerril de la Sierra), "El Verdadero Tesoro" (students from Ana Alonso, CEIP Jorge Guillén, Móstoles) and "Me cuesta deshacer el nudo" (students from Belén Trigueros, CEIP Joaquín Costa, Madrid).
