Romano World Music and Dance festival - Day 2
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Romano World Music and Dance festival - Day 2
Antal “Gojma” Kovács, the legendary Roma dancer and musician known from Romano Drom and Ando Drom, passed away 21 years ago. On the occasion of last year’s round anniversary, his family, the Romano Drom band (Antal Kovács, Máté A. Kovács, Krisztián Kovács) decided, in an unconventional and tradition‑creating way, to establish and launch the Gojma Prize. They are looking for the most dynamic Roma dancer in the country, the one closest in spirit to Gojma. After last year’s highly successful talent show and gala, this year they have raised the bar even higher to organize the largest Roma dance competition nationwide, and in connection with this to create a major three‑day event at the House of Music. After the finals of the 2nd Gojma Prize – Solo Dance Competition in Memory of Antal “Gojma” Kovács, on July 3 and 4, a grand, two‑day free festival will take place at the House of Music under the title Romano World Music and Dance Art Festival – with dance houses, international performers, cross‑art productions, traditional ensembles, and concerts by Romano Drom and A. Kovács and the Gypsy Caravan, featuring numerous guest stars.
On the second day there will be a dance house and performance by the Enikő Nemoda Kökényné Dance Group, a concert by the Kalocsa Tradition‑Preserving Ensemble, we will see the choreography titled György Demarcsek: Gypsies Celebrate in Mátészalka performed as a joint production by the Nyírség Dance Ensemble and the Khamoro Budapest Band; from Spain we will welcome the Puerto Flamenco band, and the evening, as well as the entire festival, will close with a concert by Romano Drom, featuring guest appearances by Roby Lakatos, Said Tichiti and Péter Müller Sziámi.
Day 2 schedule
18:00–19:00 Vivien Menyhért Kökényné Dance Group – dance house
19:15–19:45 Kalocsa Tradition‑Preserving Ensemble
20:00–20:45 György Demarcsek: Gypsies Celebrate in Mátészalka – joint production of the Nyírség Dance Ensemble and Khamoro Budapest Band
21:00–22:00 Puerto Flamenco (Spain)
22:15–23:30 Romano Drom feat. Roby Lakatos x Said Tichiti x Péter Müller Sziámi
Dear Visitor, We kindly inform you that during the event, photographs, audio recordings, and/or video recordings may be taken. By attending the event, you consent to the recording of such materials through your implied conduct.
Enikő Nemoda Kökényné’s Dance Group
For dance instructor Enikő Nemoda Kökényné, dance has been a defining part of her life since childhood, and it continues to play a prominent role in her everyday life. Over the past four years, travelling around the country, she has worked to introduce people to Roma culture and, through dance, to bring Roma and non-Roma women closer together. “During this time, nearly 500 students have taken part in my group courses and individual classes. One of the important aims of my work is for younger generations to get to know and carry forward Roma traditions and dance culture.”
Kalocsa Tradition-Preserving Ensemble
The Kalocsa Tradition-Preserving Ensemble was formed in 2007 through the collaboration of cousins. Their goal is to pass on and preserve their traditions and culture for the younger generation as well. Over the years, the band has evolved, and today we play popular Roma music while remaining faithful to our tradition-preserving roots. “In our current formation, we have come to the Romano World Music and Dance Art Festival with tradition-preserving songs from Kalocsa, collected folk songs and adaptations.”
György Demarcsek: The Roma Are Reveling in Mátészalka – A Joint Production of the Nyírség Dance Ensemble and the Khamoro Budapest Band
In this choreography, the author, choreographer György Demarcsek, presents Roma dances from Nagyecsed and Nyírvasvári: botoló (stick dance – solo, couple and quartet), Roma dance (solo and couple) and cigányos csárdás are among the dances, performed by non-Roma dancers with great enthusiasm and strength, with restrained tension and explosive exuberance, with delicate movements and powerful stamps – in a word, playfully and diversely, like the Roma dancers of old films and their contemporary successors. The best music for the dancers’ feet is provided by the musicians of the Khamoro Budapest Band, who have long been regular participants in the company’s shows. For the title of the choreography, we chose the first line of the lyrics of one of their cigányos csárdás melodies: In Mátészalka the Roma are reveling...
Puerto Flamenco (Spain)
The performance of the Puerto Flamenco company, rooted in Seville, is an exciting encounter between traditional Andalusian flamenco and contemporary stage visuals. Their production simultaneously preserves flamenco’s centuries-old heritage and reveals the modern, international direction in which the genre is finding new audiences worldwide today. Puerto Flamenco is not simply a concert or a dance performance: it is a complex stage experience in which music, rhythm, movement and passion merge into a single, intensely sweeping production. In the performance of the artists arriving from Andalusia, the cradle of flamenco, every essential element of the genre plays a highlighted role. Virtuoso flamenco guitar playing, singing that conveys deep emotions, the hypnotic pulse of palmas (handclaps), and the zapateado—flamenco’s distinctive footwork performed with dazzling technique—together create an atmosphere of elemental power.
The uniqueness of Puerto Flamenco lies in the way they combine all this with modern stage thinking: with dynamic dramaturgy, spectacular choreographies and film-like, evolving scenes, they bring the world of flamenco closer to today’s audiences. Their performances are not folklore shows, but contemporary artistic productions that can speak both to traditional flamenco fans and to those encountering this passionate genre for the first time. In Puerto Flamenco’s performances, the Mediterranean way of life, dramatic intensity and the freedom of improvisation meet precise stage construction. For this reason, the company’s shows are successfully featured at prestigious festivals and on international stages worldwide. A Puerto Flamenco concert is at once an energetic and sensuous journey into the world of Andalusia: a performance where rhythm has an almost physical impact, movements tell stories, and the music speaks directly to the emotions. Those who attend this evening will not merely see a concert or a dance production, but will encounter flamenco as a living, pulsating culture.
Romano Drom
The organising and host band of the event, Romano Drom, closes the festival with a special concert spiced with guest performers. Sharing the stage with the band will be world-famous violinist Roby Lakatos; Said Tichiti, a Moroccan-born performer and musician, frontman of the band Chalaban; as well as the Kossuth Prize-winning poet, performer and singer Péter Müller Sziámi. Romano Drom has been performing in Hungary and around the world for 28 years. Their jubilee album, titled Give Me Wine, was released worldwide by Riverboat Records (World Music Network). Romano Drom is one of the best-known Roma bands from East-Central Europe and has been a constant presence on the world music scene since its formation in 1998. Their concerts never fail to lift the audience’s spirits and get them dancing.
During their tours they have travelled the world (giving more than 500 concerts in 30 countries); 20 years of experience have shaped their songs into a raw, no-frills sound. The urban folklore that blossoms hidden in everyday life, the authentic message of contemporary Roma musical reflection, easily captivates even audiences accustomed to the mainstream. In the seven albums they have released so far—the backbone of their repertoire—the founding songwriter Antal Kovács’s aim of an internal renewal of the living Vlach Roma musical tradition unfolds. Absorbing musical solutions from sometimes different cultural origins that most precisely reflect the author’s aim, the material transforms into world music. The current of their melancholic yet dance-inviting songs resonates even without knowledge of the language with the interplay of traditionally string and percussion rhythm instruments, highlighted by drum and bass guitar arrangements, of reworked ancient songs and new compositions. The perspective of the Vlach Roma tradition, enriched with new content, and a harmoniously unified diversity—alongside the band’s excellent performance skills, highly responsive to the audience’s mood—are a guarantee of the band’s resounding success.
An event jointly organized by the Czinka Panna World Music and Dance Arts Association and the House of Music Hungary, supported by the State Secretariat for Social Opportunities and Roma Relations of the Ministry of Interior.
