Beginning the Rroma (Gypsy) Immersion Workshop

I've been spending time looking through my videos and still pictures from Amala School in Serbia. I am reminded how very comfortable I was at the compound and how very strange everything was. Here are three pictures I really like.

Grandmother

Three generations were staying in the houses on the cul de sac up in the hills of Valjevo, this is the grandmother who spoke not one word of English but always said hello somehow. She would sometimes meet me at the gate and talk with me as we walked up the drive to the houses. I never understood a word but that didn't bother her. She would smile and wave as we parted ways. I personally adored her, and her whisk broom. 

Purple Room

This is the room I stayed in for the first week of school. There was no filter used on the photo, it was this color and I loved it! What you can't see in the picture is that the temperature was mostly around 100 degrees with no air conditioning. At night it cooled down to around 75-85 degrees but the windows really didn't open to let the cooler air in. Quite an experience for this Minnesota girl who sleeps with the window cracked open all winter.

Cousins

These young people were staying in the neighborhood and came to visit us during the days at the compound. They spoke a little English and German and were delightful. It saddens me that I did not get their names before they left the area, I think their eyes tell an amazing story.

Getting Ready for AAMS

This March I'll be presenting a workshop telling of my experiences at Amala School in Valejo, Serbia during the summer of 2012. Amala School is an opportunity to live with Rroma (Gypsy) musicians and learn music and language. It was an indescribable experience but I will do my best to pass along the some of the things I learned to others.

Accordion and Clarinet teacher, Amala School, 2012

Here is a description of my workshop:

Play Gypsy (Rroma) Music Today - Dee Langley
Experience the excitement and fulfillment of music at your fingertips while exploring the rich, mysterious, and romantic melodies of the Rroma people. During the summer of 2012 Dee attended the Amala School in Vallejo, Serbia where she lived with and was taught by Gypsy (Rroma) musicians. This workshop is open to anyone who has a desire to experience world cultures through music and learn more about what the Rroma people are really like.


AAMS is held in conjunction with the Mid-Atlantic Music Teachers Guild - March 28, 29, - 30 in Whippany, New Jersey.

Learning to speak the Roma Language

Each weekday at Amala School we will have Roma language lessons in addition to solo and group music tutors.

If I think learning music by ear along with new fingering and scales will be a good challenge, the Roma language lessons probably will eclipse everything.

The following text and alphabet were copied from a great website, http://www.omniglot.com/writing/romany.htm. I personally lay no claim to the information since I am totally ignorant about the language of the Serbian/Romani (Gypsy) people. However, Amala School, Veljevo, Serbia, should take care of that.

Romany
Romany, or Romani, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 5-6 million Roma people throughtout Europe and the USA. The largest concetration of Roma people live in Romania. In English these people are often called Gypsies. The language is closely related to the languages of northern India, particularly Punjabi, and the Roma are thought to have originally come from that region. Some people consider Romany to be a group of dialects while others think there are several, closely-related Romany languages.

The Muslim invasions of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent around 1000 AD resulted in massive movements of populations, probably including the ancestors of the Roma, who are thought to have moved into Anatolia. In 1300, after the Mongolian invasion of Europe, the Roma moved west into Europe and took up a mainly nomadic lifestyle.

Romany alphabet (Romani šib)
This is the official standard alphabet for Romany. It was standardized in 1990 at the Fourth World Romani Congress in Serock, Poland. This alphabet is used by all the Romany languages/dialects except Carpathian Romany and Finnish Romany.

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/romany.htm

Serbia and Romani music

Map of Serbia

I am very partial to the music of Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, and Albania. Some of the music I perform and teach are Romani (Gypsy) in origin. It is my fondest desire that the Romani immersion during Amala School, Valjevo, Serbia, will give me deeper insight to these melodies. 16 Days until I'm there.

From Wikipedia:

Serbia is landlocked country located in the Balkans(a historical and geographical region of southeastern Europe) and in the PannonianPlain (a region of central Europe). It shares borders with Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria,Croatia, Hungary, the Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, and Romania. Serbiaclaims a border with Albania as well through its disputed territory of Kosovo.It is landlocked, although access to the Adriatic is available through Montenegro,and the Danube River provides shipping access to inland Europe and the BlackSea.

From Wikipedia:

Romani music plays an important role in Central and EasternEuropean countries such as Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro,Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Hungary, Slovenia and Romania,and the style and performance practices of Romani musicians have influencedEuropean classical composers such as Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms.

Kolubarski Region in Serbia

It looks so small...

Day 19 before Amala School.  Wait...what happened to yesterday? This educational and cultural excursion was decided upon over a year ago shortly after Orkestar Bez Ime (know here as 'we') won the McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians. We would have attended last year but not all six of us had the time in July free. So we waited, and waited, and waited and it seemed this dream was so far off in the future. Not any more! My suitcase has come out of the attic today and I'm starting the process of deciding exactly how much stuff I want to carry around with me all the time.

In addition to wrestling my suitcase I spent time looking at the regions of Serbia. The city of Valjevo is the seat of the Kolubarski Region which has around 200,000 people that call it home.

Wikipedia has these Ethnic group population totals posted from the census of 2002, a decade ago. This is a map of only Sumadija and Western Serbia. Kolubarski is the pink area.

http://www.lokalnirazvoj.org/sr/books/details/24

2002 Census
Kolubarski Region, only

Serbs 186,177

Roma 2,577

Others 11,806

TOTAL 200,560

Roma Immersion Music School - I'm Going!

There are some moments that are just too stimulating and wonderful to understand all at once. This is one of those events...two weeks of music study immersed in Roma (Gypsy) and Serbian cultures. Starting the countdown to arrival now at 26 days, time to start packing!