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.

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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.

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If you have interest to attend this seminar or have further questions please send an e-mail to following address: office@erionet. org.

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Roma Access Program 2008
Application deadline: 15 November 2007
http://www.ceu.hu/sep/spo/roma.html

The Central European University, with the financial support of the Roma Education Fund, Sigrid Rausing Trust, and private donors, is offering a 9-month Preparatory Course for promising young Roma from Central and Eastern Europe. Full scholarships will be awarded, covering travel, tuition, housing and living stipend.
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Matéo Maximoff (January 17, 1917 - November 24, 1999) was a French writer of Romani ethnicity and also an Evangelical pastor.

Matéo’s father was a Kalderash Rom from Russia, Matéo’s mother was a Manouche ‘Gypsy’ from France. She was a cousin of Django Reinhardt. Matéo was born in Barcelona, Spain.

His father was a cauldron maker by profession. That was him who taught Matéo to read and write, evidently, Russian letters and to count to ten. The father also told much about Russia, about Kalderash history, about different Roma and countries. He died when Matéo was 14. Matéo worked as a cauldron maker from his teen age, so he could feed himself and his younger brothers and sisters. Matéo also taught his brothers and sisters to read and write. Later, in a prison, Matéo also learnt to write in French.
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Ceferino Giménez Malla was born in Spain, of a Catholic Cale (Spanish Gypsies) family. His father was a cattle-trader, and so was he. For forty years Malla lived as a nomad. He was married since a teenager but never had children.

In 1912 Malla married his wife Teresa in a church and bought a house in a Spnish town Barbastro. They also adopted Teresa’s niece Pepita, who was an orphan. Teresa died in 1922, and Pepita’s descendants live in Spain in our days.

Ceferino wasn’t literate but he visited church and knew much about his faith and about the Bible. He taught Christianity to Cale and Spanish children.

After his wife had died Malla began a career as a catechist, under the guidance of a priest-professor, Don Nicholas Santos de Otto.

Malla also resolved disputes between Cale and Spanish people. In 1926 Malla became a member of the Franciscan Third Order. From 1931 he participated in “Night Adoration”.

During the Spanish civil war Malla tried to defend a priest from republican soldiers. They both were arrested and then shot with other priests and believers.

According to a legend, soldiers asked him if he had weapons. He answered: “Yes, and here it is” and showed them his rosary.

Malla died holding rosary in his hands, shouting: “Long live Christ the King!”. His body was never found.

Ceferino Malla was proclaimed as Blessed on May 4, 1997.

I used the article I had written for Wikipedia.

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The contest was dedicated to a real face of Romani people. Photographers from several countries tried to show Romani lifestyle and spirit.

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They made up for it after the war and both graduated from institutes. You can read their short biographies below.

Natalia Pankova (1924-1991). A Research Assistant of the Institute of Organic Subroducts and Dyes, where she had worked for 35 years. Her professional career was successful. For example, she has authored 30 advanced developments of cyanide dyes (she received the inventor certificates for them). Natalia had many talents: she sang and danced very well, painted with pencils and water-colours.

Lubov Pankova was born in 1925. She’s a PhD in Biology in the field of human and animal physiology. She have been working mainly in the area of clinical physiology. She’s a Senior Research Assistant of a physiological laboratory of the Central Institute of Expert Examination of Labour Capacity and Labour Organization for Disabled. Her researches were on machinery of intercentral relations and their abnormalities and compensations. Lubov also worked for the Academy of Science of USSR and pedagogical institutes, where she gave lectures on human and animal physiology, higher nervous activity and anatomic and physiological peculiarities of children and teenagers. Moreover, she authored and co-authored several study books on those subjects and more than 50 scientific works which were published mostly in central press. Lubov Pankova has done a lot for preserving and recording national history. She has written her memoirs which are waiting for publication.

The Pankovs sisters are representatives of an old famous Russian Romani dynasty which gave many outstanding Gipsies to the world.

Thanks to Nickolay Bessonov for the information, which was edited and translated by me

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Baurov was from a famous artistic Russian Gypsy family. His ancestors were renowned for singing in choirs of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Alexandre was born on March, 23rd, 1906. The boy received his first guitar lessons from such masters as Alexei and Michael Shishkin. When he was eleven, Sasha began performing with a Gypsy choir. He danced and played guitar. But the October Revolution deprived choirs of audience, and the young Rom had to find another work.

Around 1920 he began working as an assistant of a steelmaker in Putilov plant. From 1925 to 1933 Alexandre studied in the College of Electromechanical Communications and after graduating started working as a laboratory assistant in the Academy of Communications. But he didn’t give up music. In evenings he performed with a Gypsy ensemble in State Leningrad Variety Theatre.

In 1941, when the USSR entered the WWII, Alexandre as a volunteer was sent to the combat troops. He took his guitar with him. During short minutes of rest Baurov played songs for his friends.

Due to his good technical education Alexandre was appointed an officer. He started as а commander of communication support of the 44th battalion of armoured troops. He took part in fighting for Pulkovo heights. During the attack near Krasnoye Selo the officer-Rom was shell-shocked and wounded in his arm. Baurov was saved from the crashed tank by medics.

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