Ida Kelarova, Desiderius Dužda and their team have been passing on their songs and music all over the world, over the past 18 years. For this special workshop, they invited several Roma lectors and artists to help them out.
On this workshop, every one of you will have the opportunity to taste a bit more of the Roma way of life, perception and experience, in order to let you expand your knowledge of the Roma, to get deeper and closer to the roots of the Roma culture. Together we will learn more about the history of this precious culture.
Regardless of where you come from, what matters is that we create together.
Everybody is invited – all the musicians, artists and those who love to sing and celebrate gypsy music. You’ll learn more about the Gypsy songs, about the philosophy of the Roma, about their history and about the way they celebrate. Let’s grab the opportunity to open our hearts . You’ll meet also Roma people living in the Eastern Slovakia settlements. There will be ethnologists, musicians, directors, singers and tutors to pass on their culture and life. “Romano drom” is a opportunity for Roma and non-Roma to meet face to face.
For a short time, you’ll have a chance to walk the way of life of the Gypsies – the Romano drom.
A journey to the voice that leads you back to intuition; a path that goes deeper to the source of human creativity. To sing and to feel our song means to open up and face your inner beauty, to realize the strength of vulnerable feelings which – at the same time – are a gift you can keep passing on.
Songs accompany humans during their entire lives. Roma songs are magical; they are a jewel of the Romany culture. They reflect the soul, nature of the humans or folk, who wrote the songs. Songs are teachings of nobility, entertainment, inspiration for art works and detailed knowledge of the life, tradition and culture of the Romany “homeland”.
Everyone, who is singing, is creating, since a song is a self-expression, message, it operates as a live social regulator; Romanies do not use notes in their songs, since the characteristic free rhythm handling of semitones and quarter-tones cannot be recorded in a music score. A Romany song is based on an expressive execution, hard to interpret from the score without actually listening to the vocalist. It is characterized by complicated phrasing, stretching out, acceleration, pauses, breaths. This creates a unique magic.
… stripped, pure, authentic, deep, human expression in music, which originates deeply in the soul, telling a story of having no home at all and having a home everywhere. Nostalgia is the essence of any gypsy song and it seem it has always been. Nostalgia to “return home” – Gypsies have not home – it means “no place”. Nostalgia – return to no place – long road …
Songs are a road, a long road – lungo drom, for a man to get from one point to another, living their road; however, it is a question of the feeling and art.
An explosion of happy and spontaneous singing is one of the most amazing, precious – and healthy too – elements of all human experience. By pure intuition we all feel that singing can aid us in feeling healthy, alive, free and “easy”. Every time we sing, we make ourselves stronger, we raise ourselves higher, we thrive. Singing is absolutely essential for live and for healing. A day is wasted the most when we do not sing. Singing leads us through our entire life. Gypsy songs conceal a magical energy and are generally regarded as jewels of the Gypsy culture. They incite emotions and reveal people’s hearts and souls, which is where they always come from. Songs are the teachings of the noble ones. Songs bring inspiration and amusement to all artists and creative humans, and yield a closer understanding of life and traditions of the Gypsies, and a sense of solidarity.
A Roma man lost his father and for some reason, couldn’t shed a tear. The doctor told him that it’s imperative that he cried, as his heart could burst from sorrow. It hurt too much to cry though; he started to sing instead, and his heart survived.
Some of us think that Gypsies (Roma) are from outer space, others think that they are savages. Some consider them to be passionate, others see them as thieves. Some people are afraid of them, few believe they know exactly who Roma are, others do not know, or take on prejudices and superstition. Some have been betrayed by Roma, others have never met them. This is why I feel the need to shed light upon this minority full of mysteries, witchcraft, tales and curses, and pass on as much objective facts as possible on who Roma really are, on how they live, how they are different, where they do not adapt well, and what important they can pass on through their culture, music, dance and live – a little bit of which all we can experience in the course of the ten days spent together.
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