World Music Folklife Center - Annual Roma/Gypsy Festival 2007

* HERDELJEZI (ROMA/GYPSY) FESTIVAL 2008 *

MISS THE WMFC INTERNATIONAL HERDELJEZI (ROMA/GYPSY) FESTIVAL last year? Don't be left out this year! Join us on Saturday, May 17 at the stunningly beautiful Hearst Hall Auditorium at National Cathedral School in Washington, DC for a full day of workshops in Rromani dance & music, followed by a traditional Rromani Slava (PARTY) with live music, special guest performances and open dancing for all!

Herdeljezi 2008 includes a Romani "Pazar" (Bazaar) with crafts, clothing, musical instruments, henna artists, music and MORE!
Want to VEND at this year's festival? Download vendor forms here: in WORD or in PDF
For more information, contact Amara at vendors@wmfolklifecenter.org.
Current confirmed vendors include: Solomon's Mine, World Music Folklife Center, Saffron Dance and Sharifwear, Cleopatra's Closet, Ocean's Marrakesh, Rhythm & Cues Tribalwear, Dark Moon Arts Henna and MORE TO COME!

Download FESTIVAL SCHEDULE, Registration, Travel, Food & Accomodation Information here: in WORD or in PDF

CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES include FREE storytelling and crafts at 12:30pm with Nina Amaya, plus Daveed and Port Discovery bring their Rhythm Circus, set up in the outside courtyard - a "hands-on", mobile percussion exploratorium under one roof! . The Rhythm Circus will be set up from 10:30am-5:30pm. Children should not be left unattended and should be accompanied by an adult at all times.

CLASS INFORMATION: Classes available for all levels & ages. Check description below for details. Most dance classes are appropriate for ages 12 through Adult. Flamenco & Rajasthani are more difficult and are more performance oriented dance forms. Turkish, Greek, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Hungarian & Transylvanian Romani dances are more social folk dances. If you have questions about a particular class/level of difficulty, please contact admin@wmfolklifecenter.org
*The only "restricted" classes are advanced level dumbek, cimbus and clarinet. You should have some experience with these instruments for these classes. You also must have your own clarinet or cimbus and you need to pre-register for these 2 classes. We may have a few extra dumbeks for sale or borrow if you need a drum.

Rajasthani Kalbeliya - Amy Luna Manderino

The popular image of the "snake charmer" originates from the Kalbeliya tribe of Rajasthan in Northern India, thought to be the "Gateway of the Gypsies" due to the belief that the Roma diaspora began there in the 11th century. Kalbeliya dancers wear black in homage to the Mother Goddess Kali, from whom the tribe derives their name. Amy Luna teaches moves from the Sapera dance ("dance of the serpent") learned during her 2006 travels in Rajasthan where she performed during the Jaisalmer Desert Festival. Performers of this stunning dance twirl ecstatically and stomp the earth in costumes of ornate embroidery and intricate beadwork. Workshop covers hand mudhras, footwork, traveling steps, spins and more. Includes Amy Luna's video of Kalbeliya dancers in India.

Spanish Flamenco with Manton - Amy Luna Manderino
Under threat of persecution from church and state authorities in Spain during the 16th century, "Gitanas", Muslims, and Jews came together to help each other survive, and within this melding of cultures Flamenco was born. Flamenco exists in three forms: Cante (the song) Baile (the dance) and Guitarra (guitar playing). In this workshop, Amy Luna takes you through the basics of flamenco posture, arms and hands with emphasis on dancing with a manton, the finely embroidered shawl worn with pride by Romani women dancers and singers alike. Workshops covers both movement vocabulary and a choreography. Shawls provided or bring your own. Beginners welcome.

Romani dances from Macedonia & Serbia with special guest, Sani Rifati of Voice of Roma

Sani Rifati is a Romani activist, writer and lecturer from Kosovo, now living in Graton, California. He is the President of Voice of Roma, a non-profit advocacy group working on behalf of Roma in Kosovo and Romani refugees living throughout Europe.

Romani dances from Romania, Transylvania & Hungary with Steve and Susan Kotansky

Steve has traveled extensively in Eastern Europe, and learned a wide variety of original folk material there. Traveling in Germany for over seven years, he worked with ethnic communities (guest workers) in Munich, while teaching dance and performing Steve has taught at every major North American festival and camp and, with his wife Susan, continues to do so. Susan Kotansky studied folkdance at the Ballet Institute in Budapest. In addition, she has done considerable dance research with the Roma population while living in Hungary. Susan & Steve sponsored Balazs Gusztav, the foremost scholar for Romani dances in Hungary, to teach in the United States with them.

Romani dances from Greece & Bulgaria with Steve Kotansky

Steve will also be teaching Romani dances from Greece & Bulgaria

Turkish Romani Dance - Reyhan Tuzsuz

Turkish Romani Dance is highly expressive utilizing subtle movements and gestures. From a young age, Reyhan had a gift for interpreting and stylizing to Turkish Romani music. She has learned to dance the natural "Roman" way; through watching at weddings and events, and listening to the music. She is totally improvisational; a natural technician and artist of the dance. She works with some of the world's best known Middle Eastern and Central Asian dance enthusiasts. Reyhan teaches in a lead-follow format.

Reyhan on YouTube:

Rromani Percussive Techniques - Amy Luna Manderino

Follow the Romani "Gypsy" Trail exploring the varied percussion instruments, rhythms and meters of Romani music across continents. This broad survey workshop includes discussion, video, demonstration and instruction for Indian manjira (cymbals), ghungroo (ankle bells) and khartal (believed to be the original castanet), Turkish spoons and riq (tambourine), Russian spoons, boots and cane, Egyptian zils (finger cymbals) and Spanish castanets, cane, zapateo (footwork) and palmas (clapping). No prior experience in music or percussion necessary. No instruments necessary (except yourself!). Instructor Amy Luna Manderino, Musical Director of Shuvani, is a life-long pianist, multi-instrumentalist and part-time faculty member at the Jazzschool in Berkeley, CA, hailed as one of the most comprehensive schools for jazz in the country.

Beginning Romani Doumbek Technique & Rhythms - Sidqi

Sidqi has over 30 years experience playing darabuka. He is experienced in Balkan, Turkish, Rromany & Middle Eastern drumming technique. He started out as a Balkan folk dancer at the University of Chicago and was soon internalizing Balkan rhythms. Some of Sidqi’s most significant influences have been Zev Feldman, Leszlo Kubinyi, Seido Salifoski, Souhail Kaspar, Hearn Gadbois, and Senol Sebebci, a Rromany drummer in Turkey. He travels frequently and has done extensive audio and video field recording across the United States, Turkey and Eastern Europe.Sidqi is current director of the drum program at Sahara Dance School in Washington, DC and also teaches at Saffron Dance and House of Musical Traditions.

Intermediate/Advanced Rromani Doumbek Technique - Seido Salifoski

A Macedonian Roma, Seido has played dumbek in Balkan and Middle Eastern style for thirty years. He is known for his unique virtuosity in the U.S., Canada and Europe, playing with notable musicians such as Tarkan, Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Ivan Milev, and Ivo Papazov. While exploring his roots in his own group Romski Boji, he is also a member of influential Balkan-jazz quartet Paradox Trio.

Rajasthani Frame Drum Technique - N. Scott Robinson

N. Scott currently teaches Applied Music – World Percussion at Goucher College in Towson, Maryland and courses in American, world, and popular musics at Towson University, Maryland. Previously, he has served as faculty at Montgomery College in Maryland, Shenandoah University in Virginia, The University of Akron in Ohio, and at Kent State University in Ohio.
In 2005, he was invited as guest lecturer at the Department of Indian Music at the University of Madras in Chennai, India where he did presentations on modern frame drumming and performed in a cross-cultural concert of fusion music. In 2008, he was the main artist at the Greek Frame Drums Meeting in Mesolóngi, Greece where he performed a solo concert on world percussion and taught master classes on his unique method for frame drums. N. Scott is the Director of the North American Frame Drum Association, Inc., and one of the principal organizers of the annual NAFDA Frame Drum Festival, which features top international frame drum artists from around the world presenting concerts and workshops in Indian, Brazilian, Irish, Italian, Arabic, Uzbek, Persian, and Spanish world percussion styles.

Romani Singing - Eva Salina Primack

Eva Salina Primack began singing Yiddish songs at the age of seven, fell in love with Balkan songs that same year, and at age 8 began attending the annual Mendocino Balkan Music and Dance workshops in Northern California. Shortly thereafter, she became deeply involved in the community of Balkanophiles all over the United States, and has never left. Eva has had the great fortune of studying with many of the Balkans' best, from Tzvetanka Varimezova to Esma Redzepova to Merita Halili. Eva's thirst for knowledge, songs, and experiences has carried her to the Balkans twice—the first time for six weeks with Tatiana Sarbinska in 1996, and most recently in the summer of 2005, when she spent almost three months traipsing through Ukraine, Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece, studying with a young Rom girl in Istanbul, singing for reknowned Bulgarian composer Krassimir Kyurkchijski, performing at a Rom wedding in South Central Bulgaria, and dancing all night to the sweet zourna music of Christos Karakostas in Flambouro. Eva sings with the women's vocal ensemble KITKA, performs with Edessa, Romski Boji & Which Way East, and teaches Balkan vocal workshops and lessons. Eva is passionate about teaching, seeing as oral dissemination is the key to continuing these musical traditions, both in the Balkans and in the United States.

Romani Clarinet Technique- Ismail Lumanovski ("Smajko")

Ismail Lumanovski is a clarinet prodigy from the Former Yugoslavic republic of Macedonia. He made his debut in 1998, with the Macedonian Philharmonic, and his U.S.A. debut in 2002 with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at Interlochen Arts Camp. Ismail has won numerous competitions and awards. He is currently studying at Juliard where he has received a full scholarship and is a member of the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra. Ismail also plays with the "Clarinet All-Stars", a free-form live band featuring clarinet virtuoso Husnu Senlendirici from Turkey & sax player Yuri Yunakov from Bulgaria as well as Romski Boji. You must pre-register and bring your own clarinet (or saxophone) for this class!

Romani Cimbus - Kujtim Ismailov

Kujtim of Romski Boji is offering cimbus class this year. You MUST pre-register for this class and bring your own cimbus.

Grup Nazar

Grup Nazar plays traditional Turkish Romani & Oriental Bellydance Music in the Washington, DC metro area.

Romski Boji

Brainchild of darbuka virtuoso Seido Salifoski, the band brings the diverse Balkan Romani dance music to outside of its community. People of Roma and their of-the-moment improvisational skills have always been one of the main driving forces of dance music in the Balkans. This band is Seido’s vehicle to tap into its complex tradition of having distinct yet somehow meshing sounds of various parts and countries, and he pulls in different set of musicians to capture specific sounds, for each project. For the First Annual Herdeljezi Festival in Washington , Seido has put together a lineup that will bring out mainly Macedonian and Turkish Romani Colors, with some Oriental overtone.

EVENING SLAVA (PARTY): 7:30pm - 12am
Live Romani Music with Grup Nazar and Romski Boji, Open Dancing, and Special Performances by Reyhan Tuzsuz and Amy Manderino! Plus Henna Artists and Rromani Pazar (Bazaar)! Plus it's Seido's Birthday! Come out and help us celebrate!

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