A 20-year-old performer and writer with Down Syndrome is calling for more opportunities and ‘serious’ recognition of people with the condition in the performing arts sector.

Angela Bettoni set about advocating for more inclusion in performing arts in Malta when she returned from a volunteering stint with a theatre company in London a few years ago, she tells Times of Malta on the occasion of World Down Syndrome Day.

“I never thought that I would become an advocate in the first place. Until I was about 13 years old, I didn’t even know I had Down Syndrome. After my parents told me about it, I still didn’t really think about it,” she said.

When she landed an Erasmus placement through MCAST in 2019, and volunteered with inclusive theatre company Chickenshed in London, she saw, first-hand, how inclusion and mixed-ability performances could happen and work well.

This was especially evident when she realised that children attending the performances were used to growing up in an environment with people with disabilities.

“I wish all children could have that opportunity.  It really changed my perspective on how I looked at life,” she recalls.

Once back in Malta, Bettoni joined Opening Doors – an NGO for adults with intellectual disabilities – and started to advocate for them to become more mixed-ability.

Bettoni has been living here for almost a decade. Born in England, the young woman describes herself as half Italian and half Sri Lankan.

However, she admits she feels most at home in Malta.

She recalls loving performing since she was five and taking to the stage for a Christmas school production in Rome – where she lived back then – at the age of seven.

Once moving to Malta, she started attending the School of Performing Arts where she trained in musical theatre.

Angela (right) took part in a panel discussion on Inclusivity and Diversity in the Performing Arts for last year’s international Day for Persons with a Disability. Photo: Elisa Von Brockdorff

She went on to complete an Advanced Diploma in Performing Arts at MCAST and is now sitting for a few units in the BA in Performing Arts while reading for a BA in Creative Arts.

Through Opening Doors, she has also taken to the stage at Spazju Kreattiv and participated in the ŻiguŻajg festival separately, with leading roles each time.

It was only through these two performances – Is-Siġra Tat-Tin and Automaniacs – that she finally managed to get recognition.

People with Down Syndrome, she explains, have to work harder than most. That extra effort could take the shape of speech therapy when it comes to learning lines, for example. 

'We need people who take risks'

There is a need for more opportunities for people with Down Syndrome, and also for people to recognise that those with the condition can contribute to the sector.

“We just need the right inclusive training. We also need people who take risks to include us in performances, who really see us for our abilities and who let us perform in more mixed ability performances without keeping us separate,” she said.

“It’s all about recognition. I’ve managed to get that in the last year through Is-Siġra Tat-Tin and Automaniacs

because the directors were treating me as a serious performer, especially through the parts and exposure they gave me. Those two were my first roles that I didn’t have to fight for.

“In the past, it was always more of a struggle. A struggle to even be given a small speaking role, without always having a small part in the ensemble.  I was never out there in the open because I was always in the middle or that person who follows the others.

“Looking back now, I was always somewhat different from the others, with my hypermobility in my loose joints, being uncoordinated and always struggling to keep up with the others.

“All I needed was Is-Siġra Tat-Tin and Automaniacs to really give me a chance.”

'I am not my disability'

At the end of the day, Angela does not want to be known only because of her Down Syndrome.

“What we need is for people to see beyond our disabilities and give us a chance... that’s the awareness I want to raise,” she contended.

“People who have a disability are not their disability. They are people.

“I’m not my disability, I am Angela... so no assumptions, please!”

To mark this day, Bettoni is launching a video called ‘Dance with me’– a collaborative piece by herself, Banjo Rancho and Julienne Schembri.

The video shows Angela dancing to a monologue she wrote, accompanied by Rancho on a hand drum, with movement direction by Schembri.