“Roma dance is both international and highly regional”
(Caitlyn, http://www.gildedserpent.com/art36/CaitlynGypsy.htm)
Part 1
During parts of 2011, I had the wonderful privilege to train with great and skilled dance teachers, who are specialists in different Rom/”Gypsy” Dances, both here and abroad.
As most of you bellydancers, know, the Romany communities were very instrumental in keeping bellydance alive. This should never be forgotten.
1.The Roma/Romanies and their important role in Bellydance, Dance and Music
The Rom or Roma, for this what many prefer to be called, are groups of people, settled in many countries. The English word “Gypsy/Gipsy” is a corruption of the adjective “Egyptian”, where the Roma were first thought to have come from, when they first arrived in Britain, recorded around 1510. The stereotype of them being nomadic, is erroneous. While many have been nomadic, at first, quite a significant number of Roma, across Europe, North America, the Middle East, North and South Americas, Australia/New Zealand, live settled (i.e non-travelling) lives.
In the UK, something like 60% of the Roma community, live in settled homes; of the remaining 40%, 90% live on local authorised sites (www.equalityhumanrights.com, www.irishtravellers.org.uk et al ). At least, 90% of Spanish Roma (Gitanos, as they are known ,there) live in settled homes ( The Situation of Roma in Spain, pdf, www.eumap.org/reports/2002)
Without the Roma people dancing in public, bellydance, in whatever form, would have remained hidden, to the world, and maybe even lost for ever . The reason for this is, in the various Muslim empires, such as the Ottoman Empire, most women, who were Muslim, were expected to live out a private life role, so remained inside, whereas men were expected to have more public roles (Hobin, Buonaventura et al). Male dancers in the Ottoman Empire were very common, for example, and mimicked women’s dances, as part of their repertoire( Mourat et al)
Many of the Roma communities, even if they had adopted the Muslim or Christian religions, tended to live by their group rules and customs, which meant Roma women were out, earning their wage , in public, dancing /performing in public. In Turkey, Egypt and the Balkans, around half of the Roma communities were either Muslim or Christian( (http://en.wikipedia.org/Romani_people, references and sources are given ,there).
Jobs included amongst many things: dancing and musicianship, often in demand at weddings and other celebrations. In many parts of the Balkans and Central Europe, virtually all wedding musicians and performers( known as ” lautari” ) were and still are Roma(http://en.wikipedia.org/Romani_people, references and sources, cited, there). The various Roma groups, wherever they lived, had traditional crafts such as blacksmithing , metal work, recycling metal/scrap metal , horse- rearing/ horse trading , tree surgery and agricultural work.
Roma groups/tribes such as the Ghawazee, ( Hobin and others) helped lay the foundations for Egyptian bellydance as we know it. The Turkish Roma, were key to the development of Turkish Oriental dance, before and after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Turkish Rom dancers were often brought into the Ottoman royal courts, to teach dance, as many of the court dances were often very sedate affairs! ( Vashti/Cathy Selford of London). Turkish Oriental dance owes many of its characteristics to Roma dance ideas and tradition.
Ghawazee dancing, forms the basis for much of the Egyptian bellydance we know (Hobin) with its layered shimmies, hip drops, foot stomps, undulations, backbends, floorwork (although banned in Egypt during the 1950’s, floor work is part of the Ghawazee dance repertoire) and constant finger cymbal (sagat/zill )playing. Badia Masabny, the teacher of Samia Gamal , Tahia Carioca and other Stars of Egyptian, took this dance form, from the 1920’s , onwards, and helped create it to be the classical form, we now recognise. In summary, the Roma adopted and adapted dance and music forms from their host countries, keeping them alive.
2.The Journeys of the Roma
Buonaventura, Tejal et al, comment on how a small group of closely-related peoples , who were later to be called the Roma or “Gypsies”, migrated from north-West India ( first originating from central India) from the 5th century onwards- for what reason or reasons, we do not know.
There are so many rich and vivid stories on this, from escaping the war raids of Mahmud Ghazni , Sultan of Afghanistan (971-1030 CE) to expulsion for alleged crimes, to food shortages, lack of work…….. However, we do know that the dialects and variations of the Romani language the Roma diaspora speak, are related to languages from those areas of India/Pakistan, namely the Punjabi language.
From there, we understand, they undertook their journeys from across the Silk Road (Central Asia) down to Iran, Middle East, the African coasts and Europe. The Roma, while retaining their own cultural values, cultural practices( based upon a form of Hinduism) adopted ways of dressing and music forms from their host country, often becoming accomplished artists . Many of you know of artists such as the amazing and highly influential Belgian born Roma jazz artist Django Reinhardt( 1910-1953), who took the world by storm. Taraf de Haidouks, from Romania, are another example of Roma musical virtuosos. Musical training starts at a very young age, which suggests a potential life -time of becoming a dedicated expert and technician, par excellence.
3.Flamenco and Kathak
I have already written about flamenco’s story, here on the BAMBA site, with its complex mix of Arab/Berber (Moorish) Spanish Christian and Jewish, with Roma involvement. The significance of Roma/Kathak/North Indian dance origins in Flamenco shows how much a debt is owed to all of them. Kathak adds a strong influence and foundation to current Bollywood dance (www.gaurijog.com)
Kathak is not strictly Romany, but looking at the various Rom dances across Europe, you see glimpses of familiarity, such as footwork , hand gestures, spins, stances, attitude and a deep expression of joy, passion, sadness and being of the moment explored in the dance: what we see when we describe a “Gypsy” dance, etc, all of which are more often than not, found in Kathak. Kathak for the record, doesn’t use any hip or chest movement, so if we are looking for a bellydance connection, we won’t find it here. Kathak has many factors in common with ballet. It being classical, the line, alignment, posture and pose are all important, it has powerful strength and preciseness . It is exact, to the point and purposeful, as my Kathak dance teacher, Sonia Sabri, tells us, often enough…!
Flamenco and Kathak share a lot of similarities : first, there are the fast spins, the angles of the body, swift and precise head movements, then the precise , purposeful , often rapid, but clear sounding foot stamps, the foot glides, the upright posture ; the sound of Kathak foot work reminds one of quick Flamenco clapping; there’s the emotional sincerity and the intensity, even economy and purpose of movement. But at some point, Flamenco and Kathak, which started out as one, went their separate ways, on the journey from India, across Asia, Africa and Europe ( a conversation with Anurekha Ghosh, acclaimed Kathak dancer, based in the UK, at a Barefoot Flamenco workshop with Valerie Romanin, Kings’ Cross, London, c. March 2011) . This is where the stories of other Roma dance forms and their journeys, come in.
My own experience with Kathak has been incredible; Kathak, is about story-telling and has a very spiritual dimension to it. As a dance form, it has been around, since 3,000 BCE, when some of the earliest Hindu spiritual texts were written (Rigveda, Mahabharata and Ramayana etc). Dance, poetry, story -telling and song were all combined to tell and demonstrate spiritual stories, deeds and thoughts. Originally the whole art of kathak took place in temples- with sacred temple dancers and temple musicians and worker. As time went on, with Muslim conquests of the Indian subcontinent, the dance form moved to the royal courts ( and with subsequent Iranian and Turkish influences), has now evolved with the additional option, of more of an emphasis on entertainment,: more complex and faster spinning and rhythmic , sometimes, sensual interpretations, as well as changes in costume styling). See websites , such as www.chandrakantha.com and www.gaurijog.com for detailed information on all of this. So, from the tradition of Kathak and similar dance forms, the earliest migrants from India, took much of this with them.
My baby steps with Kathak is constantly re-appraising my own understanding of Flamenco and other Roma dances, producing some great epiphanies and gems for me : another dance journey in itself.
4. Balkan “Gypsy”
Some of the dance training I undertook with dancers were with such as Angela Wooii (www.anacondabellydance.com ) at the 2011( July) Gothla in Leicester , Simone Jovic (Czech-Serbian dancer, based both in Paris and in Serbia : www.simona.jovic.com ) and is one of Europe’s most reknown and accomplished Rom dance specialists and performers, and finally Ajsa Samia (Serbian-born, and currently based in South Africa, http://.raksafrica.co.za)
* The Gothic Gypsies at Gothla 2011
Angela Wooii taught a vibrant and exciting workshop on Gothic Gypsies( a fusion of Balkan “Gypsy” movement) , exploring Romanian,Russian and Serbian Rom moves, to create a fusion of dark-inspired drills and group mini choreography. Angela is an enthusiastic teacher and beautiful , uplifting dancer.
Movements employed footwork (hops, jumps, slides, grapevines) with some skirt work, turns and spins, finger snapping and a very sensual Rajasthani hip lift step, with skirt and hands on hips. Some of it, reminded me so much of Flamenco, with both a fiery and fun attitude, and the foot and heel work . Posture was very important to this dance, said Angela . She then took a dark Balkan ghost story ( of Roma origin) and brought it to life, by getting us to dance in a kind of dance canon, adding great dramatic expression, with intense gazes and walks, added to the movement we had already learned. It was a powerful and superb workshop, I felt I had to explore more of the dances of this region. Angela had told me, she had learned a lot of her repertoire from Simone Jovic. At this point, I was already mentally in Paris in Simona’s studio ! I travelled to Simone, in mid August to have lessons with her….. Simona’s flat is just like one of those in French film sets: , set above a restaurant, delightfully old-fashioned, winding steps….. the flat was a lot bigger than one could imagine, with a view from the window with a compact studio…… Magical!
* Romanian and Russian Roma Dance
Simona is a superb, knowledgeable teacher and an absolutely mesmerising dancer. Her knowledge and experience is profound, with her explaining to me, the musicology of Romanian and Russian rhythms: 4/4 , but with limping emphasis on the second beat; so the Romanian movements are syncopated, on every second beat, showing this in syncopated knee bends and its variations, jumps, forward and back foot moves, grapevines, retreating moves ( Flamenco has a similar latter movement) skirt movements and spins. Spins were done with the same syncopated rhythms, but often fantastically fast, so it looks smooth. Learning to dance in a syncopated way, is not easy, either! As many of the dancers are not often from the village(not dance- trained ) Simona said, arms and hands are not held in the classic Flamenco way, so it took me a while to eradicate that habit!
Then, my Russian dance lesson came next. Simona explained that Russian Gypsy was made for the stage, so it was invented from a collection of other dances, especially from a lot of Romanian Rom dance movement, using the same syncopated rhythm, but now with a gorgeous angle of the body and head, using shawl work, just below the shoulder. The effect of the shawl, on the shoulder made it more sensual than the Romanian dance, and shoulder shimmies were added on, delicately and femininely. The dance itself was very dramatic in expression, capturing a lot of the feeling in the Russian music tracks. I have to say, I have a very soft spot for Russian “Gypsy” dance. Many of the elements, I have seen in Flamenco, were there in the Russian dance: dancing from the heart, using those angles, lifting the posture and the head. This dance has more of a lyrical, strong and dramatic stage presence, and there are some very beautiful examples of authentic Russian Roma dance on Youtube, to look out for. Needless to say, once the magical spell of these lessons were over, I knew how much hard work , I would have to put in , to remember and practice…..
5. So………………..
In the second final part of this article, I will briefly talk about Chochek /cocek bellydance (Serbian/Balkan dance of Turkish Roma origin) and add a summary, and a list of resources for those who want to delve in , just a little bit further……
