Archive for the 'Facts' Category
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.
A new web blog covering the situation of Kosovar Roma was launched this week. The authors aim to post on the Roma in Kosovo and Kosovo Roma in Diaspora. The web site contains useful links for those who interested to know more about the situation in the region.
The first Roma settlements in Kosovo can be traced to 1394 (Prizren). The Roma Mahala in Kosovska Mitrovica believed to be one of the largest and oldest in the region. Roma community had their own newspapers and theater. Before the conflicted started, Kosovo was home for appr. 130,000 Roma.
During the war a lot of Roma left the area (Serbia, Montenegro, as well as Western Europe) or became internally displaced (IDPs). Those who remain in Kosovo live in poor condition and do not participate in social and political life of the society. Kosovar Roma are not represented at negotiations on Kosovo status.
If you interested in the situation of Roma in Kosovo, be it active participation or news update, keep your eye on Kosovo Roma Website.
Gypsies have a flag, an antheme, a National Day and symbols.
The Gypsy flag contains two stripes, blue and green, and a red wheel. The blue stripe mean heavens, not only the sky, but also seeking God. The green stripe mean earth (covered with grass), because ‘the earth under Gypsy’s feet is his motherland’.
The wheel is a symbol of traditional, nomadic way of life, it is also a symbol of Gypsy soul. It is red like blood of Gypsies murdered in the past. But red is the color not only of memory, but also of joy, because Gypsies enjoy life!
The wheel lays on both stripes because Gypsies go by both a path of the Earth and a path of the Soul.
The Gypsy anthem is ‘Djelem, djelem’. Here is it’s common translation:
‘I went, I went by long roads, I met, I met happy Gipsies. Hey, Gipsies, where are you going from, with your tents, by lucky roads? many years ago I had a big family, but Black Legions murdered it… Gipsies of the world, come on, with me, Gipsy roads are open! It’s time to rise for Gipsies, and we’ll rise if we act!’
The main Gypsy symbols are a red or golden wheel and a horseshoe.
The National Gypsy Day is April, 8.
We all know that there are many Slavs in Europe: Russians, Ukranians, Belarussians, Czechs, Rusins, Slovaks, Slovenes, Serbians, Montenegrins, Bosnians. They all are Slavs and they all are Europeans, that’s true. But also we know, that’s not all of Europeans are Slavs.
The same situation is when we say about Gypsies and Roma.
Continue reading ‘Are all of Europeans Slavs?’
NOTE: The following post is written by R.N.
No one has ever heard about the village called Tomor except for the 
people who live in the neighborhood. Still, this small village in Northern-Hungary got into the news. A foundation decided to help the villagers, mostly unemployed and poorly educated, to break out of the segregation: it gives them free wi-fi and used, cheap computers. They say that it helps them for instance to finish their studies, obtain a profession, and then, to find a job.
Not only in this area is segregation widespread. Roma pupils (and in Tomor most of villagers are Roma) got often into segregated schools where everything is worse, and only a few manage to finish their studies. This was one reason why the foundation called Rom Som decided to help them. Now it operates community centers in six villages where the villagers can study or simply browse on the web.
Nevertheless, they started another project in Tomor. With the help of some companies, computers are available for the villagers at a cheap price – around 80 euros, which reminds on the 100-dollar-laptop project of Nicholas Negroponte that inspired the Hungarian initiative as well. Monthly payments are also possible. And beside the computers, free wi-fi covers the whole village.
The foundation says, if the program works, they will continue it in other villages, and then, they may also extend the program abroad. One thing is sure so far: the people in Tomor are enthusiastic.
