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messages of the opera, and that they also critically evaluated the behaviour of
the characters in the story.
In thinking about the indispensable role of art in children’s development,
we would conclude that the way in which the adult and the child come into
contact through art is the developmental space that most powerfully shapes
and, later in adolescence, integrates the child’s holistic understanding of self,
relationships, rules and the world. The artistic creation that is meant to shape
this space must therefore be both emotionally structured and regulated, which
means that it must be attuned to the child’s sensitivity and sensitivity to emo-
tional stimuli, that it must follow the rhythm of the child’s experience and not
overtake it or rigidly shape it without contact with the child’s actual experien-
ce. A structured work of art is one that is rhythmic, balanced and harmonized,
not leaving unresolved emotional content but integrating it into a whole, wha-
tever the emotional note of that whole (happy, sad, dreamy, wistful, elated, or
angry). The ‘story, the melody, the flow of action’ that it weaves must resolve
and integrate all the experiences that it has awakened in the child. Every emo-
tional stimulus requires an emotional response, so it must have the appropria-
te intensity, duration and rhythm of repetition, and must allow sufficient time Katarina Kompan Erzar, Katarina Habe ◆ THE CAPACITY OF YOUTH OPERA TO ENHANCE THE EMOTIONAL SKILLS OF YOUNGER ADOLESCENTS
and space for the viewer or listener to respond emotionally (Kompan Erzar,
2015).
The clear musical structure, interwoven with a clearly presented story and
elaborate, character-driven characters in the opera Kekec, allowed the children
to understand, experience and empathize at the same time. This also gave them
a holistic experience of relationships, kindness and loneliness, mercy and greed
through their performing peers, which awakened their curiosity and interest.
The attuned artistic creation allows the child to become emotionally involved
in it, to attract their inner attention (physical, emotional response), to shape it
and regulate it through meaning-making, and to conclude by creating a new
emotional space together with them. This new emotional space is what drives
development (Kolacz et. al., 2022).
The work of art that emerges as a creation in which adult virtuosity is in-
tertwined with childlike immediacy and flexibility is therefore the one that
will co-shape the development of children, who will become the audience who-
se spontaneity and reactions will make new creations and works of art possible.
The living interpersonal contact of the adult creator with the world of children
and adolescents allows for the emergence of art that is alive and that opens new
spaces of integration and understanding of our everyday world as placed in a
deeper and broader space in which new possibilities open again and again.

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