Romen Theatre is the oldest and the most famous of Romani theatres in the world. The theatre is a key object of Romani culture in Russia, and from the moment of its foundation in 1931, it has been a centre of attraction for Romani artists in Russia.
Forerunners of Romen Theatre
In the 18th and 19th centuries, choruses of Ruska Roma existed in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
At the end of the 19th century, a conductor of one of Romani choruses, Nikolai Shishkin created the first ever Romani theatre troupe. The first appearance of the troupe was in the operetta Gypsy Songs in Faces, with the main troupe of Arcadia Theatre. This was in 1886. The operetta ran for several years. On 13 April 1887 the first performance of Strauss’s operetta The Gypsy Baron with Roma (Shishkin’s troupe) playing the roles of Roma took place in the Maly Theatre.
On 20 March 1888 the premiere of the very first Romani language operetta Children of Forests was staged in the Maly Theatre. It was performed solely by the Romani troupe. The production ran for 18 years and was a great success.
In 1892, Shishkin produced a new operetta, Gypsy Life.
In the 1920s, many Romani ensembles of singers, dancers and musicians performed in the USSR.
Theatre history
On 24 January 1931 the Romani theatre studio “Indo-Romen” opened in Moscow. Within a month, the studio performed its first work.
The first director and the first music composer of “Indo-Romen” were Jewish activists, Moishe Goldblat and Semen Bugachevsky.
On 16 December 1931 the studio showed its first full musical-dramathic performance Life on Wheels. It consisted of three acts and was based on a play by Romani author Alexandr Germano. After that performance, the studio was renamed the Romen Theatre. The first theatre director was Georgy Lebedev.
Since 1940, the theatre does all its performances in Russian.
The current theatre director is Nikolai Slichenko, a Romani actor famous in Russia.
I have written this article for Wikipedia.
Chachipe contest took place in Romania in the summer 2007. It finished at September 2007.
The contest was dedicated to a real face of Romani people. Photographers from several countries tried to show Romani lifestyle and spirit.
View other pictures
From Roma Virtual Network.
Romani Dreams is a poetry collection of one of the most famous Romani contemporary authors – Valdemar Kalinin, the winner of the Roma Literary Award from OSI-Budapest in 2003, the Hiroshima Prize for Peace and Culture (2002), and the Poetry Prize at the 8th International Romani Art Festival in Lanciano (2001).
As a poet, Valdemar Kalinin continues the tradition of the Russian Romani Poetic School which was established in the 1920’s century by Nikolay Pankov, Alexander German, Olga Pankova, Georgy Lebedev, Evdokia Orlova, and was revived in 1970-80s by Nikolay Satkevich, Leksa Manush, Karlis Rudevichs, Nikolay Zhemchuzhnyi, etc. Influenced by the folklore tradition, Romani Dreams aims to present the past and present of the Romani culture in its unique language. Moreover, the Belorussian and English translation of the collection allows the non-Romani audience to enter the world of one of the most notable representatives of Romani culture.
Copies of the book are available for review on request from the contact below. Requests for interviews with the author are also welcome.
Contacts:
E-mail: v.kalinin@btopenworld.com or dken@globalnet.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0)207 609 6047
Address: Flat 2, 52 Penn Road, London N7 9RE United Kingdom
Book details: 309pp
Cost: £10.99 + P&P
Published by Stepping Stones School, London 2005.
A new virtual exhibit is published in a Gipsy web-magazine ‘Romany Kultury i Dziipen’: pictures of a Romano artist from Hungary, Zsolt Vari.
What a lucky day! Strolling through the Saski Park in Warsaw this morning, by pure accident, I came across wonderful 
open air photo exhibition on Polish Roma. “Gypsies - Roma. Forgotten Images“. The collection presents documented everyday life of Polish Roma in 50-60s of XX century. These black-and-white images probably the last saved piece of world and nomadic life style of Roma. It seems that random visitors of this amazing public art presentation were lucky enough - these photos have not been published for a long time. The photos were taken by Janusz Helfer, Polish photographer from Cracow, who was enthrall by Roma culture.
Although, the settlements have dramatically changed life of Travellers, it have not cut them off their roots and traditions. The photographer has captured various aspects and interesting moments of everyday life of Polish Roma. You can see images of smiling children and people of older generation, tentcamps and family gatherings.
I was really happy to see that this exhibition has attracted attention of quite a lot of people who happened to be in the park. Good news! I had my camera with me and I am more then happy to share with you my photos on the photo exhibition on Polish Roma of 1950-60s. I hope this will give you an impression of this great collection.
Continue reading ‘"Gypsies-Roma. Forgotten Images".’
