Gypsy Roots of social tragedy
Published on 05/10/2007
ON a recent exchange visit to Slovakia our school group saw a performance of the dance drama Gypsy Roots in the National Opera House in Banska Bystrica.
I was pleased to find that although I understand none of the Slovakian language, I could still understand their dance.
The mix of traditional Slovak folk music and Western rap compiled by Goran Bregovic was used as an impressive sound track to which we watched the globally understood story of inappropriate love.
In this particular tragi-comedy dance, choreographed and directed by Jaroslav Moravcik and Dana Dinkova, our hero is a young Roma man, Coban,who has fallen for a local girl, Dara.
The girl’s ‘friends’ are disgusted by her love and jealous of him, so when they see Coban at their party the jealous men of the town engage him in a series of dramatic leaps and superbly choreographed strikes with a baseball bat until the situation escalates and in a moment of panic the hero is shot.
His heroine, in shock, runs from his corpse, only to return to the Roma funeral where, with excess alcohol and shared grief, she is accepted and befriended by the Roma people.
At this point I should explain that the hero has had a guardian angel throughout the performance who previously had only arrived to smoke on stage and shake his head despairingly at the hero’s antics.
However at Coban's funeral the angel’s true role is revealed as he wakes his ward to be reunited with his love whom he marries without the knowledge of the townsfolk in a powerfully symbolic scene, showing the bride in white dress and head band hinting at later developments.
Unfortunately, soon after this the townsfolk hear of Dara's marriage and, in another frenzy of rap and baseball bats, attack the Roma people.
Tragically, whilst attempting to prevent the attacks on her new family, the bride is shot by a member of her own town and after a deeply moving performance by the hero she becomes an angel who in the last scene sits above the Roma people protecting them.
On viewing the dance you would be forgiven for thinking that it is just another Romeo and Juliet style tragedy. However, the Gypsy Roots performance is also a political and social statement which seems to be a reaction to recent events in Slovakia, and more poignantly in the local town of Banska Bystrica where a young Roma man was beaten to death by right wing activists.
Unfortunately in the area there is general unrest between the Roma people and the right wing movements who have a racial hate for the Roma and often accuse them of stealing, crime and violence.
From a dramatic perspective the performance gave a stunning display of athleticism coupled with entertaining and dynamic stage characters, but for the Slovakian nation Dana Dinkova’s Gypsy Roots performance obviously carries a deeper meaning.
ON a recent exchange visit to Slovakia our school group saw a performance of the dance drama Gypsy Roots in the National Opera House in Banska Bystrica.
I was pleased to find that although I understand none of the Slovakian language, I could still understand their dance.
The mix of traditional Slovak folk music and Western rap compiled by Goran Bregovic was used as an impressive sound track to which we watched the globally understood story of inappropriate love.
In this particular tragi-comedy dance, choreographed and directed by Jaroslav Moravcik and Dana Dinkova, our hero is a young Roma man, Coban,who has fallen for a local girl, Dara.
The girl’s ‘friends’ are disgusted by her love and jealous of him, so when they see Coban at their party the jealous men of the town engage him in a series of dramatic leaps and superbly choreographed strikes with a baseball bat until the situation escalates and in a moment of panic the hero is shot.
His heroine, in shock, runs from his corpse, only to return to the Roma funeral where, with excess alcohol and shared grief, she is accepted and befriended by the Roma people.
At this point I should explain that the hero has had a guardian angel throughout the performance who previously had only arrived to smoke on stage and shake his head despairingly at the hero’s antics.
However at Coban's funeral the angel’s true role is revealed as he wakes his ward to be reunited with his love whom he marries without the knowledge of the townsfolk in a powerfully symbolic scene, showing the bride in white dress and head band hinting at later developments.
Unfortunately, soon after this the townsfolk hear of Dara's marriage and, in another frenzy of rap and baseball bats, attack the Roma people.
Tragically, whilst attempting to prevent the attacks on her new family, the bride is shot by a member of her own town and after a deeply moving performance by the hero she becomes an angel who in the last scene sits above the Roma people protecting them.
On viewing the dance you would be forgiven for thinking that it is just another Romeo and Juliet style tragedy. However, the Gypsy Roots performance is also a political and social statement which seems to be a reaction to recent events in Slovakia, and more poignantly in the local town of Banska Bystrica where a young Roma man was beaten to death by right wing activists.
Unfortunately in the area there is general unrest between the Roma people and the right wing movements who have a racial hate for the Roma and often accuse them of stealing, crime and violence.
From a dramatic perspective the performance gave a stunning display of athleticism coupled with entertaining and dynamic stage characters, but for the Slovakian nation Dana Dinkova’s Gypsy Roots performance obviously carries a deeper meaning.
Labels: Dance, Gypsy, Roma, Slovenia Europe
posted by Allie @ 8:32 AM
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