Romani routes: cultural politics and Balkan music in diaspora 9780199910229, 9780195300949, 9780199358847

Table of contents :
Frontmatter
Figures and Charts (page vii)
Acknowledgments (page ix)
Notes on Transliteration (page xiii)
About the Companion Website (page xv)
Part I Introduction
1. Balkan Roma: History, Politics, and Performance (page 3)
2. Musical Styles and Genres (page 21)
3. Dilemmas of Diaspora, Hybridity, and Indentity (page 39)
Part II Music in Diasporic Homes
4. Transnational Families (page 59)
5. Transnational Celebrations (page 83)
6. Transnational Dance (page 107)
Part III Music, States, and Markets
7. Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian Socialist State (page 127)
8. Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals (page 149)
9. Bulgarian Pop/Folk: Chalga (page 177)
Part IV Musicians in Transit
10. Esma Redžepova: "Queen of Gypsy Music" (page 201)
11. Yuri Yunakov: Saxophonist, Refugee, Citizen (page 221)
12. Romani Music as World Music (page 241)
13. Collaboration, Appropriation, and Transnational Flows (page 269)
Notes (page 295)
References (page 335)
Index (page 365)

Citation preview

Romani Routes

AMERICAN MUSICSPHERES

Series Editor Mark Slobin Fiddler on the Move Exploring the Klezmer World Mark Slobin The Lord’s Song in a Strange Land Music and Identity in Contemporary Jewish Worship Jeffrey A. Summit

Lydia Mendoza’s Life in Music La Historia de Lydia Mendoza: Norteno Tejano Legacies Yolanda Broyles-Gonzdlez

Four Parts, No Waiting A Social History of American Barbershop Harmony Gage Averill

Louisiana Hayride Radio and Roots Music along the Red River Tracey E. W. Laird

Balkan Fascination Creating an Alternative Music Culture in America Mirjana Lausevic Polkabilly How the Goose Island Ramblers Redefined American Folk Music James P. Leary

Cajun Breakdown The Emergence of an American-Made Music Ryan André Brasseaux Claiming Diaspora Music, Transnationalism, and Cultural Politics in Asian/Chinese America Su Zheng Bright Star of the West Joe Heaney, Irish Song-Man Sean Williams and Lillis O Laoire Romani Routes Cultural Politics and Balkan Music in Diaspora Carol Silverman

ROMANI ROUTES Cultural Politics and Balkan Music in Diaspora

Carol Silverman

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

UNIVERSITY PRESS

Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence

in research, scholarship, and education.

Oxford New York

Auckland Cape Town Dares Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in

Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2012 by Oxford University Press Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com

Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Silverman, Carol. Romani routes : cultural politics and Balkan music in diaspora / Carol Silverman.

p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-19-530094-9 (hardback)—ISBN 978-0-19-983278-1 (companion website) 1. Romanies—Music—History and criticism. 2. Folk music—Balkan Peninsula—History and criticism. I. Title. ML3600.S55 2011

781.62°91497—de22 2011007128

3-7-0. Fore I Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

Table of Contents

Figures and Charts vii Acknowledgments ix Notes on Transliteration xiii About the Companion Website xv

Part I Introduction 1. Balkan Roma: History, Politics, and Performance 3

2. Musical Styles and Genres 21 3. Dilemmas of Diaspora, Hybridity, and Identity 39

Part II Music in Diasporic Homes 4. Transnational Families 59 5. Transnational Celebrations 83 6. Transnational Dance 107

Part III Music, States, and Markets 7. Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian

Socialist State 127

8. Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and

Festivals 149 9. Bulgarian Pop/Folk: Chalga 177

Part IV) Musicians in Transit 10. Esma Redzepova: “Queen of Gypsy Music” 201 11. Yuri Yunakov: Saxophonist, Refugee, Citizen 221

12. Romani Music as World Music 241 13. Collaboration, Appropriation, and Transnational Flows 269

Notes 295 References 335 Index 365

Figures and Charts

Figure 2.1. Variations of Co¢éek Rhythmic Patterns 29 Chart 9.1. Intersecting Circles: Chalga, Wedding Music,

Romani Music 179

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Acknowledgments

This book has benefited from several decades of assistance from many individuals, families, communities, institutions, and granting agencies. I would like to acknowledge funding from the International Research and Exchanges Board, the Open Society Institute, the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. At the University of Oregon, I was supported by a Summer

Research Grant and grants from the Oregon Humanities Center and the Center for the Study of Women in Society. I would also like to thank the Institut za Folklor “Marko Cepenkov’ in Skopje, Macedonia, for serving as my academic home in 1990. Above all, I owe tremendous gratitude to the Romani community mem-

bers who generously hosted me in Macedonia, Bulgaria, Toronto, Melbourne, and New York and who invited me to their homes and guided me through cultural events. They include Yuri and Lidia Yunakov; Pera, Kjani, Binas, Rafet, Erhan, Sevgul, and Shengul RedZeposki; Zada, Zekir, Ferhan,

Selviana, Rechko, Cindy, RedZep, Perijan, Seman, Nuri, Zejnep, Idris, Gjulfa, Zulfikjar, and BajramSa Ismail; Afrodita Salievska and her family; Sonya and JaSar JaSaroski; Sadet, Seido, and Sanela Mamudoski; Mevlude, Sazija and Ferat Arifovi; Seido, Nimet, and Isa Salifoski; Lahorka and Ali JaSar; Tair, Selija, Sabuhan, Severdzan, and Turkijana Azirovi; Mirka and Firus RedZeposki; NeSo Ajvazi; Ismail Lumanovski; Erhan, Gjulée, Husamedin, Mikrema, Jusuf, Sevim, Turan, and Uska Umer; Esengul Edipova; Muren and Ajten Ibraimovi; Sevim, Nurije, and Sal Mamudoski; Sebihana

and David Neziroski; Imer and Gjula Sulemanoski; Mizka, Ruse, and Bajram Amzoski; Sebihana, Kaimet, and Seno Ademoski; AjSa Sefuloska and Ferdi Memedoski; Virgil and Dalip Asanovi; Gjulten and Saban Dervisoski; Perijana and NedZat Useinoski; Ramiz Islami; Romeo and Kurte Kurtali; Kujtim and Muamed Ismaili; IlImi and Bisa Teraski; Sevda and

Marem Bajramovski; Ali, Muzo, Kenedi, and Altan Zekiroski; Memet DZeloski; Traj¢e DZemaloski; Sani Rifati; Abdula Durak and his extended family; Esma Redzepova, Stevo Teodosievski, and Simeon Atanasovski;

Zahir Ramadanov; Sami Zekiroski; Mustafa Gjunes; Trajko and Sabo Petrovski; Muharem Serbezovski; Muzafer and Altan Mahmut; Gjulizar Dzeljadin; Bajsa Arifovska; Adzerka and Sukri Arifoski; Snezhana Gocheva

IX

and her extended family; Yashko Argirov; Yordan and Vera Kenderov; Ivo

Papazov and Maria Karafezieva; Neshko Neshev; Salif Ali; Dobri and Matyo Dobrev; Hristo Kyuchukov; Mihail and Dimittir Georgiev; and Anzhelo Malikov.

In Bulgaria and Macedonia, I was also graciously hosted by Pettir Ralchev, Ivan Milev, Georgi Yanev, Ahmed Yunakov, Vergiili and Nadya Atanasov, Radost Ivanova, Aleksandar and Olga Dzukeski, Vladimir and Olivera

Cvetkovski, and many other friends and colleagues. I would also like to thank the many families who invited me to their family celebrations. For help with translation, I owe thanks to Afrodita Salievska, Sani and DZevrija Rifati, DuSan Risti¢, Zada and Ferhan Ismail, Rachel MacFarlane, and especially Victor Friedman, who read the entire manuscript. I would like to acknowledge editing assistance from Angela Montague, from the staff of Oxford University Press, and from series editor Mark Slobin.

I have greatly benefited over the years from fruitful intellectual exchanges with an inspiring group of colleagues, among them Jane Sugarman, Amy Shuman, Donna Buchanan, Gail Kligman, Steven Feld, Timothy Rice, Svanibor Pettan, Martin Stokes, Judith Okely, Brana Mijatovi¢, Margaret Beissinger, Elsie Dunin, Victor Friedman, Regina Bendix, Dorothy Noyes, Mark Slobin, Sonia Seeman, Michael Beckerman, Petra Gelbart, and Mirjana Lausevic. Scholars from the Balkans, including Lozanka Pey-

cheva, Ventsislav Dimov, Elena Marushiakova, Vesselin Popov, Trajko Petrovski, Claire Levy, Radost Ivanova, Vergiili Atanasov, Tsenka Iordanova, and Speranta Radulescu, all generously shared their ideas with me. Ventsislav Dimov and Lozanka Peycheva helped greatly with permissions in Bulgaria. I would especially like to express my appreciation to Seido Salifoski, Sani Rifati, Afrodita Salievska, Kalin Kirilov, Mark Levy, Garth Cartwright,

and Nick Nasev for their helpful comments on specific chapters. Francis Fung, Traci Lindsey, Henry Ernst, Helmut Neumann, Victor Friedman, Rumen Shopov, Sani Rifati, and Villie Shumanov helped with musical materials. Kalin Kirilov was a valuable video editor. lan Hancock generously provided encouragement in difficult moments. My heartfelt thanks go to Jane Sugarman for reading the entire manuscript and offering many insightful suggestions. I would also like to thank the anonymous readers from Oxford University Press for their detailed comments. In the course of researching and writing, several community members and colleagues passed away; they are sorely missed and will be deeply remembered in my heart. Finally, I owe much gratitude to my family, Mark and Nesa Levy, for their unwavering moral support. The title of this book, Romani Routes, was inspired by the NGO (nongovernmental organization) Voice of Roma and its Romani Routes touring program (www.voiceofroma.com/culture/romani-routes.shtml). I would like to thank the officers of VOR for their permission to use the phrase. Portions of Chapter 6 were reprinted from “Transnational Chochek:

Gender and the Politics of Balkan Romani Dance,” in Balkan Dance: x Acknowledgments

Essays on Characteristics, Performance, and Teaching, ed A. Shay, 2008, with permission from McFarland Publishers. Portions of Chapters 7 and 8 were revised from “Bulgarian Wedding Music Between Folk and Chalga: Politics, Markets, and Current Directions,” in Musicology 7(2007): 69-97 with permission of the Serbian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Musicology. Portions of Chapter 10 were revised from “The Gender of the Profession: Music, Dance and Reputation Among Balkan Muslim Romani (Gypsy) Women,” in Gender and Music in the Mediterranean, ed. Tullia Magrini, 2003,with permission from the University of Chicago Press. Portions of Chapter 11 were reprinted from “Music and Transnational Identity: The Life of Romani Saxophonist Yuri Yunakov,” in Dzaniben (Czech Journal of Romani Studies), Winter 2009: 59-84, with permission of the publisher. Portions of Chapter 12 were reprinted from “Trafficking in the Exotic with Gypsy Music,” in Balkan Popular Culture and the Ottoman Ecumeme, ed. D. Buchanan, 2007, with permission from Scarecrow Press, a division of Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. This book is dedicated to the memory of my parents, Evelyn and Larry Silverman, who eagerly followed my research and live in my heart.

Acknowledgments Xi

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Notes on Transliteration

This book deals with four Balkan languages—Romani, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Serbian (Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian)—each with its own conventions of transliteration. Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Serbian belong to the family of South Slavic languages. Romani is an Indo-Aryan language related to other languages spoken in northern India; its orthography differs from country to country. Bulgarian and Macedonian are written in Cyrillic; Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian may be written in either the Cyrillic or Latin alphabet. A few Turkish words are also used in this book. I have provided translations of all foreign words; when these words are

not Romani I have indicated the language used, as in “Juzni Ekspres (Southern express [Macedonian]).” If no language is indicated, the language is Romani, as in “Bijav Geljum te Basalav (I went to a wedding to play).” I note that many words in Macedonian, Bulgarian, and Romani are

derived from Turkish; for example, the Macedonian and Romani term bovéalok (gifts for the groom sewn on a sheet) comes from the Turkish bohca. However, there are too many words from Turkish for me to indicate this connection in this book. In effort to make it easier for the reader, I have modified existing transliteration practices according to this system:

Romani, Serbian, and Macedonian words are written with Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian Latin orthography and pronounced as follows:

a =as inart e = as in met i= as in machine © = as in port u = as in lunar ‘= short u (schwa) as in but S= sh as in shop Z = zhass in pleasure c = ts as in hats ¢ = chas in change

é=chastin nature Xi

dz = dzh as j in jazz j= Vyas inyes

Bulgarian words are written according to one widely accepted scholarly system with h’s; for example:

The sound sh as in shop is written sh dzh as j in jazz, etc. ti = short u (schwa) as in but In Romani, four aspirated consonants are written as ¢h, ph, kh, and th Most Turkish words used follow standard Turkish orthography, for example, Lago Tayfa, where ¢ is ch.

Because I am dealing with two transliteration systems and several cultural systems, the same word or concept may appear two ways; for ex-

ample coéek (Romani, Serbian, and Macedonian) and kyucheck (Bulgarian); surla or zurla (Macedonian) and zurna (Bulgarian). For previously published materials and for names already transliterated with Latin letters, I have retained the previous forms. There will thus inevitably be some inconsistencies in the text.

XIV Notes on Transliteration

About the Companion Website www.oup.com/us/romaniroutes

The author and Oxford have created a password-protected website to accompany this book. The website contains video examples, audio exam-

ples, photographs, and text supplements (including song texts and historical information). Users may access the website with the username Musicl and password Book5983. All examples were used with duplication permission or are fair use. When not indicated, the source is the author. The website materials are explained below.

CHAPTER | Photographs 1.1 Working-class home, Sutka, Skopje, Macedonia, 1994 1.2 Poor home, Sutka, 1994 1.3 Arthur Ave. street, 2009 1.4 Arthur Ave. market, 2009 1.5 Arthur Ave. burek and pizza store, 2009

CHAPTER 2 Photographs

2.1 Zurla and tapan, Sutka, 1990 2.2 Bear trainer, Bulgaria, 1980 2.3 Monkey trainer, Bulgaria, 1980 2.4 Ferus Mustafov plays at a celebration for the birth of Muamet Cun’s granddaughter, Sutka, 1990

XV

Video Examples

2.1 Zurla and tapan, men’s heavy crossing dance, wedding, Sutka, 1990 2.2 Zurna player Samir Kurtov, wedding, Gotse Delchev, Bulgaria, 2004 2.3 Ferus Mustafov plays at a party for the birth of a girl, Sutka, 1990 2.4 Ferus Mustafov, Macedonian TV show, 2/4 éoéek, Belly Dances, Maestro (YU Video 5046, 1985) 2.5 Dzipsi Aver, Stara Zagora Romfest, 2005 2.6 Amza Tairov performing at a wedding, 2003

Audio Examples

2.1 Shalvar Kyuchek, Nezhniya Tsumani (The Delicate Tidal Wave), Fekata, Filip Simeonov (Crystal Records, 2005) 2.2 E Sitakoro Oro, Ora i Coéeci, Euro Coéek 2002, Titanik (Voice of Roma) 2.3 Bijav Geljum me BaSalav, Orkesttir Knezha: Ko Dzamije Me BeSav, Iliya Marinov (Lazarov Records, 1990s) with text supplement 2.4 Me Phirava, Orkestiir Sever: O Dzhumaya, Dancho Panov (Folkton, 1990s)

2.5 Mirveta, music Ilir Karimani, Dae (Mother), Safet Ibrahimi (Chrom 002, 1990s) with text supplement 2.6 Dzansever, Astargja o Horo, 1990s recording, with text supplement 2.7 Dzansever, Astargja o Horo, Gypsy Queens (Frankfurt, Germany, Network 32.843, 1999) 2.8 Dzansever, Astargja o Horo with Kristali at wedding in Bujanovac, Serbia, 2002 with text supplement 2.9 Cita performs Germanija, Germany (live) on Cita (Milena Records MR 200513-2, 2005), with text supplement

CHAPTER 3 Photographs 3.1 Romani flag 3.2 Esma RedZepova singing DZelem DZelem to American Kalderash Roma, private party sponsored by Macedonian Roma, New York City, 1996

Video Examples

3.1 Muharem Serbezovski, performing Ramajana at a private Romani New Year's Eve party, with Bilhan Maéev (clarinet), Trajée

xvi | About the Companion Website

Dzemaloski (keyboard), Ilhan Rahmanovski (guitar), Kujtim Ismaili (bass), and SeverdZan Azirov (drums), Yonkers, New York, 1997 3.2 Esma RedzZepova performing Dzelem DZelem at Sutkafest, accompanied by Stevo Teodosievski, 1993

3.3 Esma RedZepova singing Dzelem DZelem (Serbian text) to American Kalderash Roma, private party sponsored by Macedonian Roma, New York, 1996

3.4 Esma RedZepova performing Dzelem DZelem at the Macedonian church in Garfield, New Jersey, 2004 Audio Examples 3.1 Celo Dive Mangasa (All Day We Beg), Ciganske Pemse Pevaju, Muharem Cizmoli (Beograd Disk EBD 0207, 1970s), with text supplement 3.2 Ramajama, Muharem Serbezovski with Medo Cun (RTB EP 11 191, 1970s), with text supplement 3.3 Stranci (Strangers), Holivud, Zvonko Demirovié with Juzni Vetar, 1990s, with text supplement 3.4 Kemano Ba§Sal (The violin plays), BaSal Kemano/ Violino Sviri, Dzansever, music Ferus Mustafov/Ahmed Rasimov; text Nezdet Mustafa; arrangement Ahmed Rasimov (Sokoj MP 21102, 1992), with text supplement

Text Supplements (not attached to other media) 3.1 Dzelem Dzelem 3.2 Cosmopolitanism

CHAPTER 4 Photographs 4.1 Album cover, Amanet, Rome (sic) Songs, 1995 4.2 Musa Mosque and Islamic Center in Belmont, 2009 4.3 Wedding sheet displayed in tray, Sutka, 1990 4.4 Groom with gifts dances with the bride’s mother, Sutka, 1990 Video examples

4.1 Bride’s mother pinning gifts on the groom, blaga rakija, Sutka, 1990 4.2 Macedonian Romani woman in Melbourne, Australia, sends greetings in Romani to her relatives in New York, 1998

About the Companion Website xvii

Audio Examples 4.1 Gurbeti, sung by Ferhan Ismail, Rome [sic] Songs with Amanet: Ramiz Islami (clarinet), Erhan Umer (keyboard), Ilhan Rahmanovski (guitar), Seido Salifoski (dumbek), New York, 1990s, with text supplement 4.2 Gurbetluko sung by Ramadan Bislim (Ramko), NajSuZo Kilibari (Ramko Produkcija, 1990s), with text supplement 4.3 To Phurano Bunari, Abas Muzafer on Alen; Adziker te Bajrovay, n.d., with text supplement

Text Supplement (not attached to other media)

4.1 Education and Gender

CHAPTER 5 Photographs 5.1 Women making stuffed grape leaves, Sutka wedding, 1994 5.2 Women making breads, circumcision party, Sutka, 1990 5.3 Men preparing meat for a wedding, Sutka, 1994 5.4 Women and girls in fancy Salvari, dance line, Sutka wedding, 1990 5.5 Gifts on trays, Sutka wedding, 1990 5.6 Gifts on trays, Sutka wedding, 1994 5.7 Bride led out of her house for henna ceremony wearing tel, silver streamers, Sutka, 1990 5.8 Bride wearing tel, silver streamers, Sutka, 1990 5.9 Bride wearing tel, silver streamers, Sutka, 1990 5.10 Bride’s female relatives dance at henna ceremony, Sutka, 1990 5.11 Preparing the sieve with greenery, a red scarf, and popcorn, Sutka, 1994

5.12 Fancy outfits of girls, Sutka wedding, 1990 5.13 Leading the dance line with a decorated sieve, Sutka wedding, 1990 5.14 Leading the dance line with a decorated sieve, Sutka wedding, 1990 5.15 Leading the dance line with a decorated sieve, Sutka wedding, 1994 5.16 Leading the dance line with a decorated sieve, Sutka wedding, 1994 5.17 Groom’s female relatives with a tray of henna with candle for the second henna ceremony, Sutka, 1990 5.18 Bride with henna on her hands and feet, second henna ceremony, Sutka, 1990 5.19 Bride’s male relative leads her to groom's family, holding her head down, Sutka, 1994 5.20 Bride gazing downwards, Sutka, 1994 5.21 Grooms’ mother leads the dance line at double wedding, New York, 1995

xviii About the Companion Website

5.22 Muharem Serbezovski, private Romani New Year's Eve party, Bilhan Maéev (clarinet), Trajée DZemaloski (keyboard), Ilhan Rahmanovski (guitar), Kujtim Ismaili (bass), and Severdzan Azirov (drums), Yonkers, New York, 1997 5.23 Ramiz Islami, circumcision party, New York, 1988 5.24 Album cover, Ramiz Islami and Grupi Sazet E Ohrit, New York, 1995

5.25 Ismail Lumanovski performing with Ilhan Rahmanovski and Saban Dervisoski, Maia Meyhane, New York, 2006 5.26 Seido Salifoski, circumcision, New York, 1988 Video Examples

5.1 Henna ceremony: groom's female relatives arriving with trays of gifts, Sutka, 1990 5.2 Bride’s father plays zurla at her henna ceremony, Sutka, 1990 5.3 Groom's female relative announces gifts for the bride, henna ceremony, Sutka, 1990 5.4 Bride led out for henna application, Sutka, 1990 5.5 Applying henna to the bride’s hair, Sutka, 1990 5.6 Dancing in the street, henna ceremony, Sutka, 1990 5.7 Bride led out from the bath to greet groom’s female relatives; she kisses their hands, Sutka, 1990 5.8 Young girl dances as her female relatives instruct her, Sutka wedding, 1990 5.9 Bride’s female relatives lead the dance line with a decorated sieve, Sutka, 1990 5.10 Line dance at igranka, with solo Goéek dancers in the center, Sutka, 1990

5.11 Father of a gifted young female dancer beckons her to dance solo Coéek at the front of the line, Sutka wedding, 1990 5.12 Afet Dude, dance in 9/8 with solo dancing in the center, Sutka wedding, 1990 5.13 Elder woman leads slow line dance, Sutka wedding, 1990 5.14 Elder woman leads crossing line dance, Sutka wedding, 1990 5.15 Feta’s band on stage; young boys play makeshift drums under the stage, Sutka wedding, 1990 5.16 Night henna ceremony for bride’s hands and feet, Sutka, 1990 5.17 Banquet sponsored by the bride’s relatives, Sutka, 1990 5.18 Muamet Cun, clarinet, solo dancer, Sutka wedding, 1990 5.19 Young solo dancer, Sutka wedding, 1990 5.20 Bride dances sadly with her family before she is transferred to the groom's family, Sutka, 1990 5.21 Bride is led by her brother from her family to the groom's family, Sutka, 1990 5.22 Bride’s relatives arrive for the dzumaluk, village near Sutka, 1990

About the Companion Website xix

5.23 Bride dances with her relatives at the dZumaluk, village near Sutka, 1990 5.24 Bride kisses her aunt, mother, and father as they give her money at the dZumaluk, village near Sutka, 1990 5.25 Bride leading dance line, henna party, New York, 2004 5.26 Bride led out for henna ceremony, New York, 2004, with Oj Borije text supplement 5.27 Henna ceremony, New York, 2004 5.28 Bridal couple emerging from the mosque, New York, 2004 5.29 Dancing in front of the mosque, New York wedding, 2004, with Zapevala Sojka Ptica text supplement 5.30 Bride led out of her house, takes temana, New York wedding, 1995 5.31 Groom's parents bargain for the bride with bride’s parents, New York wedding, 1995 5.32 Bride takes temana, New York, 1995 5.33 Bride's incorporation rituals, New York, 1995 5.34 Grooms’ mother leads the first dance line, New York wedding, 1995 5.35 Grooms’ mother leads; bride’s mother leads a crossing dance, New York wedding, 1995 5.36 Ramiz Islami (clarinet), his son Romeo (clarinet), Erhan Umer (synthesizer and vocals) and his father Husamedin (drum set and vocals), Trajée DZemaloski (synthesizer), Kujtim Ismaili (guitar), New York wedding, 1995 5.37 Ramiz Islami'’s band playing a 9/8 dance, New York wedding, 1995 5.38 Husamedin Umer playing tapan for line dance in 7/8, New York wedding, 1995 5.39 Bride's parents lead the dance line, New York, 2004 5.40 Ramizs band at blaga rakija, New York, 1995 5.41 Groom and bride receive gifts at blaga rakija, New York, 1995 5.42 Men lead line éoéek at blaga rakija, New York, 1995 5.43 Bride’s mother lead line dance Beranée in 12/8, blaga rakija, New York, 1995

5.44 Men lead slow 7/8 line dance, blaga rakija, New York, 1995 5.45 Groom leads slow 2/4 line dance, blaga rakija, New York, 1995 5.46 Slow 2/4 line dance speeds up, blaga rakija, New York, 1995 5.47 Muharem Serbezovski, private Romani New Year's Eve party, with Bilhan Maéev (clarinet), Trajée DZemaloski (keyboard), Ilhan Rahmanovski (guitar), Kujtim Ismaili (bass), and Severdzan Azirov (drums), Yonkers, New York, 1997 5.48 Sadan Sakip sings Geljan Dade accompanied by Bilhan Maéev; dancers do Jeni Jol, Romani party, New York, 1996 5.49 Sadan Sakip sings, accompanied by Bilhan Maéev, Romani party, New York, 1996

5.50 Solo €oéek, Romani party, New York, 1996 5.51 Erhan Umer (keyboard and vocals), Yuri Yunakov (saxophone), Sal Mamudoski (clarinet), Rumen Sali Shopov (drums), California Herdeljezi festival, 2008

xx About the Companion Website

5.52 Erhan Umer (keyboard and vocals), Rumen Sali Shopov (tambura, tapan and vocals), performing Red Bul, with Yuri Yunakov (saxophone) and Seido Salifoski (dumbek), who then takes a solo with Rumen, California Herdeljezi festival, 2008 5.53 Uska Umer sings with Amanet: Erhan Umer (keyboard and vocals), Turan Umer (guitar), Sevim Umer (drums), and Ismail Lumanovski (clarinet), Herdeljezi festival, California, 2007 5.54 Uska Umer sings Red Bul with Amanet: Erhan Umer (keyboard and vocals), Turan Umer (guitar), Sevim Umer (drums), Muren Ibraimov (dumbek), and Ismail Lumanovski (clarinet), Herdeljezi festival, California, 2007 5.55 Dzengis Rahmanovski (dumbek), han Rahmanovksi (guitar), Seido Salifoski (dumbek), Saban Dervisoski (accordion) and Ismail Lumanovski (clarinet), Maia Meyhane, New York, 2006

5.56 Sal Mamudoski (clarinet), Yuri Yunakov (saxophone), and Alfred Popaj (keyboard), Hungaria House, New York, 2007 5.57 Sal Mamudoski (clarinet), Yuri Yunakov (saxophone), and Alfred Popaj (keyboard) performing Kjuperlika, Hungaria House, New York, 2007 5.58 Menderes Azirov leading Catéak, Yuri Yunakov (saxophone), wedding, New York, 1996

5.59 NeSo Ajvazi performs talava, accompanied by Seido Salifoski (dumbek), Toni Jankuloski (keyboard), and Ismail Lumanovski (clarinet), Balkan Music and Dance Workshop, Iroquois Springs, New York, 2005

5.60 NeSo Ajvazi sings Red Bul, accompanied by Seido Salifoski (dumbek), Toni Jankuloski (keyboard), and Ismail Lumanovski (clarinet), Balkan Music and Dance Workshop, Iroquois Springs, New York, 2005

5.61 Ismail Lumanovski (clarinet) performs Gaida, Seido Salifoski (dumbek) and Toni Jankuloski (keyboard), Balkan Music and Dance Workshop, Iroquois Springs, New York, 2005 5.62 Ismail Lumanovski (clarinet) performs an improvisatory €oéek, Seido Salifoski (dumbek) and Toni Jankuloski (keyboard), Balkan Music and Dance Workshop, Iroquois Springs, New York, 2005 5.63 Seido Salifoski (dumbek) performs an improvisatory solo, Ismail Lumanovski (clarinet) and Toni Jankuloski (keyboard), Balkan Music and Dance Workshop, Iroquois Springs, New York, 2005 Audio Example

5.1 Muharem Serbezovski, Gilaven Romalen, Zaljubih Se, Ans. Crni Dijamanti (Diskoton DTK 9430, 1987), with text supplement

About the Companion Website — xxi

CHAPTER 6 Photographs 6.1 Solo dancer on top of a car, circumcision procession, Sutka, 1990 6.2 Solo dancer receives tips, Bulgaria, 1984 6.3 Frula ensemble, Tsigane, 1986 Video Examples

6.1 Solo Goéek dancers (one getting tips), Orkesttir Orfei, Sofia, 1994 6.2 Male and female solo Goéek dancers in the middle of the line, celebration for the birth of a girl, Sutka, 1990 6.3 Solo Go0éek dancer, recorded music, family gathering, Sutka, 1990 6.4 7/8 line dance, Yuri Yunakov (saxophone), Hasan Isakut (kanun), Trajée DZemaloski (keyboard), Kujtim Ismaili (guitar), SeverdZan Azirov (drums), wedding, New York, 1996 6.5 Beranée (12/8) danced at celebration for the birth of a girl, Sutka, 1990 6.6 Crossing dance, celebration for the birth of a girl, Sutka, 1990 6.7 Opening, Sutkafest 1993: Esma, dumbek players, Bitolska Gaida and solo Goéek, Sutkafest 1993 (MRT Sokom 1994) Audio example

6.1 Romani Chaj Sijum, Dzansever, Kemano BaSal/Violino Sviri, text D7Zansever, music and arrangement Ferus Mustafov (Sokoj 21102,1992), with text supplement

Text Supplement (not attached to other media) 6.1 History of Romani Dance

CHAPTER 7 Photographs 7.1 Zurna players, Pomak wedding, Avramovo, 1980 7.2 Tipan players, Pomak wedding, Avramovo, 1980 7.3 Dancing, zurna/ttipan, field above Pirin Pee festival, 1985 7.4 Mancho Kamburov, Pirin Pee, 1985 7.5 Ivo Papazov playing saxophone and clarinet, 1980s 7.6 Ivo Papazov and Ali Garzhev (accordion), wedding procession, Iskra, 1980

xxii | About the Companion Website

7.7 Musicians’ market, Sofia, 1984 7.8 Anzhelo Malikov playing cimbalom at a Hungarian restaurant, Sofia, 1984

7.9 View of Stambolovo festival, 1988, cover of journal Biilgarska Muzika, 1989 Video Examples

7.1 Ivo Papazov removing pieces of his clarinet and playing saxophone and clarinet simultaneously, Bulgarian National Television, 1987

7.2 Nedyalka Keranova sings, Karadzha Duma Rusanke with Akademikus, Zvezdite na Trakiya Folk 1994 (Payner 96001, 1995) 7.3. Ivo Papazov (clarinet) and Yuri Yunakov (saxophone) improvise a pravo horo (2/4), Bulgarian National Television, 1987

7.4 Neshko Neshev (accordion) and Ivo Papazov (clarinet) improvise a ruchenitsa (7/16), Bulgarian National Television, 1987

7.5 Kyuchek in 2/4, Ivo Papazov (clarinet), Neshko Neshev (accordion), Radi Kazakov (guitar), Vasil Denev (keyboard), Salif Ali (drums), Matyo Dobrev (kaval), and Ahmed Yunakov (saxophone), wedding banquet, Thrace, 1994 7.6 Filips kyuchek (9/8), Ivo Papazov (clarinet), Neshko Neshev (accordion), Radi Kazakov (guitar), Vasil Denev (keyboard), Salif Ali (drums), Matyo Dobrev (kaval), and Ahmed Yunakov (saxophone), wedding banquet, Thrace, 1994 7.7 Improvisation by Ahmed Yunakov (saxophone), with Trakiya, wedding banquet, Thrace, 1994 7.8 Improvisations by Ivo Papazov (clarinet), Neshko Neshev (accordion), Yuri Yunakov (saxophone) in pravo horo (2/4), with Salif Ali (drums) and Kalin Kirilov (guitar), Seattle, 2005 7.9 Filip Simeonov improvising rtichenitsa, Orkesttir Tristenik, Zvezdite na Trakiya Folk 1994 (Payner 96001, 1995) Audio Examples

7.1 Trakiya, Kiirdzhaliisko Horo, wedding, Iskra, Bulgaria 1980 7.2 Trakiya, Kurdzhaliisko Horo, arranged by Dimittr Trifonov (Balkanton BHA 11330), 1970s

Text Supplement (not attached to other media) 7.1 Heritage, Nationalism, and Socialism 7.2 Stambolovo Festivals during Bulgarian Socialism

About the Companion Website xiii

CHAPTER 8 Photographs 8.1 Publicity shot, Trakiya, Ivo Papazov (clarinet), Neshko Neshev (accordion), Maria Karafezieva (vocals), Yuri Yunakov (saxophone), Radi Kazakov (guitar), Salif Ali (drums), Ryko, 1990 8.2 Romani music concert, Sofia circus arena, 1990 Video Examples

8.1 Orkesttir Kanari: Nie Btlgarite, Kanari 25 Godini, Horovodna Broenitsa, Plovdiv amphitheater, opening (Payner, 2000) 8.2 Gloria sings Moma v Zandani with Orkestitir Kanari: Nie Bulgarite, Kanari 25 Godini (Payner, 2000)

CHAPTER 9 Video Examples

9.1 Toni Dacheva and Orkesttr Kristal perform Chudesen Stn (Vsichko e Lyubov, Payner, 1998), with text supplement 9.2 Toni Dacheva and Orkesttir Kristal perform Svadba (Vsichko e Lyubov, Payner, 1998), with text supplement 9.3 Amet, Belgiiski Vecheri/Dzhamovete (Payner DVD Collection 5, 2004), with text supplement 9.4 Emiliya, Zabravi! Hitove na Planeta Payner 3 (Payner, 2005), with text supplement 9.5 Ballads MegaMix by DJ Jerry (Payner DVD Collection 5, 2004) 9.6 Antigeroi, Azis: The Best Video Clips (Sunny, 2004) 9.7 Nyama, Azis: The Best Video Clips (Sunny, 2004), with text supplement 9.8 Azis and Sofi Marinova, Edin Zhivot Ne Stiga, Azis: The Best Video Clips (Sunny, 2004), with text supplement Audio Examples

9.1 Sladka Rabota, Toni Dacheva i Orkesttr Kristal, Vsichko e Lyubov (Payner, 1998), with text supplement 9.2 Builgarina v Evropa, Magiya: Orkesttir Kristal s Mariana Kalcheva (Payner, 2001), with text supplement 9.3 Danyova Mama, Sofi Marinova: Studen Plamitk (Ara 266, n.d.), with text supplement

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CHAPTER 10 Photographs 10.1 Esma RedZepova Ansambl! Steve Teodosievskog RTB EP 12725, early 1970s 10.2 Esma RedzZepova, Jugoton EPY 3736, early 1970s 10.3 Esma RedzZepova Ansambl! Stevo Teodosievski, late 1970s 10.4 Esma RedZepova in Slovenian, Croatian, and Bosnian costumes, late 1970s 10.5 Esma RedZepova in Romani, Indian, and Spanish costumes, late 1970s 10.6 Esma RedZepova in modern clothing, late 1970s 10.7 Esma Redzepova Ansambl! Stevo Teodosievski publicity shot, late 1970s

Video Examples 10.1 BaSal Seljadin, Putevima Pesme Esma Ansambl! Teodosievski (MP 31005) 1988, with text supplement 10.2 Hajri Mate (sic), Putevima Pesme Esma Ansambl! Teodosievski (MP 31005) 1988, with text supplement 10.3 Chaje Sukarije, Putevima Pesme Esma Ansambl Teodosievski (from Zapej] Makedonija 1968, MP 31004) 1979, with text supplement 10.4 Ciganski Coéek, Putevima Pesme Esma Ansambl Teodosievski (from Zapej Makedonija 1968, MP 31004, 1979 10.5 Chaje Sukarije, Esma Ansambl Teodosievski, 1965, Austrian Public Broadcasting, rebroadcast on Macedonian National Television, with text supplement 10.6 Romano Horo, Esma Ansamb! Teodosievski, 1965, Austrian Public Broadcasting, rebroadcast on Macedonian National Television, with text supplement 10.7 Sadan Sakip, tarabuka, Ibro Demir “Kec”, vocals Lenorije Chaj, Putevima Pesma Esma Ansamb! Teodosievski, MP 31004, 1979, with text supplement 10.8 Cini (Magija), ToSe Proeski and Esma RedZepova, 2002, with text supplement Audio Example

10.1 Basal Seljadin, Anka Gieva and Dragica Mavrovska, Jugoton SY 1090, 1960s, with text supplement

Text Supplement (not attached to other media) 10.1 Female Singers and Sexuality in Historical Perspective

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CHAPTER I1 Photographs 11.1 Yuri Yunakov (saxophone), Sunaj Saraci (violin), Severdzan Azirov (drums), Ilhan Rahmanovski (guitar), Kujtim Ismaili (guitar), Trajée DZemaloski (keyboard), wedding, New York, 1997 11.2 Publicity photograph of Yuri Yunakov and Ivo Papazov, 2005, courtesy Traditional Crossroads Video Example

11.1 Yuri Yunakov (saxophone), Hasan Isakut (kanun), Trajée Dzemaloski (keyboard), Kujtim Ismaili (guitar), Severdzan Azirov (drums), wedding, New York, 1996

CHAPTER 12 Photographs 12.1 Poster advertising the 1999 Gypsy Caravan from Bass Hall, Fort Worth, Texas 12.2 Cover of CD Band of Gypsies: Taraf de Haidouks (Nonesuch 79641, 2001)

Video Example

12.1 Finale, Gypsy Caravan: A Celebration of Roma Music and Dance, 1999, filmed by Jasmine Delall

CHAPTER 13 Video Example

13.1 Godzila, Alyosha and Orkestiir Kristali, Folk Kasino 3 (Payner, 2005), with text supplement Audio Examples

13.1 Godzila, Jony Iliev and Fanfare Ciocarlia on Gili Garabdi Ancient Secrets of Gypsy Brass (Asphalt Tango ATR 0605, 2005), with text supplement

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13.2 Godzila, Jony Iliev and Band, Ma Maren Ma (Asphalt Tango ATR 0102, 2002), with text supplement 13.3 Godzila, Alyosha, Dzansever and Orkesttir Kristali, wedding, Bujanovac, Serbia, 2002, with text supplement 13.4 Lake Bul, Ajgara, wedding, Sutka, 2000, with text supplement 13.5 Red Bul, Dzansever and Orkesttir Kristali, wedding, Bujanovac, Serbia, 2002 13.6 Red Bula, Mahala Rai Banda (CRAW 31 Crammed Discs 2004) 13.7 Red Bula, Balkan Beat Box vs. Mahala Rai Banda, Electric Gypsyland 2 (CRAW 37 Crammed Discs 2008)

Text Supplement (not attached to other media) 13.1 Herdeljezi song text

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Romani Routes

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PART |

INTRODUCTION

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| Balkan Roma History, Politics, and Performance

i the last fifteen years, as the fusion music terms Gypsy! Punk and Balkan Beats have proliferated and Gypsy motifs in clothing have become fashionable, Gypsy music has become a staple at world music festivals and dance clubs in the United States and Western Europe.* Moreover, Gypsy style seems to be simultaneously familiar and exotic. Many consumers profess to know who and what Gypsies are, and what Gypsy music is. Some audience

members repeat stereotypical generalizations drawing on a plethora of written, visual, and oral formulations from the last few centuries: Gypsies are innately talented, artistic, embodying their wildness in their music; they are consummate musical technicians; they magically sense the desires of

their patrons; but in the end, they can’t be trusted. Indeed, the fictional Gypsy musician is a ubiquitous exotic fantasy figure in Western literature, art, and oral tradition (Trumpener 1992; Van de Port 1998). How does music mediate between these poles of fascination and rejec-

tion? Since the fall of socialism in 1989, thousands of Roma have emierated westward because of deteriorating living conditions in Eastern Europe; as a result, fear of “Gypsy hordes” and entrenched stereotypes of thievery and trickery are being revived. In this heightened atmosphere of xenophobia, Roma are paradoxically revered as musicians and reviled as people. Underlying this phenomenon are the dichotomous emotions of fear and admiration. Two contrasting phenomena encapsulate the dichotomy of how most North Americans and Europeans think about Roma: the warning about Gypsy beggars in European cities, and the craze for Gypsy music in American and West European clubs. When Madonna performed a fusion of East European Romani (Gypsy) music on her summer 2009 tour, she epitomized how celebrity patrons appropriate the music of marginal groups. But when she was booed by 60,000 Romanian fans after she bemoaned the plight of Gypsies, she further exposed the dichotomy that Roma, loved for their music, are hated as people.

3

Romani Routes deliberately positions the recent popularity of Gypsy music alongside the recent refugee flow of Eastern European Roma westward, contrasting the discrimination faced by the majority of Roma with the new commercial ventures of a small group of successful Romani musicians. I further contrast both the poverty-stricken majority and a few rich musicians with the Balkan Romani community in New York City, dating from the 1960s, where working-class refugees and immigrants toil for a better life for their children while cultivating music as a vital communicative link. The placement of this book in Oxford’s American Music-

spheres series reflects its ethnographic grounding in the United States while underlining the connections that American Balkan Roma have with both Eastern Europe and world music markets. The book combines a transnational approach with an ethnography of community life in relation to music. My community-based fieldwork focuses on two diasporic Macedonian Romani communities: Belmont, located in the Bronx, New York; and Suto Orizari (known as Sutka), located

outside of Skopje, with comparative materials from several Bulgarian Romani communities. In Sutka and Belmont (and in most Balkan Romani communities), music and dance are emblematic of Romani identity and embedded in numerous and elaborate ritual displays. Weddings are the main focus of families, and marriage is a transnational public event, often negotiated over long distances. Music is the vehicle for enacting social relationships and enhancing status. It is also a commodity to sell to nonRoma and other Roma. Situating music in relation to individuals, communities, states, policy, and world music markets, I confound the simplistic assumption that music

starts out “pure” or “authentic” in bounded communities and becomes hybrid only when it moves to non-Romani markets. I show how innovation, hybridity, and market forces all operate within communities, and between

communities in the diaspora, and how Romani musicians move among these sites. I also examine how hybridity is recast in transnational sites and commercial venues by managers and producers. Furthermore, I confound the assumption that music starts out as noncommercial in Romani contexts and becomes commercial for the world music market. Balkan Romani musicians have been professionals for hundreds of years, marketing their product and tailoring their performances to Romani as well as non-Romani patrons. The interplay among economic necessity, marginalization, identity formation, and symbolic display via music is the subject of this book. A performance framework highlights the dramatic and processual quality of music, of discourse about music, and of identity making. Following Bauman (1975), Hymes (1975), Abrahams (1977) and Goffman (1974) I define

performance as a marked mode of communication with specific generic features signaled by various “frames.” Performers assume responsibility to display communicative competence and to be judged by audiences (Bauman 1975:293).* Kapchan underscores that performance “not only fabricates meanings in highly condensed symbols . . . but comments on those meanings, interpreting them for the larger community and often critiquing

4 Introduction

and subverting them as well” (1996b:480).* This book, then, discusses the

multiple meanings of Romani music that are interpreted processually through performance by various actors, including musicians, their varied audiences, their communities, their marketers, and state and local officials. Whereas most folklorists have used a performance framework to study bounded events, some scholars have fruitfully expanded the concept to

embrace identity construction and gender management. KirshenblattGimblett’s phrase “the political economy of showing” (1998) is useful in reminding us that performances of identity are always embedded in hierarchies of power and class. For Roma, displaying or hiding one’s Romani identity is both historically informed and negotiated on the spot. Particularly revealing of identity management are debates about musical authenticity that take place among Romani musicians, non-Romani audiences, managers and marketers, and scholars. Like Povinelli (2002), I investigate the challenges Roma face in inhabiting various “spaces of recognition,” such as community member, authentic musician, world music star, European minority, American minority, and activist. Judith Butler’s work on gender performativity (1990, 1993) can help to

frame representational issues among Roma. Butler claims that people dramatically perform conventions of maleness and femaleness according to implicit heteronormativity. Gender parody, such as drag, may be transeressive, but it also cites and may even reinscribe gender norms.* Similarly, when Roma play the part of Gypsy musicians, that is, deliver the stereotype that is expected, are they reinscribing ethnic and racial norms or subverting them?° To begin to answer this question, we must ask what choices Roma have and how they maneuver within them. Can and do they perform outside the stereotype? If so, what are the results? Judith Okely’s work is relevant here; in an aptly titled article, “Trading Stereotypes,” she underlines that in dealing with non-Roma, identities are “exoticized, concealed, degraded, or neutralized” (1996:52). We must also consider the transformative power of performance to create new subjectivities. As Diamond writes, “In performance... signifying (meaning-ful) acts may enable new subject positions and new perspectives to emerge, even as the performative present contests the conventions and assumptions of oppressive cultural habits” (1996:6).? For Roma, musical performance has been one of the positively coded arenas in a long history of exclusion, and thus it charts a potential site of transformation. Romani Routes investigates the cultural politics and the political economy of Balkan Romani music making embedded in changing historical inequalities. Moving from American and Balkan communities to policy and states, I examine how the socialist governments in Bulgaria and Macedonia positioned Romani culture in relation to categories of folklore, and how the postsocialist state repositioned it in relation to political and economic agendas.® Since 1989, privatization has opened up new capitalist markets that promote Gypsy music, but these commercial ventures are usually managed by non-Roma; Romania is a notable exception. Romani music has been appropriated by non-Roma into fusion genres such as Gypsy Punk Balkan Roma = 5

and into remixes by international DJs. Although a small number of Romani musicians have been catapulted into fame, the vast majority of professional

Romani musicians struggle to maintain their trade amid economic crisis and political instability.

In addition to entrepreneurs and fans, nation/states have also become interested in displays of Romani culture in relation to political agendas. In

2007 Bulgaria and Romania became members of the European Union, and Macedonia is in the initial stage of negotiations. Accession criteria sometimes link human rights and economic development to the visibility of Romani culture, for example, in music festivals. In Europe as well as in the United States, Balkan Romani musicians respond to state policies at

the same time they are dependent on commercial forces and a volatile market. How Romani musicians negotiate the relationship between politics and music in the context of neoliberal privatization is one aspect of this book. Despite the celebration of Romani culture, anti-Romani xenophobic sentiments are growing all over Europe. According to the European Roma Rights Centre, Roma remain to date the most persecuted people of Europe (www.errc.org); in fact, The Economist titled an article on European Roma (2008) “Bottom of the Heap.” Their fundamental human rights are threat-

ened in many locations, and racist violence has increased since 1989, reaching an alarming rate in 2009-10. Racism is no longer merely the purview of extremists; rather, anti-immigrant and anti-Romani sentiment is becoming more mainstream in Europe. For example, in 2008, the Italian government fingerprinted Gypsies living in camps in an effort to crack down on crime; in 2009 numerous violent incidents such as fire bombings occurred in Hungary and the Czech Republic, and armed militias began patrolling “against Gypsies’; and in 2010 the French government evicted and deported Roma back to Romania and Bulgaria. All over Europe, nationalist parties are on the rise (often under the guise of populism) and the population is growing more polarized.’ In the United States, racism against Roma is less pronounced but nevertheless exists in many realms; for example, “Gypsy Crime” units are found in police departments, and discrimination in housing and employment persists (Hancock 1987; Becerra 2006). In addition to focusing on states and politics, Romani Routes also highlights several Romani individuals, communities, and genres of music from

Macedonia and Bulgaria to ethnographically document their diasporic routes. Examining musicians in their Balkan communities and following them to their North American neighborhoods and on their tours, I explore how, through performance, they grapple with representational issues and enact multiple positions in transnational contexts. A wider political and economic context frames how musicians negotiate viable performances for various audiences, including their own communities, other ethnic communities of the Balkans, and non-Romani world music audiences in the United States. I highlight the Balkans, specifically Macedonia and Bulgearia, because they are home to populous European Romani communities and because many of the most famous Romani musicians have come from 6 — Introduction

this region.'® Furthermore, in the United States Macedonian and Bulgarian Romani musicians have found a responsive market. The issue of representation looms large in my analysis because marginalized groups have little control over how they are depicted in discourse and image. Indeed, the stereotypic or fantasy Gypsy is a ubiquitous figure in the Western imagination (Trumpener 1992; Hancock 1997).'' In addi-

tion, its current circulation is tied to economic, cultural, and political agendas. If, as Stuart Hall claims, nothing exists outside of representation (1996a, 1996b), we must ask, How do Roma themselves feel about stereotypes, both positive and negative? Activists in the recent human rights movement denounce them, but some Romani performers strategically employ aspects of self-stereotypification to monopolize various musical niches. Labels such as exotic, passionate, genetically talented, and soulful, for example, are not only found in marketers’ advertisements but also sometimes defended by Romani performers. The global political economy of performance reveals that self-representations are multiple and contin-

gent, generated with an eye for maximum patronage (Herzfeld 1997; Okely 1996; Lemon 2000; Szeman 2009).

At the same time that Romani performers sometimes strategically use stereotypes, they also actively resist certain representations of themselves. Referencing Ortner (1995, 1999), I reexamine the rubric “resistance,” claiming it is always paired with accommodation and collaboration and embedded in specific historical circumstances. My ethnographic data on staged and backstage performances reveal that musicians’ choices are delicately negotiated within limited options. For example, performers may have no control over their marketing and images, but they may control their repertoire. Like Stokes (1994, 2000, and 2007), I ask how music operates as a representational medium and how Romani musics and Romani musicians are represented. Eschewing the dichotomies pure vs. hybrid and essential vs. constructed, I look at the interplay of grounded stories of attachment with eclectic cultural openness. I explore Romani musicians as global actors as well as local actors. I investigate Roma as family and community members, as well as citizens of nations, transnational migrants, international performers, and activists. Despite the constraints of exploitative markets and oppressive ideologies, Romani musicians manage to assert their agency by refashioning their artistry in novel ways. Yet this is not a tale of celebration; rather, it is one of contingencies, of small victories within a framework of marginalization.

Historical and Political Overview of Balkan Roma Linguistic evidence reveals that Roma are originally from India and that they migrated out of the area sometime around 1100-1300 AD.'? According to linguists, the Romani language is descended from Sanskrit and exists in

Balkan Roma 7

several dialects (Matras 2002, 2005; Hancock 2002).'* The specifics of the Romani diaspora from India are debated by scholars; a widely accepted

view claims that Roma “descend from migrant castes of commercial nomads or peripatetics ... and that the name ‘rom’ is cognate with... the Indian caste name ‘dom” (Matras 2004:201). Linguist and activist Ian Hancock, on the other hand, claims that Roma were Rajput warriors enlisted to fight the incoming Muslim invasions from the West (Hancock 2002:9-14).

Roma were established in large numbers throughout Eastern Europe by the fourteenth century and Western Europe by the fifteenth century, some settling and others following a nomadic way of life.'* Roma have been indispensable suppliers of diverse services to non-Roma, notably music, entertainment, fortune telling, metal working, horse dealing, wood working, sieve making, basket weaving, comb making, and seasonal agricultural

work. Many of these trades required nomadism or seasonal travel, and sometimes occupations were combined out of economic necessity. Initial curiosity about Roma by European peoples and rulers quickly gave way to

hatred and discrimination, a legacy that has continued to today. In the southern Romanian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, Roma were

slaves from the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries. As bonded serfs owned by noblemen, monasteries, and the state, they were sold, bartered, and flogged; even their marriages were strictly regulated. Romani slaves were an important labor and artisan source, providing skills in gold washing, bear training, wood carving, blacksmithing, and music. Slavery was abolished in 1864, and as a result many Roma migrated out of southern Romania. Despite their small numbers, Roma inspired fear and mistrust and were expelled from virtually every Western European territory. Bounties were paid for their capture, dead or alive, and repressive measures included confiscation of property and children, forced labor, prison sentences, whipping, branding, and other forms of physical mutilation. Assimilation was attempted in the eighteenth century in the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the reign of Maria Theresa and her son by forcibly removing children from their parents and outlawing nomadism; traditional occupations; and Romani language, music, and dress. Assimilationist legislation was also enacted in Spain after 1499 (Hancock 1987 and 2002; Fraser 1992: Kenrick and Puxon 1972; Petrova 2003). In the Balkans, the policy of the Ottoman Empire toward Roma was, in general, more lenient than in Western Europe, at least from the sixteenth

to the eighteenth centuries (Marushiakova and Popov 2001). Since the administration of the Ottoman Empire was conducted though the millet system (based on religious groupings) and Ottoman urban society was multicultural, Roma were not legally marginalized in terms of ethnicity. Many Balkan Roma converted to Islam in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries to pay lower taxes, and to move up the Ottoman ranks. The Muslim religion and Turkish culture and language were the marks of civilization, and conversion often meant merely a change in name." 8 — Introduction

Muslim Balkan Roma display many similarities to other Muslims of the region in terms of culture, ritual, and music. This shared history mitigates

against the tendency in both scholarly and lay writings to see Roma as exceptional or unique. True, Roma have their particular historical trajectory of marginalization; but a healthy dose of comparison to other Balkan peoples, especially Balkan Muslims, shows many commonalities in family life, gender roles, ritual, custom, and music. In fact, Balkan Roma often share more cultural patterns with their Balkan neighbors than with other

Romani groups, such as American Kalderash. Throughout this book, I aim de-exoticize Roma by suggesting comparisons that are historically and ethnographically emplaced. In the Balkans today, approximately half of the Roma are Muslim and half are Eastern Orthodox, with a small percentage of Catholics and a new rising percentage of Pentecostals.'* In practice, the religion of Muslim Bal-

kan Roma is quite syncretic, incorporating elements of paganism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Approximately half of Balkan Roma have lost the Romani language; in the southern Balkans many of those who have done

so speak Turkish as their first language. Multilingualism is the norm among Balkan Roma, with the older generation sometimes speaking four or five languages.!”

Petrova suggests that negative stereotypes of Roma blossomed in fifteenth-century Western Europe and spread eastward (2003:128). Roma were viewed as intruders probably because of their dark skin, non-European physical features, foreign customs, and association with both magic and invading Turks. She asserts the rising tide of the Protestant work ethic condemned vagrancy, idleness, and lenience as well as alms for wanderers and beggars (125). Perhaps most important was the late arrival of Roma into Europe, plus their lack of roots in terms of land and property: “Ultimately the main difference that set the Roma apart was that they were the only ethnically distinct nomadic communities in a civilization that had been non-nomadic for centuries” (126). The positive yet dangerous coding of Romani otherness hinges on their romanticization, on the part of non-Roma, as free souls (outside the rules and boundaries of European society); their association with the arts, especially music and the occult; and their proximity to nature and sexuality. Using Said’s concept, we can claim that Roma are “orientalized” and exoticized (1978).'* Trumpener emphasizes the association of Roma with an ahistoric, timeless nostalgia: “Nomadic and illiterate, they wander down an endless road, without a social contract or country to bind them, carrying their home with them, crossing borders at will” (1992:853). Simultaneously they are reviled as unreformable and untrustworthy, liars, and rejected from civilization. This contrast expresses the “ideology of Gypsy alterity—feared as deviance, idealized as autonomy” (854). Roma, then, serve as Europe's quintessential others. The most tragic period of Romani history was perhaps World War II. With the Nazi rise to power, Roma faced an extermination campaign that has only recently been documented. According to various authors, from Balkan Roma = 9

500,000 to 1.5 million Roma were murdered, representing between onefourth and one-fifth of their total population (Lewy 2002; Hancock 2002; Kenrick and Puxon 1972). After the war, Roma received neither compensation nor recognition as victims, and only recently have several claims to property and assets been filed. The post-World War II communist regimes in Eastern Europe officially downplayed ethnicity but nevertheless defined Roma as a social problem. Targeted for integration into the planned economy, Roma were sometimes forced to give up their traditional occupations, and assigned to the lowestskilled and lowest-paid industrial and agricultural state jobs (e.g., street cleaners). Nomadic Roma were forcibly settled; settled Roma were sometimes forcibly moved; and sometimes aspects of their culture, such as music, were outlawed. Specific policies varied by country; for example, forced sterilization was common in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s. Cheap housing was nominally provided, but segregated neighborhoods were commonplace. On the positive side, during socialism Romani school attendance grew (despite inferior and segregated schools), violence was rare, and Roma held steady employment and received the benefits of the paternalistic state (Verdery 1996; Silverman 1988).

The situation of Bulgarian Roma during socialism, such as forced changing of Muslim names to Slavic names and prohibitions against Romani and Turkish musical genres, is discussed in Chapter 7. In contrast to Bulgaria, Tito’s brand of Yugoslav socialism emphasized (at least theoretically) bratstvo i jedinstvo (brotherhood and unity; Bosnian-Croatian-

Serbian), a policy that promoted acceptance of different ethnicities. However, there was an official hierarchy: narodi (nations), nardonosti (nationalities), and etniceski grupi (ethnic groups, where Roma fell).'? Cul-

ture, especially music, was an area where the groups could acceptably display their distinctiveness (Maners 2006). Hundreds of soccer clubs, amateur music groups, well-funded professional ensembles, and a wellcoordinated network of festivals all served as a public manifestation for Yugoslav multiculturalism. Romani music thus was somewhat visible in official contexts, but this did not diminish engrained discrimination in employment, housing, health care, and education. As in Bulgaria, Roma in Yugoslavia for the most part were ignored in scholarly folklore research because the discipline focused on rural peasants who were assumed to constitute the “pure” national culture. Roma were seen as “others” and excluded from the rubric “folk” (see Chapter 7 for a discussion of heritage); instead, they appeared as exotic, erotic, wild

figures in films, literature, and children’s stories (Pettan 2001). When Roma were scrutinized by ethnographers, they were found to be disorderly primitives, existing on the borders of civilization and lacking a unified culture (Van de Port 1998:137-159). In fact, the Serbian anthropologist Bajraktarovié predicted they would disappear: they “do not have any pros-

pects for remaining a separate .. . element of our society” (1970:747). In Macedonia, there is one Romani folklorist, Trajko Petrovski;”? however, all over the Balkans young Romani scholars are currently emerging.

10 ~—_ Introduction

In the postsocialist period, harassment and violence toward the Roma of Eastern Europe have increased, along with marginalization and poverty. They are the largest minority in Europe and have the lowest standard of living in every country, with unemployment reaching 80 percent in some regions. Census statistics are unreliable because states are reluctant

to report true numbers, but activists may by contrast overestimate numbers; in addition, some Roma report themselves as other ethnic eroups to avoid the stigma of being Gypsy. Scholars agree there are about ten to twelve million European Roma, with the largest numbers of Roma in Spain, Bulgaria, and Romania (Petrova 2003; Ringold, Orenstein, and Wilkins 2004; Barany 2002). Today East European Roma face inferior and segregated housing and education, including tracking of children into special schools for the dis-

abled. Poor health conditions, specifically higher infant mortality and morbidity, shorter life expectancy, and higher frequency of chronic diseases, all plague Roma. Discrimination is widespread in employment and the legal system, and even educated people routinely express disdain for Gypsies. Hate speech and racial profiling are common in the media. Perhaps most troubling are the hundreds of incidents of physical violence against Roma perpetrated by ordinary citizens and also by the police.?!

In response to historic discrimination and recent abuses, a Romani human rights movement has mobilized in the last twenty years via a network of activists and NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) such as the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), the European Roma Information Office (ERIO), the International Romani Union, the Roma National Coneress, the European Roma and Travellers Forum, and European bodies such as the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Klimova-Alexander 2005; Acton and Klimova 2001; Cahn 2001a; Petrova 2003; Barany 2002; Guy 2001; Vermeersch 2006). This movement has drawn much public attention and

funding to the plight of Roma, but material conditions have hardly improved in some areas. The “Decade of Roma Inclusion,” inaugurated in

2005 by the Open Society Institute and the World Bank and currently endorsed by twelve European governments, aims to ensure that Roma have equal access to education, housing, employment, and health care.” Macedonian Roma, numbering 130,000-—200,000,”* are currently repre-

sented by four Romani political parties and more than thirty active NGOs.” Although the prime minister claimed in 2003 that “T am proud of being representative of the country in which the Roma have perhaps the highest level of rights compared to all the other European countries” (Plaut and Memedova 2005:15), many disagree. For example, the European Romani Rights Centre titled its 1998 human rights report on Macedonian Roma “A Pleasant Fiction.” On the one hand, Roma are now a “nationality,” the 1991 constitution mentions full equality, the Romani language is spoken by 80 percent of Macedonian Roma, and there are several Romani-language radio programs and two television stations. On the other hand, there is widespread police brutality and discrimination in

Balkan Roma 1]

hiring, education, service in public establishments, and the legal system; moreover, surveys show 59-80 percent of non-Roma have negative feelings toward Roma (Kanev 1996: 24; Plaut and Memedova 2005:16). The municipality of Suto Orizari (Sutka), outside Skopje, is home to more than 40,000 Romani inhabitants; as the largest population concentration of Macedonian Roma, it has become a cultural center for music, dance, and politics (Silverman 1995b). Sutka Roma occupy every class sector, from poverty-stricken to rich, but most inhabitants are poor (see photographs 1.1 and 1.2, and see Chapter 4). Sutka was settled in 1963 when the government offered Roma housing after a devastating earthquake; it has grown steadily with migrants from other parts of Yugoslavia, and more recently with several thousand Kosovo Romani refugees from the 1990s Yugoslav wars. Bulgarian Roma, numbering approximately 800,000 or 10 percent of

the total population, do not have their own political parties because ethnic-based parties are legally prohibited.?> Thus lobbying is done via NGOs; in Sofia alone there were more than 150 Romani NGOs in 2004 (Mihaylova 2005:48). Marushiakova and Popov observe that the NGO “Gypsy industry” often perpetuates itself rather than seeking solutions to problems (2005). Moreover, as elsewhere in Eastern Europe, a strong NGO sector is often an excuse for the state to do less. In Bulgaria, for example, funding and infrastructure for desegregation of schools comes primarily from NGOs. In 1999 the Bulgarian government signed the Framework Program for Equal Integration of the Roma in Bulgarian Society, but very little has been done since then (Rechel 2008). In fact the framework expired in 2009, and the National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Demoeraphic Issues (NCCEDI) has not prepared a new document. Attention to the human rights of Roma by the multiple coalition governments that have ruled Bulgaria since 1989 was clearly motivated by the prospect of joining the European Union in 2007; for accession, progress needed to be demonstrated.*° Since accession, motivation has decreased. In spite of an “Anti-Discrimination Act,” there are numerous cases of discrimination in local labor bureaus, social welfare offices, and health and education institutions (Mihaylova 2005:65), and some are being contested in the courts.

The 2008 U.S. State Department report on human rights in Bulgaria claimed that unemployment was 65 percent among Roma, reaching 80 percent in some regions.”’? According to the World Bank, 13 percent of Roma completed secondary education, in comparison to 90 percent of ethnic Bulgarians.”* In November 2009, the EU human rights commissioner noted that the situation of the Roma community is of particular concern; after viewing a settlement in Sofia, he stated, “No one should live in these conditions in today’s Europe.””’ In 2005, Ataka (Attack), an extreme nationalist party that openly pros-

elytizes against Roma, won more than 8 percent representation in Parliament; in 2006 it won 26 percent of the presidential vote. Ataka’s leaders

have characterized Roma as criminals and as a threat to Bulgarians 12. —‘_ Introduction

because of their high birth rate; one of their slogans is “No to Gypsification, No to Turkification” (Kanev 2005; Cohen 2005).*° Although Ataka has recently lost popularity, some of its ideas have been adopted by more mainstream parties (Ciobanu 2008; Ghodsee 2008). It has also gained

allies among Western European xenophobic parties in the European Parliament. As a result of these inequalities of postsocialism, Romani refugees and emigrants can now be found in every Western European nation and in the United States and Canada. A profound refugee crisis has occurred in Kosovo, from which the vast majority of the Roma have fled as a result of the Serbian-Albanian conflict.2! Because of inferior living conditions, many Balkan Roma would like to emigrate to the west, but immigration has become extremely difficult. Western European nations are deporting Roma, nationalist parties are on the rise, and xenophobia is growing. With their racial taint, their low class stigma, and their baggage of historic stereotypes, East European Roma are among the least desirable immigrants; Muslim Roma are even more suspect.*” To recap the complexity of Romani migration: I emphasize that Europe

rather than India has been home to Roma since the fifteenth century and that multiple rediasporizations within and from Europe have occurred. For example, Roma migrated out of southern Romania after slavery was abolished, Eastern European Roma migrated to Western Europe alter the fall of Communism, and Roma have migrated from Europe to North America since colonial times.

Migration to the United States The first trickle of Romani travel to the United States occurred with the colonists, followed by waves from England in the 1850s. The largest numbers came during the second wave of immigration, from 1880 to World War I, along with eastern and southern Europeans (Lockwood and Salo 1994). The current Kalderash Romani population in the United States, numbering close to one million, can be traced to this last period of immigration. The United States hosts Roma from every group and suberoup, but they do not coalesce as a viable community. The New York Macedonian Romani community that is the subject of this book dates from the 1960s; these Roma interact with neither Kalderash nor other Romani groups, although occasionally intermarriage with other Balkan Roma takes place. The center of Macedonian Romani life in the United States is located in the New York City borough of the Bronx, in the Belmont neighborhood. Belmont is a historic Italian neighborhood known as the “Little Italy of the Bronx.” Italian groceries, restaurants, and bakeries, most of them family-owned, still line the main shopping street, Arthur Avenue, but in the past forty years Hispanics, Albanians, Bosnian Muslims, Monteneerin Muslims, south Serbian Muslims (from SandzZak), and Balkan Roma

Balkan Roma 13

have moved into the area while the Italian population has declined.* Now Balkan (mostly Albanian) restaurants, groceries, photography studios, and pizza/burek (a doughy pie with feta cheese, spinach, or meat) parlors are interspersed with older Italian businesses (see photographs 1.3, 1,4, and 1.5). Macedonian Roma began moving to New York City in the late 1960s,*4

specifically from the city of Prilep, but also from Bitola and Skopje. At the time, the Yugoslav government supported sending “guest workers” to Western Europe (especially Germany),* the United States, and Aus-

tralia because of hard currency remittances. Emigrants saw working abroad as a way to make good money, move up the social scale, and help out relatives at home. After the guest worker policy ended, sponsorship of relatives and the need for spouses continued. The wars in Yugoslavia 1991-1995 brought economic crisis to the entire region, causing another wave of emigration. Although Macedonia was peaceful during the war and declared independence in 1991, its economy was in ruins during the entire decade. Push factors (out of Yugoslavia) in the 1960s were mostly

economic, but now they include lack of hope, absence of a political future, and fear of police brutality and other forms of discrimination. Pull factors (to the United States) include the need for spouses, better employment possibilities, and the upwardly mobile models that migrant relatives have set. “Chain” immigration, that is, one family sponsoring another, is the common pattern. This was the case until the mid-1990s, when American

laws became more restrictive. Now spouses are the most numerous migrants. Women very rarely migrate without a relative (e.g. husband, father, son, brother) sponsoring them. Once in the United States, Roma face a new set of challenges. The majority are working-class, but some families have reached the middle class. First-generation Roma had poor English skills, and they lacked the legal connections needed to apply for

documents. Many arrived with tourist visas, tried to regularize their status, and were sometimes exploited by lawyers. Many Roma simply overstayed their visas and became irregular migrants. Some Macedonian Roma have applied for refugee status since 1991, but they have usually been unsuccessful in part because the persecution against Roma is underdocumented and unrelated to conflicts between nation-states. Refugee status has historically been easier for claimants fleeing wars; thus during the Yugoslav wars Bosnian Roma could more easily became refugees. In addition to Bosnian Roma, Bulgarian Roma are more often granted refugee status than Macedonian Roma because there are more numerous reports of human rights abuses against them. Recently it has become harder to receive asylum. Immigration judges have claimed that some applicants are merely posing as Roma; ironically, Roma now have to prove in court that they are Roma, while most of their lives they have had to pass as non-Roma to avoid discrimination. Virtually no country wants Gypsy refugees, and many Roma remain undocumented or mired in legal battles for years. According to Xenos, “For the

14 ~—s* Introduction

Gypsies, assimilation into the world of nations appears to be impossible— they are perpetual refugees” (1996:240). The situation in Western Europe is more highly charged than in America because the numbers of Roma are larger and xenophobic parties advocate anti-immigrant policies (CastleKanerova 2001: Bilefsky and Fisher 2006). Although asylum in Western Europe was more liberally granted in the early 1990s, a decade later the trend reversed and Roma are being deported while social welfare is being dismantled. In the Macedonian Romani community in the United States, few distinguish between refugees and migrants: “displacement is a process that is not limited to those who meet the legal criteria for refugee status” (Lubkemann 2002:1). It is clear that a vibrant community life (see Chapters 4 and 5) helps diasporic Macedonian Roma feel at home in New York.

Issues of Representation in Fieldwork and Writing Although this book distills many years of fieldwork, it is still only a “partial truth” in many senses (Clifford and Marcus 1986). My interpretation is not only one among many but also situated in specific places at certain

times. My access to resources, my non-Romani “outsider” status, my gender, and my training have certainly affected my perceptions. Much of the postmodern discussion of ethnography rests on acknowledgment of

multiple views; my account, then, has become the occasion for my Romani collaborators to discuss their interpretations of my interpretations. Heeding Lassiter’s call for collaborative ethnography (2005) and specifically employing Elaine Lawless’s concept of “reciprocal ethnography” (1992), Iasked a number of Romani activists, musicians, numerous members of the New York Macedonian Romani community, and several non-Romani managers of Romani bands to comment on portions of the

book; their reactions and our discussions have been incorporated. Romani scholar and University of Texas Professor Ian Hancock reminds

us that until recently all representations of Roma were constructed by non-Roma, and Roma exercised no control over these descriptions and images, whether scientific, artistic, or literary (1997:39-40). This is finally changing, and the ethnographer is either obsolete or must delicately negotiate her place. Studying a minority during the socialist and postsocialist periods highlights many issues of ethics, the role of the fieldworker, the power differ-

ential between fieldworker and informants, and the give-and-take in relationships.*® As I accepted hospitality and knowledge from Roma, I continually asked myself, What is my relationship to these people? What am I doing for those who so generously taught me? How can I best discuss my own positionality in this research? As the Romani human rights movement emerged in the 1990s, I struggled to combine activism and scholarship and was alternately accused of neglecting one for the other. Whereas one Romani activist said I should concentrate on documenting

Balkan Roma 15

human rights abuses and forget about analyzing music, some of my col-

leagues in academia said I was spending too much time on activism (which some regarded as “service,” not “scholarship”). Some Roma said I should forgo a music focus because that would promote the stereotypical connection of Roma with music; some said I should focus on middle-class

educated Roma to counteract the ubiquitous image of poor, begging Gypsies.

I have frequently interrogated myself as to the role of a non-Romani scholar. What right do I have to speak about a group that is trying to define its own voice?*’ While one activist questioned my right and ability to speak about Roma, other activists defended my commitment to Roma. I believe I have a role among non-Roma in education and advocacy, but Roma have their own organizing to do among themselves; thus I learned to withdraw when a context required my exclusion. Among Roma, non-Roma such as myself can facilitate, mediate, and provide resources for various cultural, economic, and political projects while eschewing paternalistic and colonizing stances (Smith 1999). Along these lines, I have been active with the nongovernmental organization Voice of Roma (www.voiceofroma.com).

As Kamala Visweswaran writes, “If we have learned anything about anthropology’s encounter with colonialism, the question is not really whether anthropologists can represent people better, but whether we can be accountable to people's struggles for self-representation and self-determinism” (1988:39). Because Roma are currently engaged in precisely the struggle for self-determinism, my research turned to the use of music as symbolic currency in self-presentation. My Romani research started in the United States in 1975 when I became a volunteer teacher in a Romani alternative school in Philadelphia. My dissertation research (1975-1979) with the largest Romani groups in the United States, Kalderash and Machwaya, dealt with ethnic identity, gender, and pollution and taboo systems (Silverman 1981, 1982, 1988; also see Sutherland 1975; Gropper 1975). Having migrated to the United States from various parts of Eastern Europe about a hundred years ago, many Kalderash know very little about other Romani groups in Europe and the United States. Among the few tangible things I was able to give to American Kalderash Roma were historical information and cassette tapes of East European Romani music. After immersing myself in American Kalderash culture and gaining some fluency in their Vlach dialects of the Romani language, I was anxious to pursue Romani fieldwork in Bulgaria, a country I had visited regularly since 1972.** I first worked with Roma in Bulgaria in the 1980s, in the context of

research on wedding music, a fusion genre that was prohibited by the government (see Chapter 7). I met the stars of the wedding music, including Ivo Papazov, Yuri Yunakov, Neshko Neshev, Matyo Dobrev, and Salif Ali, and many others; as a fan, I tagged along their performance trail. Working with Roma in socialist Bulgaria was challenging because by 1984 they did not officially exist.“° Despite government policy, I managed to circumvent prohibitions and spend considerable time in several Romani 16 ~~‘: Introduction

settlements. I documented ritual events such as weddings, baptisms, soldier send-off celebrations, and house warmings; I recorded, photographed, and videotaped where possible, given the constraints of socialism. Fam-

ilies viewed videotapes with me and offered valuable interpretations. Often their interpretations centered around the “Romani way of doing things,” in light of their being both Bulgarian and Romani. Discussions frequently turned to the role of the state in their lives. The idea of my working with Roma Macedonia was suggested by AiSe,*° a Muslim Macedonian Romani woman whom I met in New York in 1988 when she was visiting her brother Osman (see Chapters 4 and 5). They lived in Belmont, located close to the neighborhood where I was born and my parents lived. From the beginning of my research, then, I approached Macedonian Roma from at least two locations. AiSe’s family arranged my living arrangements in Suto Orizari, the largest neighborhood of Roma in Skopje, Macedonia, where I resided for six months in 1990 and one month in 1994. I have continued to work with Roma in Macedonia and New York until the present, with long stays in New York and short trips to Macedo-

nia as well as to Macedonian Romani communities in Australia and Toronto.

My Bulgarian and Macedonian Romani connections merged in the Bronx in 1994 when the Bulgarian wedding music star Yuri Yunakov em-

igrated to the United States and took up residence in the Macedonian Romani community. Yuri formed a new band, asked me to join, and reluctantly I accepted. I had sung Balkan music for more than twenty years and Romani music for about five years, but mostly with Americans. In addition to bestowing on me a great honor and challenge, performing with the Yuri Yunakov Ensemble gave me both backstage and front-stage perspectives. In 1999 I toured for two months with “The Gypsy Caravan: A Festi-

val of Roma Music and Dance” as a performer and as the “education coordinator, delivering lectures and leading panel discussions for the general public. Dozens of concerts with the Yunakov Ensemble, including tours in 2003 and 2005 with Ivo Papazov, Neshko Neshev, and Salif Ali, have yielded invaluable information and professional experience. Re-

cording with these artists on several CDs, writing liner notes for their albums, and arranging tours for them has given me a chance to help their

music reach wider audiences and also to study the roles of audiences, marketers, managers, and producers. Finally, my most recent ethnographic tool is YouTube, through which I have explored the transnational flow of music and dance. Romani materials that are posted on YouTube (by both Roma and non-Roma) include not only commercial videos and television programs from the Balkans but also excerpts of family and community celebrations from the Balkans and the Western European and American diasporas. I have followed the commentaries posted on YouTube and interviewed several prolific posters via the internet. Romani Routes, then, takes account of my non-Romani identity, my transnational heldwork, and my multiple roles of ethnographer, performer, and educational activist.

Balkan Roma Ag

Chapter Overview Romani Routes is divided into four parts to reflect the transnational underpinning of the materials and the dynamic movement of people and music between the Balkans and America. I aim to underline the dialogue between homes and migration, between states and capitalist markets, and between communities and individuals. Please see the website for information on video examples, audio examples, and photographs as well as supplementary textual material including song texts and historical information (a guide is found in the front of the book). Part I, “Introduction,” discusses the basic analytical questions and the theoretical framework, plus general background information on Romani musical genres and styles. Chapter 1, “Balkan Roma: History, Politics, and Performance,” presents the issues raised in the book and a historical overview of Roma and their diasporic migration to the Balkans, as well as their rediasporization to North America. I trace the legacy of discrimination and discuss the status of Roma during socialism and postsocialism, highlighting Macedonia and Bulgaria. I chronicle the challenges of being a non-Romani researcher and introduce the issue of representation: how have Roma been depicted, and by whom? Chapter 2, “Musical Styles and Genres,” explores music as a historic Romani profession and offers insight into patron-client relationships and

stylistic change. I look at Balkan Romani music in terms of rhythm, melody, genre, style, text, improvisation, and variation, highlighting the emergence of new and revived styles. Balkan Roma have been extremely influential in many of the fusions of the last forty years, and the crosspollination of regional styles fosters innovation. I also profile several important Romani artists. Chapter 3, “Dilemmas of Diaspora, Hybridity, and Identity,” theoretically explores the interdisciplinary scholarship on diaspora, transnationalism, hybridity, and cosmopolitanism and asks how Roma interrogate these concepts. How have music and essentialism been used in multicultural discourse and in identity politics? As a motley group of disparate peoples lacking unity in territory, language, and religion, how have Roma united around their history of exclusion to build a pan-Romani ethnic movement? I explore activists’ attempts to construct nationalist symbols of Romani culture, such as the Indian homeland, the flag, the literary language, and the anthem. Part II, “Music in Diasporic Homes,” ethnographically profiles Roma in their multiple homes in the Balkans and the United States and explores how and why they travel among diasporic homes. I illustrate the signifcance of music and dance by analyzing the complex relationship between social relations and family and community rituals. I explore how the New York Macedonian community cements its ties to Macedonia and other diasporic locations through marriage, language, and ritual, all enacted performatively via cultural markers such as music and dance. 18 = Introduction

Chapter 4, “Transnational Families,” traces the history of the Macedonian Romani community in New York via kin networks, occupational trajectories, migration of brides and grooms, and the movement of musicians and media products. I look at the multiple ways Roma in the diaspora constitute their identities and their gendered roles, and how changes are occurring, especially for educated youths. Chapter 5, “Transnational Celebrations,” focuses on family celebrations that are the symbolic focus and the glue binding the Romani community together. I analyze how celebrations display and interpret values through music and dance and also reveal conflict. I compare weddings in Macedonia with weddings in New York, analyzing their structure, rituals, music, dance, costume, and economic and social implications. I profile several key New York musicians and describe their repertoires and training. Chapter 6, “Transnational Dance,” compares and discusses Romani dance in numerous contexts, emphasizing its stylistic, social, and power dimensions in relation to the marginality of Roma in wider society and the ambivalent position of women. I historically trace the dance genre Cocek from Ottoman times until the present. I explore how women negotiate dance performances within Romani diasporic communities and how professional dance becomes symbolic capital to negotiate in the commercial marketplace. I compare Gypsy dance performances in several ensembles to show the range of representational styles and the use of stereotypes. Part ITI, “Music, States, and Markets,” examines the legacy of socialism in Balkan Romani music and traces economic, social, artistic, and political changes through the postsocialist period. Examining the exclusionary practices of states and the constraining forces of the market, I investigate how Roma have resisted, collaborated, and adapted. Chapter 7, “Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian Socialist State,” examines how and why Roma were excluded from the rubrics of “nation” and “folk.” I explore the trajectory of the fusion genre Bulgarian “wedding music,” which was prohibited by the socialist government and became a countercultural phenomenon. I document how wedding musicians negotiated and resisted the state, and how the state responded. Chapter 8, “Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals,” deals with music in the postsocialist period in relation to new contexts, markets, and political configurations and a rising tide of xenophobia. As Roma are squeezed between states and markets, how do they respond? I

examine Bulgarian wedding music, Romani music festivals, popular music contests, and a Macedonian UNESCO application in relation to nationalism, multiculturalism, and public negotiation of Romani identity. Chapter 9, “ Bulgarian Pop/Folk: Chalga,” investigates the rise of chalga in the 1990s as a pan-Balkan fusion of Romani, folk, and popular musics. I trace the depictions of the orient, formulaic packaging, and the recent signs of audience fatigue. I also examine the challenges that Romani performers face, using case studies of Sofi Marinova and the transgendered diva Azis. The controversy surrounding chalga illuminates the debate regarding definitions of what it means to be Balkan, European, and “modern.”

Balkan Roma 19

Part IV, “Musicians in Transit,’ widens the focus of the book to international audiences and revisits integration of American and Balkan view-

points. I illustrate how two Romani stars, one male and one female, navigated transnational border crossings and strategized to expand their careers. Looking at tours and commercial enterprises managed by nonRoma, I discuss representational dilemmas from the point of view of managers, producers, audiences, and Romani musicians. I interrogate the political economy of collaborations and appropriations by examining recent DJ remixes and the issue of who represents whom, who benefits, and why. Chapter 10, “Esma RedZepova: Queen of Gypsy Music,” explores the life

history of the Macedonian superstar in the context of Yugoslav multiculturalism and as a bridge between Roma and non-Roma. She resisted gender norms, and her husband skillfully crafted her image as a respectful singer. I examine her recent collaborations and explore her humanitarian efforts. Chapter 11, “Yuri Yunakov: Saxophonist, Refugee, Citizen,” illustrates,

through life history, how musical performance is a strategy in personal identity politics. Emigrating to New York in 1994, Yunakov plays regularly

for Roma, Macedonians, Turks, Armenians, Albanians, Bulgarians, and Americans. I show how through music he mediates the tension between such supposed binaries as official-unofficial, traditional-modern, authentic-hybrid, inclusion-exclusion, and local-global. Chapter 12, “Romani Music as World Music,” discusses what happens when community performers achieve international fame and when the local becomes the global. I chart the relationship among festival producers and managers of Romani music acts (who provide a saleable item), audience members (who claim to support a liberal multicultural agenda), the press (eager to exoticize), and Romani musicians (trying to eke out a living). Debate about authenticity and the emergence of new fusions such as Gypsy Punk reveal the strategies of marketers and performers. Chapter 13, “Collaboration, Appropriation, and Transnational Flows,” ties together threads from previous chapters to discuss collaboration, appropriation, and the transnational movement of music in relation to political and economic matrices. I interrogate who is producing and marketing Romani music and how power relationships are implicated in these exchanges. I examine issues of ownership and compensation through case studies of DJ remixes, Balkan Beats dance clubs, and the movie Borat.

20. ~—*Introduction

2 Musical Styles and Genres

What Is Romani Music? Music is one of the oldest Romani occupations, a fact corroborated by historical documentation dating from the fifteenth century.'! This traditional link may be one reason music has a deep symbolic connection for Roma and the terms music and Roma are almost synonymous for nonRoma. We should not forget, however, that music has been a viable occu-

pation for professional Roma for more than 600 years, and that in the current period of postsocialist transnational mobility it remains viable. Although Gypsy and music are commonly paired terms, the nature of Romani music is only now receiving the scholarly attention it deserves.’ Historically, writers have assumed more than they have proved; exaggerations run the gamut from the position that Roma are “sponges,” that is to say, they merely borrow and have no music of their own (Starkie 1933; Bhattacharya 1965), to the position that they are the staunchest preservers of tradition. For example, the CD Rromano Suno 2 (Gypsy Dream, B92, Serbia, 2006) asserts that “they found themselves in a strange place where their repertoire is described both as the deepest repository of tradition and a generator of irresponsible innovation.” As early as 1910, Serbian music scholar Tihomir Djordjevic disparaged Gypsies because they failed to preserve their own music and, when adopting Serbian music, they “gypsified” it. He wrote that when Gypsies perform Serbian folk music, “they decharacterize and gypsify it. They change primitive folk music as they choose, and they interfere with the most essential aspects of this music; they change the details as they see fit, or if these details are already attractive, they overemphasize them or add decorations which sound gentle and beautiful at first, but have no place in that music. That is the Gypsy Quality of folk music” (1984 [1910]:38). In 1977 Gojkovicé wrote that Gypsies “corrupt not only national music of various countries but also new music, for instance, jazz” (1977:48). Thus the

21

typical older Balkan scholarly attitude toward Romani musical innovation was one of contempt. In Hungary, Roma have either been hailed as the most authentic preservers of peasant music (Vekerdi 1976) or assailed as corrupters and dis-

torters of peasant music (Barték 1931).4 There are many levels of this controversy, which continues to the present day (Frigyesi 1994; J. Brown 2000; Hooker 2007) and spills over from Hungary into the Balkans. The core of the conflict lies in varied interpretations of the concept of creativity and in the vain search for origins and “authenticity.” Roma are neither a “primitive folk which has no authentic music of its own, either vocal

or instrumental” (Spur 1947:114) nor merely sponges. What Frigyesi points out for Hungary is also true for the Balkans: Gypsy music not only was stylistically at the “crossroads of folk, popular and high art” but also

was “the common ground between the ‘rich’ and the ‘poor” (Frigyesi 1994:267; Peycheva 1999a). Because of their professional niche, Roma creatively molded the popular repertoire and interacted dynamically with local musics. Examples of how this happens in the Balkans are discussed throughout this book. This debate shows that the historical nexus of Romani music is quite complex. For centuries, Romani groups in Eastern Europe have been professional musicians, playing for non-Romani peasants and city dwellers of many classes for remuneration in cafes and taverns and at events such as weddings, baptisms, circumcisions, fairs, and village dances. This professional niche, primarily male and instrumental,’ requires Roma to know expertly the co-territorial repertoire and interact with it creatively. A nomadic way of life, often forced on Roma from harassment and prejudice, eave them opportunity to enlarge their repertoires and become multimusical as well as multilingual.

In additional to nomadic Roma, large groups of sedentary Roma in major European cities became professionals who performed urban folk, classical, and popular music. In Hungary, Spain, and Russia, certain forms of Romani music became national music, veritable emblems of the country (Frigyesi 1994; Leblon 1994; Lemon 2000). The music played by professional Romani musicians in in-group contexts may or may not differ, depending on the historical situation, from the music played for other ethnic groups. Finally, there are many groups of Roma who are not professional musicians but have their own music. Furthermore, all these groups have migrated within Europe to varying degrees, and also to the Americas and Australia. It should be clear by now that there is neither one worldwide nor one pan-European Romani music. Roma constitute a rich mosaic of groups that distinguish among themselves musically. This is not to deny that there is an emerging ethnic awareness of unity and a scholarly basis for comparison. A Bulgarian Romani song may have more in common with an ethnic Bulgarian song than with a Polish Romani song, reflecting centuries of co-territorial traffic in music. Are there stylistic elements common

to all European Romani musics? In answering negatively, I explore in

22 ‘Introduction

Chapter 12 why this question is so urgent for many music producers. Certainly the professional niche continues to exist (in a wide area) and can generate comparable data on repertoire and performance. Over and over again in Eastern Europe, we hear of virtuosic performances of Roma that move people to tears, of seemingly endless variations in melody, of the capturing of emotion in music. Proverbs attest that “a wedding without a Gypsy isnt worth anything” (Bulgarian) and “give a Hungarian a glass of water and a Gypsy fiddler and he will become completely drunk” (Hungarian). Although the prominence of Roma in Balkan folk music cannot be denied, facile searches for a unifying style must be met with suspicion.

In the quest for the universal and unique in Romani music, some scholars have turned to the Indian homeland and claimed to find musical links with present-day groups (Bhattacharya 1965; Fonseca 1995; Hancock 2002:71; Ackovié 1989). This work has been highly speculative and remains unproven.® Rather than seeking the unique or the pure, I

seek to explore Romani music as it exists in Balkan diaspora Romani communities and for non-Romani local and international patrons. I start by examining the music Balkan Roma play and sing in New York, Mace-

donia, and Bulgaria, making note of what is shared with co-territorial peoples and what travels in which direction. Balkan Romani music, then, rather than being a unified whole, can be considered a constellation varying regionally and historically.

Balkan Historical Threads As mentioned in Chapter 1, the Balkans are home to several million Roma divided into many groups; in their migrations to North America, Balkan

Roma have retained music as a focus of their community life, but that music has changed over time. Historically, Roma have been professionally involved in many musical forms, both folk and popular; have had a virtual monopoly of some forms; and have been virtually absent from other forms

(such as Istrian, Dalmatian, and Slovenian music and some shepherd's flute and bagpipe genres). The probable explanation of their absence in these musics is that there simply wasn’t a steady income to be earned from them. For example, Macedonian Roma have never played rural instruments such as gaida (bagpipe) and kaval (end-blown flute). In Bul-

garia, however, Roma played these instruments because there was a market for them. For centuries all over the southern Balkans, Roma have had a virtual monopoly of professional ensembles consisting of one or two zurli (zurla and surla in Macedonian, zurna in Bulgarian and Turkish, pipiza in Greek), double-reed conical-bore instruments, plus one or two fapani (ttipan in Bulgarian, tapan in Macedonian, davuli and daouli in Greek), doubleheaded cylindrical drums (see photograph 2.1 and video examples 2.1 and 2.2). A few ethnic Slavic zurna players have been reported in the literature (Peycheva 1993:50). Citing evidence from a fourteenth-century fresco in

Musical Stylesand Genres —.23

Ohrid, some ethnomusicologists believe that the zurla and tapan were brought to the Balkans by the Roma before the arrival of the Ottoman Turks, but there is debate on this topic (IInitchi 2007).’ It cannot be doubted that for hundreds of years zurla and tapan ensembles have played professionally for many ethnic groups in southern Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, the Macedonian province of Greece, the Pirin region of Bulgaria (southwest), and some parts of Balkan Thrace. At large

public events such as fairs, zurla and tapan ensembles were (and are) hired by dancers or picnicking families. They were also associated with wrestling matches, found among many Muslims of the southern Balkans. Among Muslim Macedonian Roma, zurla and tapan music is essential for ritual moments such as application of henna to the bride’s hair, hands, and feet (see Chapter 5, and video examples 5.1, 5.2, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, and 5.16); the

act of male circumcision; and the slaughter of the lamb on Erdelezi (Gjurgjovden, St. George’s Day; see Chapter 5 and Dunin 1998). Today zurla and tapan ensembles coexist with amplified modern bands because of the ritual function of the zurla and tapan, their role in playing traditional dance music, and their symbolic association with Romani identity (Blau, Keil, Keil, and Feld 2002; Silverman 1996a; Peycheva and Dimov 2002). In New York, there are no zurla and tapan ensembles—but there are a few Romani zurla players in the Bridgeport, Connecticut, region and many tapan players as well.

In the 1980s, the zurna was prohibited in Bulgaria because of its Romani and Muslim associations. In Chapter 7 I discuss socialist state policy and how Roma resisted it. Since 1989, Pirin zurna and ttipan music has emerged as a vital force; players now serve patrons of all ethnicities and play for a variety of events; they have also been rehired (albeit parttime and for low wages) by some local ensembles. Famous Pirin zurna players such as Samir Kurtov, who was born in 1971 in Kavrakirovo, Petrich region, are highly paid and well respected, and they now perform at weddings outside their region; Kurtov now performs often in Greece, Serbia, Macedonia, and Turkey (Hunt 2009; Peycheva 2009). Video example 2.2 shows Kurtov playing at a wedding in Gotse Delchev, Bulgaria, in 2004; a slow melody changes into a 2/4 dance. In postsocialist Bulgaria and Macedonia, the instruments have also been used at political events for their role in outdoor announcement at parades and rallies (Peycheva and Dimov 2002:183).

Zurla and tapan playing, like all instrumental performance, is exclusively male, transmitted along kin lines. In some communities, zurla players are from a single family of Roma. Training takes place from elder

to younger, and repertoire and technique are learned by listening and watching. This principle can be generalized to transmission of all Balkan Romani music: oral immersion without written notation. (For example, video example 5.15 shows how young boys sit under the stage at a wedding and follow along with makeshift drums.) For zurla training, typically

the learner drones while the master plays melody. Once mastery is reached, the parts may alternate. Occasionally, the two zurlas will play in 24 ~— ‘Introduction

unison, in octaves, or more recently in parallel thirds. In addition to playing the dance or song melody, the lead zurla player does free rhythmic improvisations, known as mane, and also metric improvisations. Size of repertoire and technical virtuosity distinguish good zurla players. Ornamentation consists of rapid and even finger trills, mordents, and grace notes (Peycheva and Dimov 2002; Rice 1982). Master tapan players improvise rhythmically and texturally, creatively using the differing sounds of the two drumheads. Roma have also been active in the realm of brass bands, in both rural and urban environments. Adopting brass instruments from central Europe about a hundred years ago, Roma became especially prominent in brass

bands in southern Serbia, Macedonia, and Bulgaria. Serbian peasants also play in brass bands, but Roma tend to be professionals, and they per-

form a more Turkish-influenced repertoire. Serbian festivals, such as those at Guéa, have given wider visibility to this tradition and introduced a sense of hierarchy through awarding prizes. The brass band has become a Serbian national symbol, and bands such as Boban Markovié are popular on the world music circuit.® Professional male Romani bear leaders have been found throughout the Balkans since the sixteenth century, often traveling with their families and teaching their bears to perform to tambourine and voice accompaniment (photograph 2.2). In the nineteenth century their centers were Romania, Serbia, Bosnia, and North Bulgaria. They still entertain peasants at fairs and in courtyards; according to a Bulgarian proverb, “a festival without a bear trainer is a waste of time.” Bears can also heal various illnesses (this being related to the power of the bear in folk belief) and perform tricks such as dancing on the hind legs and passing the tambourine around to collect money. Since the nineteenth century, Romani monkey leaders have also been common (photograph 2.3). Bear and monkey trainers in Bulgaria play a vertically held, three-stringed, pear-shaped, bowed lute called gtidulka (kemene in Macedonia). They identify as Kopanari (part of the Rudari group) and speak Romanian. Many make their own instruments, since they are usually woodworkers as well as animal trainers. In addition to playing dance music to which the animal performs, they also play and sing improvised historical ballads or humorous songs, sometimes providing social commentary (Silverman 1986:55). The Bulgarian socialist government strictly regulated and even prohibited animal trainers, but since 1989 the restrictions have been eased, and they can now be found in parks and playgrounds of major cities. From Ottoman times there has been a trafficking of musical styles facilitated, in part by Balkan Roma (Peycheva 1999a; see discussion of the historical roots of wedding bands later in this chapter). For example, in

the nineteenth century the Romani fiddlers of Negotin transmitted Romanian music to the Vlachs of east Serbia (Vukanovié 1962:48). Today,

not only do Romani musicians travel, but also there is trafficking in media products. In examining the interplay among “Oriental” (Turkishinfluenced) style, marketing, and Romani identity, Rasmussen notes that

Musical Stylesand Genres =. 25

Serbian Roma played a vital role in facilitating interaction among several

distinct musical genres: village folk music, urban folk music, popular music, and novokomponovana narodna muzika (newly composed folk music; 1991, 2002, 2007). Similarly, in Macedonia and Bulgaria Roma played eclectic repertoires in urban ensembles that developed into contemporary wedding bands. Kovalcsik, using Hungarian materials, claims Romani music can be distinguished from co-territorial folk music by improvisation and a readiness to adopt new influences, especially commercial popular genres (1987). Using material from Kosovo, Pettan also cites improvisation and the value of change as specifically Romani features (1992); Kertesz-Wilkinson uses Hungarian materials to analyze how changes in performance are incorporated selectively, according to a Romani aesthetic system (1992); and Ras-

mussen analyzes Romani openness to popular music (1991). Dimov similarly comments that the presence of Gypsies is “the clearest example

of the polyethnic characteristic of Balkan music, and its negotiation, translation and integration” (1995:14). Peycheva also discusses the “poly-

lingualism” of Gypsy musicians in text and style (1995). On the other hand, I note as well that recently other ethnic groups in the Balkans are adopting new and varied styles.

It is worth remembering that professional Balkan Romani musicians regularly serve patrons from many ethnic groups, and thus their repertoires tend to be large and varied.’ Although the economic patron-client relationship is often the framework within which Roma perform, the artistic imperative is the creative engine behind exchange of services. For centuries, Roma have been one of the main forces of innovation in Balkan music (Pettan 1992; Peycheva 1999a). Their role as innovators can be partially traced to the motivation of generating new material to sell to patrons, but it can't be solely reduced to economic imperative. Musicians also value innovation for its artistry; they carefully listen to and evaluate each other, detecting what precisely is new and worthwhile in technique, melody, harmony, improvisation, genre, text, and form. But innovation isn’t enough to win admiration, novelty must be accompanied by superior technique and soulful passion.'° Innovation is accomplished in myriad ways: sometimes by looking to

other local genres (e.g., using local instruments or folk or pop styles such as African-American rap or electronic music styles), sometimes by looking across regional borders (e.g., using Albanian, Serbian, or other

Balkan styles), and sometimes by looking toward distant Romani musics (e.g., Spanish or Indian styles). The guitar style of the Gipsy Kings (primarily rumba and flamenco) was appropriated in the early 1990s after the group made their first Eastern European tour. Rap in the Romani language was employed in Macedonia and Bulgaria first in the early 1990s and is now a growing style; the vocalist Sevéet (who lives in Germany) created the genre “Roma Reggaeton Hip Hop,” which masterfully fuses hip hop and Romani elements into his “Gio Style” shows (see www.myspace.com/sevcet). 26 ~~‘ Introduction

Another way of innovating is to revive and reinterpret older repertoires.

In Bulgaria, for example, Ibro Lolov and Anzhelo Malikov rerecorded songs that Yashar Malikov (Anzhelo Malikov’s father) collected or composed in the 1950s. The elder Malikov was a prolific arranger credited with dozens of songs (Peycheva 1999a). The 2005 CD Romane Merikle/Roma Beads is dedicated to Yashar Malikov, Hasan Chinchiri, and several other deceased Romani composers; it features remakes of Chinchiri’s songs as well as other repertoire from the 1950s.'' Although these examples could

be termed “covers” or remakes, I would counter that this is more than mere borrowing. In some cases (for example, wedding music; see Chapter 7), Roma have created new genres from existing elements. Malvinni represents Gypsy music with an equation:

I1+V=E where I is improvisation, V is virtuosity, and E is emotion (2004:10). I agree that these three elements are significant in the Balkans, but I think Malvinni’s equation is too narrow and too mathematical a formulation. Furthermore, I can envision another possible equation: V = I + E. Moreover, Malvinni’s equation does not hold for all Romani musics, and it is also applicable to some non-Romani musics; improvisation is not very important in American Kalderash music but definitely is in (aon-Romani) jazz. In the Balkans, it is nevertheless true that improvisation holds an almost sacred place for Romani instrumentalists; it is the core of Bulgarian wedding music, to give just one illustration. For singers, emotion and technique tend to be more important than improvisation, and vocal melodic improvisation is usually confined to variation in ornamentation. In contrast, among instrumentalists improvisation is a conscious item of practice and discourse.

Coéek/Kyucheck In the Balkans the most characteristic Romani musical genre is called Coéek, or Cucek in Macedonia, Serbia, and Kosovo and kyuchek in Bulearia. Note that €océek also refers to the solo dance genre associated with this music, discussed in Chapter 6. In Chapter 9, I discuss how the genre has traveled north since 1989 to Romania (and even Hungary and Slovakia). Whereas before 1989 Goéek was found in Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Greece, Albania, and Turkey, today it is shared across much of Eastern Europe. It has also spread with the Romani diaspora to Western Europe, North America, and Australia and is the mainstay of Balkan Romani celebrations in New York. Coéeks use Turkish-derived scales (makams) that sometimes employ microtones and sometimes Westernized pitches. There is no one typical scale or typical makam for Balkan Romani music, and indeed the term “Gypsy scale”? is a misnomer. A variety of scales are used, including major, minor,

Musical Stylesand Genres —.27

phrygian (similar to the Turkish makam kurd), and other modes and Turkish makams (modal scalar patterns) such as hicaz, nihavent, etc. Coéeks typically have precomposed sections plus solo sections distinguished by taksim or mane," a highly improvised free-rhythm or metric exploration of the scale or makam, often using stock motives and figures, played over a metric ostinato. In the mane musicians display their improvisatory virtuosity. Coéeks are associated with characteristic rhythms, some of which

are displayed in Figure 2.1. Actually there are many variations on the rhythms in this figure, each imparting a distinct style that sometimes indicates to dancers what should be danced. Number 6, for example, is known as Cifteteli.

The 9/8 meter is associated with Turkish-speaking Roma in the Balkans, and in fact in Turkey it is the characteristic rhythm of Roma.'* The meter can be played fast and light or slow and syncopated, as in the Bulgarian Romani rhythm known as kaba zurna (low-pitched zurna), whose name suggests it was a zurna style adopted by the clarinet. Kaba zurna is rhythm number 14 in Figure 2.1. Bulgarian wedding musician Filip Simeonov’s (Fekata’s) “Shalvar Kyuchek” is a kaba zurna, see audio example 2.1 (he can also be seen in video example 7.9, playing a Bulgarian rtichenitsa in 7/16); the whole piece is an improvisation—there is no precomposed part. He explores the various timbres of the clarinet while playing in a makam similar to a minor scale with a neutral second degree (between a major and minor second). The neutral second is characteristic of solo improvisation

in both Bulgaria and Macedonia; in almost all the taksims discussed in this chapter, regardless of the scale or makam, the second degree has this microtonal element. Another important rhythm is 7/8, especially in Macedonia and southwest Bulgaria, where it takes a number of forms. Fast and light forms of 7/8 (sometimes known as lesno, light or easy in Macedonian) are used in many songs from Macedonia such as “Oj Borije” (Oh Bride!) and “Zapevala Sojka Ptica” (The Jaybird Began to Sing [Macedonian]), sung during a

wedding (see Chapter 5, video examples 5.26 and 5.32) and Esma RedZepova’s song “Naktareja Mo Ilo Phanlja” (With a Key He Closed My Heart), discussed in Chapter 10. A slower 7/8 is illustrated by “Sitakoro

Oro” (Sieve Dance), in rhythm number 10 in Figure 2.1, performed by Orkestar Titanik (Titanic), a well-known band from Sutka (audio example 2.2); note that the sieve is used in the wedding ritual in reference to fer-

tility (see Chapter 5). Again there is no precomposed tune; rather, the whole piece is improvised around familiar motives by the saxophonist, followed by the synthesizer player. The phrygian mode is used, and the second degree of the scale tends to be microtonally high. If the piece were longer, it would characteristically end with a short fast section, typical of Macedonian dances. Titanik’s repertoire also includes several Albanianinfluenced pieces, reflecting the fact that Skopje Roma have regularly played for Albanian speakers (both Romani and non-Romani). This sets

them squarely apart from Bulgarian Roma, who have only recently imported Albanian-influenced styles.

28 Introduction

ee ae a ae

a 2 oe (44 gai 4 2s 727 i4 ©$ TLJidi gw

6 4 a2 32) te a de 2 ee a sudata eee a ed

t4 J. gataeai ia 2

Gaia? hae” wa

Kee F be of wb de ag

2 ot oe we of Joe IT aed TA FY Figure 2.1. Variations of Coéek Rhythmic Patterns

The tunes for éoéeks are sometimes drawn from older Romani tunes but are more often composed by wedding musicians. They are inspired by an eclectic array of sources: folk and popular music from neighboring Balkan regions, film scores from the West, cartoon music, Middle Eastern music,

and Indian film music. Kyuchek titles in Bulgaria during the 1980s included “Sarajevo ’84” and “Olimpiada,” in honor of the Olympics; “Alo Taxi’ (Hello Taxi [Bulgarian]), from a pop song; and “Pinko” (in 9/8), based on the musical theme from The Pink Panther. Since 1989, inventive labels for kyucheks have been added, such as “Evro,” “Germaniya,” “Arabski,” “Bingo,” “Hazart” (Hazard/Risk, a gambling game), “Isuara” (from a Latin soap opera), and more. As mentioned above, among Romani musi-

cians there is a cross-fertilization of musical styles, with a premium on innovation. For example, soon after the American election in November 2008, “Barack Obama Kyuchek” was composed.!°

Peycheva divided Bulgarian clarinet kyuchek styles into regional “schools”: the Makalov and Pamukov clans belong to the Kotel school, characterized by energetic, sharp, staccato playing; Osman Zhekov, Nesho Neshev, and Ivo Papazov (see Chapter 7) belong to the Ktirrdzhali school, characterized by legato playing and fluid movement from pitch to pitch;

and Filip Simeonov (Fekata) from Trtistenik (audio example 2.1, see above), Marin Dzhambazov from Knezha (see below), Dimittr Paskov from Vurbitsa, and Kuti from Dobrich, all in North Bulgaria, have a “northern style,” which is somewhat similar to Kotel playing but characterized by more tonguing and more staccato playing (Peycheva 1995:16).'° Peycheva has also thoroughly analyzed clarinet players’ repertoires and their hybrid styles (1999a; 2008b).

Song Variants and Versions The largest part of the Balkan Romani repertoire is dance music, both instrumental and vocal, reflecting the fact that dancing is a vital part of celebrations. In addition to dance music in regular meters, there are also unmetered songs and instrumentals performed around the banquet table. The vocal portion of the unmetered repertoire has been neither well documented nor recorded (but see talava below). The dynamism of the Romani oral musical tradition is shown by how

tunes and texts have traveled across borders, been traded among musicians, and been remade or covered by singers. The song “Phirava Daje’” (I

Went, Mother), for example, exists in multiple variants across Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Bulgaria, and also in Western Europe and the United States. The text of this song and analysis of three variants are found in audio examples with text supplement 2.3-2.5. Another illustration of the breadth of variation comes from comparing versions of one song by the same singer performed or recorded at different times. In audio

examples with text supplement 2.6-2.8, I compare three variations of a song by Macedonian singer, DZansever, and discuss her life. Note that any

30 ‘Introduction

good piece of Romani music, vocal or instrumental, tends to exist in multiple variants; that is a mark of its excellence. If fellow musicians embrace a piece, they do not hesitate to change it; Pettan’s research in Kosovo, for example, presents several variations of songs and instrumentals (2002:251276). One of the most common paths of dissemination is from Serbia to Bulgaria or Macedonia, and another path is from Greece northward; however, all directions are operational.'’

Stylistic Trends The current Romani wedding bands in Macedonia are heirs to the urban professional calgija tradition of the early twentieth century, which flourished until World War II. The word comes from the Turkish root ¢alg, meaning instrumental music or a musical instrument. Calgija ensembles played Ottoman-derived multi-ethnic vocal and instrumental music in a heterophonic style based on the makam system, emphasizing innovation and improvisation. Roma were the major performers, joined by Macedonians, Armenians, and Jews (and, though rarely, Turks). Seeman speculates that the absence of Turks was due to the association of éalgija music with the lower social classes (1990a). In addition, secular music had a somewhat ambiguous status in Islam; thus musicians were often nonTurkish. Families of Roma such as the venerated Cun family have played éalgija for generations; Roma may have played a significant role in import-

ing this genre from Turkey (Seeman 1990a:17-19). The Cuns lived in Kosovo before moving to Macedonia, and their repertoire also draws from Kosovo styles. Muamet Cun played in the Radio Skopje ¢algija band and also for community events (see video example 5.18). In audio example 3.2, Muamet’s brother, Medo Cun, performs the song “Ramajana” with Muharem Serbezovski on vocals (this song is discussed in Chapter 3, video example 3.1), and on video examples 10.3 and 10.5 he plays “Chaje Sukarije” (which he claims to have composed) with Esma RedZepova and the Teodosievski Ansambl (this song is discussed in Chapter 10).

Early ¢algija ensembles in Macedonian cities consisted of violin, ud (plucked, short-necked, fretless lute), kanun (plucked zither), dajre (frame drum with jingles), and voice, but they grew to feature dZumbusS (fretless, plucked lute with a metal resonator and skin face), clarinet, truba (trumpet or flugelhorn), accordion, and tarabuka (Seeman 1990a:13; DZimrevski 1985). Calgija repertoire included light Turkish classical pieces, rural folk

music, and urban popular songs in the many languages of the Ottoman city: Turkish, Albanian, Vlach, Macedonian, and Romani. Calgija music flourished in the Ottoman period in contexts such as the coffee house, weddings and other life-cycle celebrations, fairs, and saints’ day celebrations. Note that Macedonian Roma have never played rural instruments such as gaida (bagpipe) and kaval (end-blown flute); nor have they sung the ritual songs of Slavic Macedonian villagers. Profound changes in the 1960s, such as migration of rural populations into urban centers, the Musical Stylesand Genres 31

spread of Western harmony and instruments, and introduction of amplifcation, affected the style and texture of éalgija (Seeman 1990a). Wedding bands in Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Kosovo were updated to include saxophone, keyboard, and drum set. In comparing Skopje Romani celebrations of Herdelezi (St. George's Day) over a ten-year period, for example, Dunin notes that in 1967 unamplified music with no singer was the rule, but by 1977 amplified music including synthesizer and vocalist was more common. Amplification necessitated a fixed location for the band: a raised stage that is now ubiquitous (1985). At events such as weddings, the amplified band plays for the large dance gatherings, but either zurla and tapan or a smaller, un-

amplified, portable version of the amplified band plays for the rituals and processionals. Through the Yugoslav socialist period, Romani music was available on recordings and on radio and television in Macedonia, as part of Tito’s multicultural agenda. By contrast, the state music industry and institutions were themselves discriminatory to Roma; in Chapter 10 I trace the challenges of musicians in this period through the life history of Esma RedZepova. In Chapter 6 I describe how the amateur Romani dance ensemble Phralipe was formed in Skopje in 1949 and toured widely. I also describe how Yugoslav ensembles danced Gypsy suites using gross stereotypical movements and excluding Roma performers. Alongside the ensembles, however, there was a relatively healthy commercial Romani music industry. Coming from a long line of male wedding musicians, Ferus Mustafov was one of the first Macedonian Romani instrumentalists to regularly ap-

pear on Western recordings. The son of the famous saxophonist Ilmi JaSarov, Ferus was born in 1950 in Stip, a center for brass bands. Ilmi issued some of the earliest LPs of Goéeks in Yugoslavia in the 1970s; Ferus’s mother was also a saxophonist (but not a professional), a highly unusual role for a woman. He went to music school until he was thirteen years old and then became a professional (Cartwright 2005b:125; Burton 1995). For several years, he left Macedonia to live in Sarajevo in order to work for the Bosnian television orchestra, and he later worked for Macedonian television. Ferus developed his father’s style into a tighter, slicker sound and was more influenced by Bulgarian wedding music. In Chapter 7 I discuss how he traded tunes with Bulgarian wedding musician Ivo Papazov on the telephone; for example, his signature “Tikino” (Small) is claimed by Ivo. His son, Ilmi Mustafov, is now a respected musician. In video example 2.3 and photograph 2.4, Ferus plays a 2/4 éoéek as a guest musician at the babina (birth party) of Muamet Cun’s granddaughter. In video example 2.4, from a 1985 Macedonian television show, Ferus and his band perform a 2/4 éoéek (rhythm number 1 in Figure 2.1) dressed in pseudo-Turkish costumes, including turbans (illustrating the orientalizing and self-stereotyping that I discuss in Chapter 12). Also note the staging: in addition to two solo belly dancers who have much exposed skin but use characteristic Romani stomach movements, there is a group of

32 Introduction

non-Romani performers (the Ballet Troupe of Macedonian Television) doing unsubtle modern dance choreographies that have little in common with Romani dance (see Chapter 6). In Macedonia today, a viable but somewhat unstable commercial recording industry regularly produces Romani artists (although it is smaller than in Bulgaria). Political rallies often feature music, and Romani radio stations are often aligned with politicians. In 1992 the private television station BTR began programming; in 1994 the private television station Sutel began; and since 1992 a national station, MTV 2, has produced the Romani language program Bijandipe (Renaissance). There are also several Romani radio stations in Skopje and others in smaller cities that feature music; they are financed by local advertisements and paid “greetings,” mostly in the Romani language (for example birthday, wedding, or anniversary messages) that patrons write. Roma in the Macedonian diaspora keep abreast of music through recordings, visits of performers for events, and most recently YouTube and Facebook postings. Popular Macedonian Romani bands of the last decade include Versace (cf. the Italian fashion house), Mladi Talenti (Young Talents [Macedonian]), Veseli Momci (Jolly Boys [Macedonian]), Bistijani, Ongeni Moméinja (Fiery Boys [Macedonian]); Gazoza (Shpritzer), and Titanik. Performers listen widely across Balkan borders. The older repertoire of Feta Sakir’s band from the 1990s, is featured in video examples 5.9-5.16. I discuss Romani music festivals in Chapter 8, but here I want to note that

other institutionalized events in Macedonia (e.g., Romani calendrical holidays, beauty contests, and film festivals) sometimes feature music.'® For example, the spring holiday of Herdelezi and International Roma Day (April 8) are often celebrated with concerts sponsored by NGOs. In January 1998,

a combined celebration of Romska Vasilica (Romani St. Basil's Day) and Romska Ubavica (Most Beautiful Romani Woman contest) featured a singing contest with cash prizes. It drew singers from the diaspora, was attended by more than 1,200 people even with little advertising, and was held in the largest theater in Skopje. It was sponsored by one of the two Skopje Romani television stations, which is affliated with a Romani political party.'”

The history of Bulgarian Romani music has been documented in great detail by Peycheva (1999a, 2008) and Dimov (2009a, 2009b). Ibro Lolov (accordionist), Yashar and Anzhelo Malikov (composers), Hasan Chinchiri (composer and violinist), and the Takev brothers (violinists and guitarists) all represent a strain of Sofia-based Romani music that can be contrasted with the more Turkish-influenced styles in Thrace and north Bulgaria. As mentioned earlier, Yashar Malikov was a prolific song writer, composer, and arranger who (along with his son and Lolov) was involved in several

pioneering recordings in the 1980s featuring songs in the Romani language. Since the 1990s, Lolov has issued new recordings and remakes of older songs.”°

After the fall of socialism, Bulgarian Romani music burst forth in the public domain after years of government suppression.”! The excitement at Musical Stylesand Genres 33

the time was palpable; in fact, the first concerts were tied to political mobilization, as Romani nongovernmental organizations sprang up every-

where. Anzhelo Malikov organized a Sofia Romani dance and music ensemble, but it disbanded after a few years for lack of financing and infrastructure (Peycheva 1999a). New commercial recording companies such as Lazarov Records, Sunny Music, Payner, Ara/Diapason BMK (Bulgarian Music Company), Unison Stars, and Milena began issuing scores of

cassettes of Romani music (in addition to other genres); bands often self-produced master tapes and sold them to these companies, which functioned as distributors (Peycheva 1995: Dimov 1995). In the 1990s pi-

racy was rampant, production standards were low, and the mafia controlled parts of the music business.” In addition to ubiquitous cassettes, other media venues such as private radio and television channels sprang up in the early 1990s (Dimov 1995). Radio Signal Plyus and Radio Veselina offered pop/folk music, wedding music, rock music, folk music, and liberal amounts of Serbian, Macedonian, and Greek genres, which were the new rage,”’ financed by paid greetings and advertisements. Radio Veselina, for example, broadcast Muabet Bez Parsa (Dinner at the Table Without Tips [Bulgarian]), which accepted free requests. Music videos made inroads into homes in the 1990s, at first through videocassettes and later through private cable television stations. The Payner company started Planeta TV for pop/folk in 2001; Ara TV, Fen, Veselina TV, and other channels followed. (See Chapter 9 for discussion of Balkanika TV and folk/pop fusions.)

Today practically every Bulgarian family has cable, as prices have dropped to just a few dollars per month. In 2008, a corporately financed channel, www.gypsytv.tv started to broadcast sporadically from Sofia. Its programming includes clips from Romfest (see Chapter 8), Ivo Papazov (Chapter 7), and Goran Bregovié (Chapter 13), as well as Gypsy jazz and belly dance instruction (Chapter 6). Romani music is widely available via privately owned media, but government channels rarely feature Romani music. Lack of government support is nothing new for Roma, and thus they do not rely on it. New talent quickly becomes known via dissemination of clips, and more recently via YouTube. For example, since 2008 the young clarinetist Sali Okka has become widely known in Romani communities even though he hasn't cut an album (Peycheva 2008a); similarly, the clarinetist/vocalist Alyosha (formerly with Orkesttir Kristali) has received acclaim with Orkesttr Universal, which has limited recordings. Musicians comment that they make their money from weddings, not from albums. With rampant sharing of music files and clips, fewer Roma buy music. On

the other hand, the most popular Romani bands, such as Nasmi’ler, Kristal, and Kristali, have healthy album sales. In the early 1990s, the band DZipsi Aver (Another Gypsy) from Sofia captured the spotlight for their innovations, for example with rap in the Romani language; they won the grand prize at the Stara Zagora Romfest in 1995 (see video example 2.5). Their name came from the English term Gypsy, previously unknown in Bulgaria but probably taken from the Gipsy

34 Introduction

Kings. They also adopted stylistic elements from the Gipsy Kings, notably

euitars, Flamenco-style clapping (synthesized), and dancers dressed in flared pseudo-Gitano skirts and scarves. On their video Jmam li Dobtir Ktismet (Do I Have Good Luck? [Bulgarian], Video Total) vocalist Dzhago Traykov performs a rap version of Esma RedZepova’s song “Chaje Sukarije” (Beautiful Girl; see Chapter 10). This video, in contrast to the slick videos of a decade later, depicted the band casually shopping in an open-air market; it has no back-up dancers and no set choreography, but there are two kyuchek dancers (with exposed midriffs) and a Michael Jackson imitator. The rap element links Roma to African Americans; this is a resonant tie,

because both Roma and African Americans are minorities of color who have had a strong influence in popular culture but face discrimination (see Levy 2002; Currid 2000; Marian-Balasa 2004).”4 Amza Tairov is a relatively new but extremely popular artist in the Bal-

kan Romani scene. Around 2003, a legend started circulating among musicians about a young Rom from Vinica, Macedonia, who shut himself up in his room for several years to learn the synthesizer. Although the legend is untrue, it illustrates the aura surrounding “Amzata.” Synthesizer players from all over the Balkans have tried to imitate him, including his tendency

to use only three fingers, and his equipment: a small Casio keyboard mounted above a larger Korg Triton that he uses for sampling. Note that Amza’s reputation was established without the aid of commercial media recordings; it happened among musicians via traded live-performance recordings, much in the same manner that wedding music was transmitted in Bulgaria the 1970s and 1980s via unofficial cassettes (see Chapter 7). Because Amza plays the synthesizer, he is able to innovate in multiple ways: melodically, harmonically, rhythmically, texturally, and timbrally (video example 2.6). Rhythmically he pushes the limits by syncopating inventively. In addition, he is a master of melody, especially improvisation

and ornamentation, distinguished by his pronounced use of the pitch bender. Using a Korg Pandora effect processor, he also is a master of tim-

bre; he samples folk instruments such as zurla for timbral and textural variation. He is a composer, arranger, and performer all in one. Not surprisingly, Amza’s reputation has become trans-Balkan; he is now featured on several albums produced in Bulgaria, has been a guest on Bulgarian cable television, and is hired to play for Romani weddings all over Bul-

earia. He is a pan-European star with multiple engagements in western Europe in the Romani diaspora and with multiple videos on YouTube (Peycheva 2008a). Amza is much influenced by Romani styles from Kosovo. He imports an

Albanian style into Macedonian music, and this has been adopted by many musicians and even exported to Bulgaria. Another significant musician in this Macedonian/Kosovo trajectory is the singer Cita, from Mitrovica, Kosovo, living in Germany. Cita is a master of the talava or telava Kosovo style. Talava is believed to be a contraction of the Romani phrase tel o vas, literally under the hand, referring to the solo women’s Romani dance éoéek where the hands are waved delicately.”* Until the 1980s, talava

Musical Stylesand Genres = 35

was performed in segregated female gatherings by singers who were presumed to be homosexual (Pettan 1996a and 2003). Talava style is characterized by highly ornamented and syncopated vocal lines, often against a drone or constant chord, with amanes, vocal improvisations often sung on the syllables of the word aman, in which names of guests, commentary, and greetings are inserted. As a Macedonian Rom in Toronto stated, “They don't have a specific melody; they make it up on the spot, commenting on the bride, the groom, and their families.” A New York Romani musician commented that “it has free style words about the people involved.” These textual improvisations are especially evocative in the diaspora; Roma

react emotionally when they hear personalized greetings from distant family members. This emotional and personal way of singing, with masterful technique, is admired by Roma all over the Balkans and in the diaspora. Even in Bulgaria, where it was never done before, Romani singers now improvise over a drone in talava style. In audio example 2.9 with text supplement, Cita performs a talava-style

song over a repeated chord (with rhythm number 9 in Figure 2.1) at a Kosovo Romani event in Germany. Cita’s song comments on the perils of life as a refugee, raising themes of domestic violence, alcohol, and poverty.

Other talava singers now popular are Sevéet (see above), BabuS (from Kosovo), Erdzan (from Kumanovo, Macedonia), Muharem Ahmeti (from Tetovo, Macedonia), and Dzemailj Gasi (from Mitrovica, Kosovo, now living in Italy); DZemailj is the son of Nehat GaSi, popular in the 1970s. Many of these performers now live in Western Europe and command high fees, sometimes several thousand euros (see YouTube videos from western Europe and the Balkans). These singers employ the ornamental virtuosity characteristic of talava in their song repertoire; as one Rom stated, “They take an older style and put it in modern songs.” It is ironic that Kosovo Romani music is currently such a strong influence among Balkan Romani musicians precisely at a time when Kosovo Roma lead a precarious existence; they are displaced, dispersed, and unwelcome in Kosovo.”° In concluding this chapter, I want to emphasize the vitality of Romani music in Macedonia and Bulgaria, as well as the huge number of performing musicians and the popularity of music in the diaspora. Although economic times are very bad, there are still celebrations among various ethnic eroups, even if these events are shorter than they were in the 1980s. In Macedonia and Pirin, Bulgaria, zurla and tapan are typically used for rituals and processions, with an amplified band on stage for the banquets and evening dance. On any summer weekend in large Romani neighborhoods such as Sutka, there are still numerous weddings. There is also a prominent trend, especially in the Western European Romani diaspora, of hiring Romani musical stars from various countries. For a Romani wedding in Hamburg, Germany, in 2003, for example, the musicians included

Husnu Senlendirici (a Turkish Romani clarinetist who leads the band Laco Tayfa, or Good Band), Vasillis Saleas (a Greek Romani clarinetist), Bilhan (a clarinetist from Mitrovica, Kosovo), and the Kosovo Romani singer Babus. A 2007 wedding in Bujanovac, southern Serbia, featured

36 _Introduction

Orkesttir Universal from Bulgaria (with Sasho Bikov on drums, and Alyosha, clarinet, saxophone, and vocals), along with Macedonian guests Amza and saxophonist Dzafer.2’ A celebration in Dusseldorf, Germany, that I attended in 2011 featured the band Juzni Kovaéi from Sutka, the violinist Sunaj, and talava singers DZemailj GaSi and Tarkan (living in Belgium). The New York community also hosts many talented musicians; in Chapter 5 I describe how musicians from the Balkans visit New York regularly to perform at community celebrations.

Musical Stylesand Genres 37

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5 Dilemmas of Diaspora, Hybridity, and Identity

Pa visting the title of my bookprovenance solidly invokes diaspora, this chaptertoI interrogate its theoretical by exploring itsinapplicability Roma. Do Roma fit received definitions of diaspora? If not, what does this

say about the model, and about Roma? How can the Romani case help interrogate related concepts of transnationalism, hybridity, and cosmopolitanism? Finally, I explore how these themes highlight identity issues in relation to music and the current Romani rights movement. Although the scholarly literature on diaspora is vast, only recently have ethnomusicologists tackled this concept (Slobin 2003; Ramnarine 2007a).' William Safran’s classic definition of diaspora, in the inaugural issue of the journal of the same title, relies on several core factors: migration from a singular historic homeland, vivid memories of the homeland postulating an eventual return, and belief by migrants that “they are not—and perhaps cannot be—fully accepted by their host country” (1991:83-84; also see Clifford 1994).? The Jewish and Armenian cases are usually posed as examples, but Daniel and Jonathan Boyarin (1993) have illustrated how

variable the Jewish case is, and this may provide some parallels with Roma. Safran’s definition fits Roma in terms of historic migration from India but does not fit in terms of migrants’ consciousness of a homeland or their desire to return. Many Roma have learned about their Indian origins (and their victimization during the Holocaust) from scholars and activists, not from oral history. Activists are trying to inform them, as I discuss below. Note that although Roma do not wish to return to India, it figures symbolically in activist agendas and musical motifs. Rather than having a primary consciousness of an Indian homeland, Balkan Roma relate to more recent homelands in their historical rediasporization from the Balkans to Western Europe, North America, and Australia.* Macedonian Roma, for example, vividly refer to Macedonia as “home” (doma; Macedonian); those few who are informed of their Indian origins see no contradiction.

39

Homelands may be multiple and invoked strategically depending on

context. For example, in the performance and marketing of Balkan Romani music, both the Indian homeland and the new homelands are invoked. The challenge remains to resist essentializing diasporas by attaching them to particular places of origin, i.e., homelands. A second challenge is to resist equating all diasporic subjects merely because they are related to a posited homeland; a third is to resist diluting the concept so much as to equate it with all migration. Mark Slobin writes that since the concept of diaspora has grown to embrace myriad forms of movement, it is overwhelmed by complexity and multiplicity (2003:290-291). Perhaps it is more practical to see diaspora as a special kind of migration involving some kinds of homelands, but not necessarily fixed ones. The Romani case, like the Jewish case, evinces multiple rediasporizations “which do not necessarily succeed each other in historical memory but

echo back and forth” (Boyarin and Boyarin 1993, cited in Clifford 1994:305).

For diasporic Macedonian and Bulgarian Roma, I posit that Macedonia and Bulgaria, not India, are the more relevant “homelands.” But even so, they do not function like iconic homelands in that Roma do not seek to return; rather, they make new homes in which they invest physically and emotionally but that they might leave. The very notion of home has to be

reconceived (Malkki 1995:509). By asking “what does it mean to be emplaced” (515), we can approach the relationship between displacement and emplacement. The goal, then, is to study how ties to various homelands “are conceived and articulated and whether or not they erase significant historical differences . . . in different locations” (Dirlik 2000:177).* For Balkan Roma, migration—whether forced or voluntary—has become a way of life and a mode of adaptation; it is prevalent and valued because it is often necessary and irreversible. As Massey et al. write, “As migration erows in prevalence within a community it changes values and cultural perceptions in ways that increase the probability of future migration... . Migration becomes deeply ingrained into the repertoire of people’s behaviors, and values associated with migration become part of the community's values” (1993:452-453). Arif Dirlik, in analyzing the “Chinese overseas,” offers a useful critique of how the concept of diaspora tends to level disparate peoples into one diasporic unity. This may lead to a “cultural reification” that erases the

particulars of history and class and furthermore racializes the group (2002:95-99).° Similarly, Roma constitute a multiplicity of cultures that neither intermarry nor identify as one group; this variation is erased by conceiving of the Romani diaspora as a unified cultural unit. Notions of

Romani identity that are based on Indian origins and homogeneous culture, then, may racialize Roma by emphasizing their non-European origins. Activists can sometimes capitalize on these notions and use them in pursuit of political agendas; similarly, musicians and music producers may use the Indian homeland concept in their art. But there may be a risk of exotification, which I will discuss below. 40 =‘ Introduction

Transnationalism and Hybridity In part to overcome the diasporic emphasis on a singular homeland, Basch, Glick Schiller, and Blanc promoted transnationalism as “the processes by which immigrants forge and sustain multi-stranded social relations that link together their societies of origin and settlement” (1997:7; also see Glick Schiller, Basch, and Blanc Szanton 1992 and Glick Schiller 1995).° This concept easily applies to Roma because it sidesteps the issue of origins and focuses on people and communities. According to Roger Rouse, diasporic groups “find that their most important kin and friends are as likely to be living hundreds of miles away as immediately around them. More significantly, they are able to maintain these spatially extended relationships as actively and effectively as the ties that link them with their neighbors” (1991:13). In Chapters 4, and 5, I detail how Roma in New York and Macedonia communicate via telephone, internet, and videos of music and ritual, as well as trips for new spouses. Here I emphasize the agency of transnational actors in enabling an “active display of identification in the making of diaspora” (Werbner 2002b:11); enactment of identity via performative genres, especially music, is a visible, audible symbol in the Balkan Romani diaspora. Through performance, identity is conceptu-

alized: “the imagination of diaspora is constituted ... by a compelling sense of moral co-responsibility and embodied performance” (11; also see Ramnarine 2007b). Some genres of music and dance play have become veritable emblems of identity in the diaspora. At the same time, we must remember that diasporas are not homogeneous; a diaspora is a “site of multiple consciousness” (Toloyan 1996:28). Diasporas are “lived and relived though multiple modalities,” as “differentiated, heterogeneous and contested spaces, even as they are implicated in the construction of a common ‘we’ (Brah 1996:184). The tension among modalities applies to Balkan Roma; sometimes they identify as Roma and sometimes they adopt other labels, as I discuss in Chapter 4. Sometimes they unite with Roma from other places and other religions, and sometimes they reject other Roma. Finally, wherever they are, all of their negotiations are informed by historical discrimination and stereotypification.

Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett reminds us that historically diaspora has had a negative, almost pathological connotation: “The terms diaspora and ghetto form a linked pair. What is not blamed on one is attributed to (and often entailed by) the other—stranger and marginal man flow from them” (1994:340) It is no accident that in America Jews, African Americans, and Gypsies iconically define the diaspora/ghetto mold in terms of where they lived and how they were conceived and rejected as “others.” The classic American social science literature sees all three groups as problematic and deficient, needing to be assimilated and acculturated.’ For refugees in particular, according to Malkki, “The bare fact of movement or displacement is often assumed a priori to entail not a transformation but a loss of culture and/or identity” (1995:508). Roma, for example, are often assumed to have no culture (especially music) of their own and Dilemmas of Diaspora, Hybridity, and Identity 41

to be inveterate borrowers (see Chapter 1). Kirshenblatt-Gimblett’s statement “This is not a site of privilege” (1994:340) is echoed by Ong and Nonini: “There is nothing intrinsically liberating about diasporic cultures” (1997:325).

Current diaspora studies reject this pathology in favor of reclaiming hybridities, routes, mixings, and border crossings, but these concepts may be too celebratory and too ahistoric. The concept of hybridity, first popularized by cultural studies and postcolonial studies and then adopted by anthropology and other disciplines, is useful to destabilize binaries and bounded notions of culture that permeate the classic social science literature. As part of the postcolonial project, hybridity challenges Eurocentric master narratives, homogenization of ethnic identities, and the assumption that nations are composed of singular nationalities.’ Perhaps its radical potential lies in its implicit rejection of those who have had the power to label and classify: “Hybridity in contemporary culture is in a fundamental sense a rebellion of those who are, or feel, culturally disposed . . . who challenge the claims of the centers of power” (Dirlik 2000:182). The fact that Roma embrace hybridity and that Romani music is hybrid is perhaps obvious, but if the concept is to have any validity we must show how this hybridity works, why it exists, and how it differs from other explanatory models. Indeed, the fluidity of Romani music grows from the multiple diasporas of Roma, their openness to adopting non-Romani and multiple Romani styles, and their outsider status. For centuries Roma have had neither a singular state nor a national language, territory, religion, or culture. Historically, the professional marginal musician must be a hybrid to survive; multiple patrons require multiple musical repertoires. Hybridity, however, can be a problematic concept because of its vagueness and its theoretical positioning. Hybridity is now so fashionable and applied to so many situations that it has begun to lose its specificity. As Dirlik writes: “If hybridity is indeed a condition of everyday life, what is radical about it?” (2002:189). Hybridity also brings up the problem of antecedent purity: “The idea of hybridity, of intermixture, presupposes two anterior purities. ..._I think there isn’t any... anterior purity... that’s why I try not to use the word hybrid. ... Cultural production is not like mixing cocktails” (Gilroy 1994:54-55).° Either hybridity is everywhere, thus losing

its theoretical force, or else it exists in specific places and is contrasted with the nonhybrid. I align with the latter position but do not subscribe to Paul Gilroy's view that hybridity always implies prior purities. True, no cultures are pure or bounded, which is to say, nothing is nonhybrid; but some interactions are more hybrid than others. I believe we can usefully recover the concept if we keep it grounded in historical specificities and resist its vague discursive seduction. This brings up another criticism of hybridity, its abstractness, or more precisely its location in discourse rather in specific socioeconomic conditions. In Edward Soja’s and Homi Bhabha’s writings, hybridity is claimed to be a mode of consciousness that “releases the imagination to conceive of the world in new ways” (Dirlik 2000:182). Soja’s term “thirdspace”

42 Introduction

(1996) and Bhabha’s term “inbetweenness” (1994) are similar to Appadurai’s term “global imaginaries” (1996) in that they emphasize the realm of thought and creativity rather than on-the ground realities. Although this realm can fruitfully lead us to performance and style, it can also become too abstract, losing sight of precisely the material realities that inform the imaginary. Dirlik has been a vocal critic of valorization of the hybrid and the diasporic because these concepts can easily elide specific histories, structures, and power inequalities (1997, 2000, 2002). He points out that hybridity as an abstract concept may actually blur “in the name of differ-

ence, significant distinctions between differences . . . as if the specific character of what is being mixed (from class to gender to ethnicity and race) did not matter’ (2000:184). Dirlik reminds us that hybridity may serve “not to illuminate but to disguise social inequality and exploitation by reducing to a state of hybridity all those who may be considered ‘marginal, covering up the fact that there is great deal of difference between marginalities” (184). Specific histories must always be examined. Another danger in glibly using a term like hybridity is that it takes on a life of its own in identity discourse and loses political mooring.'? Furthermore, the power of hybridity can be harnessed by reactionary as well as progressive causes: “Hybridity in and of itself is not a marker of any kind

of politics but a deconstructive strategy that may be used for different political ends” (Dirlik 2000:187). Rey Chow elaborates the position that hybridity, though valorizing difference and disjuncture, may acquiesce to and support the status quo of global capitalism: “The enormous seductiveness of the postmodern hybridite’s discourse lies . . . in its invitation to join the power of global capitalism by flattening out past injustices” (1998:156). John Hutnyk similarly writes that there is no problem with creative trading of cultures, but rather we must investigate the terms of the trade: “To think that a celebration of the trade is sufficient is the problem. Celebration of multicultural diversity and fragmentation is exactly the logic of the mass market” (2000:135). Along these lines, in Chapter 13 I investigate appropriation of Romani music by non-Roma for commercial transactions. Dirlik points out that hybridity means different things to different class

constituencies. To business investors it means internationalizing consumption markets, but to postcolonial scholars such as Bhabha and Soja it means a new kind of radical politics (Dirlik 2002). Concepts of multiculturalism, transnationalism, and globalism have been successfully used by corporations to recruit wider markets (Dirlik 1997:94-95). Gilroy simi-

larly points out that hybridity has been annexed by corporate culture (2004:xix), and Zizek underlines that multiculturalism is manipulated by commerce (1997). Indeed, music marketers and producers have played an important role in the proliferation of hybrid Gypsy fusion genres such as Gypsy Punk, Balkan Beats, and DJ remixes under the rubric “world music” (see Chapter 13). These critiques are useful for showing that celebrating hybridity may mask underlying inequalities. Similarly, generalizing all Roma as hybrid flattens them into one homogeneous group and obscures on-the-ground

Dilemmas of Diaspora, Hybridity, and Identity 43

differences. Roma are divided by class, religion, language, sense of homeland, and identity label. Just as Dirlik’s Chinese colleague felt “silenced by a concept such as hybridity which erases his differences from other Chinese” (2000:198), Roma, both activists and ordinary citizens, often reject

pan-Romani scholarly labels such as hybrid in favor of historically informed particularistic labels and positions. The label Roma is a case in point because it is sometimes rejected as an outside imposition; the historical reasons for adoption or rejection of the label reveal much about social positioning. Communities of Muslim Turkish-speaking Roma in eastern Bulgaria, for example, label themselves Turks. They “became” Turkish during the Ottoman Empire, when Turkish culture and language were the marks of civilization and they could ascend the social scale by adopting them.'' Today these communities are not so easily convinced to join the

pan-European Romani rights movement; a change of identity would require deep reevaluation of selfhood and political awareness. Note that they persist in calling themselves Turks in spite of the fact that the local population (including Turks) refer to them as Turkish Gypsies. The label Gypsy is, of course, pejorative, and they do not see the term Roma as an improvement. On the other hand, in Chapter 11 I show how one musician from this community, Yuri Yunakov, employed multiple identification labels throughout his life (including Bulgarian, Gypsy, Romani, and Turkish) depending on context. The concepts of cosmopolitanism and modernity may also help to interrogate Romani identities precisely because Roma have often been excluded from these categories; Roma are usually presented by non-Romani scholars, music producers, and sometimes themselves as “traditional,” “premodern, bound by kin, custom, and conservatism (Van de Port 1998). On the other hand, Roma may also be viewed as the epitome of global postmodern European citizens: motley, diasporic, urban, transnational,

with ultimate loyalty to no one state (or to many states), having no common religion, language, or territory. Their cultural traits sometimes resemble those of their non-Romani neighbors more than other Romani eroups, and their music is innovative and open to various generic influences. They are always multilingual, multicultural, and multioccupational: in short; they are multisited and cosmopolitan, at home everywhere in a Europe that despises them. (See text supplement 3.2 for a fuller discussion of cosmopolitanism and modernity.)

Hybridity and World Music In his 2000 book, John Hutnyk, a Marxist anthropologist specializing in popular fusion musics of England, provides an insightful critique of hybridity in relation to world music.'? World music is above all a marketing label; it emerged in the 1980s and converted the conservative “international folk” section of record stores into a hip site of fusion and hybridity (Taylor 1997). But what does global capitalism’s embrace of heterogeneity

44 Introduction

really mean? Bringing the musics of marginal peoples into the mainstream may yield visibility and even hard cash for formerly impoverished per-

formers if they have fair contracts. But valorization of hybridity rarely changes the structures of inequality. For Roma it is true that some performers have become rich (even supporting whole villages in the Balkans) and Gypsy styles have been appropriated by mainstream non-Romani artists (see Chapter 13). But the overall structural domination of Roma has not changed. On the other hand, as J illustrate in several chapters, there have been many emancipatory artistic moments and even movements that could count as resistance. Hutnyk shows how certain cultural forms become “the flavour of the month .. . the seasoning for transnational commerce. . . . Hybridity sells difference as the logic of multiplicity” (2000:4—5). In its meekest form, hybridity is not too far from the Disney version of multiculturalism: watered down, safe, distant. Liberals can feel good when buying a hybrid product like a world music CD because of the imputed connection to the dispossessed. In fact, marginality can becomes a kind of asset, a type of political cache, because of the assumption that marginal folks make good music, and we owe it to them to buy their products. It is certainly no accident that African Americans and Roma occupy similar positions vis-a-vis race and music. Hutnyk writes that “other love (anti-racism, esotericism, anthropology) can turn out to be its opposite” (2000:6). This is reminiscent of Renato Rosaldo’s concept of “imperialist nostalgia,” whereby the powerful destroy a form of life and then yearn for it aesthetically: “Imperialist nostalgia uses the pose of ‘innocent yearning’ both to capture people's imagina-

tions and to conceal its complicity with often brutal domination” (1989:69-70). Thus Roma (or African Americans or Native Americans) sulfer discrimination for years, and then white folks idolize and appropriate their music (or spirituality) as a means to erase this history and feel good. Although marginality may be an attraction in music, it also may be erased by the illusion of success on stage. Part of the deceptive seductiveness of hybridity for audiences is the assumption that in art there is a level playing field. Hybridity, especially in music, comes with an aura of equality. The logic goes something like this: if Africans or Gypsies use Western harmony and electric guitars and appear in large festivals, they must be already inteerated into the West and successful; and if they are successful, we assume they are compensated fairly and accepted fully by the mainstream as musicians and people. Of course, these are all false presumptions. Hutnyk writes: “Difference within the system is a condition and stimulus of the market—and this necessarily comes with an illusion of equality, ... ‘crossed’ cultural forms merely competing for a fair share” (2000:33). Few audience members bother to find out what performers are paid, what West-

ern styles and instruments mean to performers, or how performers are treated once the show is over. Romani musicians relate many stories of being idolized on stage but being suspect in walking down the street (see Chapter 12). Furthermore, successful performers are unrepresentative of the vast majority of poverty-stricken Roma. Neither can we presume Romani

Dilemmas of Diaspora, Hybridity, and Identity 45

world musicians to be representative of all Roma; nor can we presume that they have solved the problems of marginality. The role of the exotic in representation of many world music styles has been noted by numerous scholars (Taylor 1997 and 2007; Stokes 2004; Radano and Bohlman 2000; Kapchan 2007). As I explore in several chapters, Gypsies are iconically pictured as sexual, eastern, passionate, geneti-

cally musical, and defhant of rules and regulations. It is precisely their outsiderness, their otherness, that makes them a valuable marketing commodity; many performers know this very well and capitalize on it. But performers are always negotiating the fine line between exoticism and rejection, between being a Gypsy on stage and passing as an ordinary citizen so as to avoid discrimination. Esma RedZepova’s life history (Chapter 10),

for example, illustrates how she embodied the multiethnic agenda of socialist Yugoslavia through her music at the same time she presented herself as an authentic Gypsy star on stage; simultaneously she faced prejudice in the Yugoslav recording industry. In an ironic twist, the hybrid often becomes a mark of authenticity (even purity), and the two terms can even be found side by side in music mar-

keting. In Chapter 12 I show how Gypsies are pictured as Europe's last bastion of authenticity by Europeans who are mourning their own loss of authenticity. Perhaps the authentic emanates magically from the hybrid because it is enacted by marginal artists: folks who look like they come from real communities with real rituals, songs, and dances, the very things most Europeans and Americans have lost, or think they have lost. Although the label “authentic” may valorize Romani music, it can also serve as a straightjacket, limiting choices of performers. In Chapter 13 I illustrate

how West European audience members prefer acoustic instruments for Romani bands because then they can be sure they are getting “the real thing.” As Hutnyk states, “The ghettoization of purity and authenticity serves only to corral the ‘ethnically marked performer yet again” (2000:31).

One of Hutnyk’s most important points is that the celebration of hybridity by both postcolonial scholars and marketers is occurring precisely

at a time when identities are becoming more political and battles are being waged for representation and turf: Why is it that cultural celebration rarely translates into political transformation? ...Atatime when class politics in the West seems blocked,

does the shift to identity, hybridity and the postcolonial express a decline in aspirations (to transform the entire system) and an accommodation to things as they seem now and forever to be? Importing culturally “hybrid” styles via the mass media that sanitises and decontextualizes the political context for those styles ... might be recognized as a danger [2000:119].

Hutnyk calls for engaged cultural studies where hybridity is not merely celebrated aesthetically and discursively but enmeshed in political struggles. The challenge I accept from Dirlik and Gilroy is to keep a focus on

46 ‘Introduction

representation, performance, and aesthetics while still maintaining a solid connection to material conditions and history. Thus I turn to the relationship of music to identity issues and the current struggle of Roma for political rights.

Identity Politics and the Romani Rights Movement As discussed earlier, Roma constitute a rich mosaic of groups that distineuish among themselves culturally and do not usually intermarry. The di-

versity of Romani groups is in part due to their diaspora; some Roma became sedentary, some are nomadic to varying degrees, some assimilated more than others linguistically and culturally, some adopted the religious beliefs of their neighbors (Hancock 2002; Guy 2001). Discrimination is sometimes the only thing that seems to unify Roma, and this is precisely what Roma seek to eliminate. Activists recognize this diversity:

While East European administrators tend to look for the “uniqueness’ and unity of a people's culture as a prerequisite for promoting distinct cultural entities .. . the Romani people is presenting itself as a huge diaspora embracing five continents, sharing the citizenship of a multitude of states, while lacking a territory of its own. The Gypsy “archipelago” is formed by a mosaic of various groups speaking both different dialects of Romani as an oral language and a variety of lancuages of the surrounding societies. The Romani communities share a number of religions .. .; they maintain cultural boundaries not only

between themselves and the surrounding environment, but also between various Romani groups themselves [Gheorghe and Acton 2001:55-56].

Will Guy similarly asserts that “in view of the diversity of Romani expe-

rience, it would be more accurate to talk of a constellation of Romani cultures and ...a cluster of varying and related identities rather than a homogeneous identity’ (Guy 2001:28; also see Marushiakova and Popov

2001). Gheorghe and Acton also realize that the “multiculturality” of Roma can be a drawback to political mobilization: “it is still difficult to imagine how multiculturality and multi-territoriality could become the basis for the cultural affirmation and development of a people... which strive to identify themselves... in terms of unity and specificity” (2001:56). Although Mirga and Gheorghe suggest adopting the term “transnational minority,’ '? other activists use the terminology “ethnogenesis” (Guy 2001:19) or “nation.” The International Romani Union’s'* Declaration of a Nation, in 2000, states: “Individuals belonging to the Roma Nation call for representation of their Nation which does not want to become a state... . We share the same tradition, the same culture, the same origin, we are a nation” (Acton and Klimova 2001:216).

Dilemmas of Diaspora, Hybridity, and Identity — 47

Like indigenous rights movements that have used symbols for unification (such as the powwow of Native Americans), the Romani rights movement has created national symbols. They include a unifying label (Roma), a singular narrative of Indian origin, the Holocaust as a symbol of oppres-

sion, a flag, a literary language, and an anthem. Each is a trope that inscribes the legitimate historical place of Roma in the world; each corresponds to the dominant European tropes of defining the heritage of a sin-

eular nation. This is no accident, as the Romani movement seeks to legitimize the place of Roma in European politics. As discussed earlier in this chapter, the term Roma is used as an in-group label largely by Roma who speak Romani, but these Roma constitute only about half the world’s Roma. Other designations, such as Gypsy, Sinti, Gitano, and Tsigan, have regional provenance but are sometimes contested in pan-European activist forums. Roma has emerged as the unifying term even in regions where it was never used. Marushiakova and Popov claim a significant part of Romani nationalist ideology is “a fresh approach to Romani history emphasizing the Holocaust” (2001:49). Indeed, the Romani word for the Holocaust, porrajmos, is now widely used in Romani circles. The Holocaust has become a symbol of Romani oppression for several reasons: close to a million Roma perished at the hands of the Nazis; the facts are still not widely known

and more research is needed; few Roma received compensation; and most important, Romani scholars and activists have had to fight to be included in Holocaust museums, memorials, and commemorations, both in Europe and America (Hancock 1987 and 2002). Unlike the Holocaust, which is a badge of suffering, the Romani anthem and flag are positive affirmations of Romani heritage and identity. Both were adopted at the First World Romani Congress, which took place in London in 1971. The flag is composed of a green lower portion, a blue upper portion, and a red wheel in the middle (photograph 3.1). Common explanations assert that ereen is the earth, blue is the sky, and the wheel is migration, but I have also heard activists claim the wheel is a spiritual sign, a mandala, signifying Indian ties. Formation of a singular Romani literary language and production of a Romani dictionary were mandated several years ago by the International Romani Union, but progress has been slow. Many Romani dialects exist,

and the language has changed and continues to change in relation to surrounding languages (V. Friedman 1985, Matras 2002). Deciding which

dialect of Romani to elevate to the literary language is problematic, as well as deciding which orthography to use. According to V. Friedman (2005) and Matras (2005), a multiplicity of forms of literary Romani are emerging, which have national or regional provenance rather than international provenance. The challenge is how to network among these forms. According to Matras, the web of Romani language varieties (rather than a single form) “fits the specific Romani situation of a trans-national

minority with dispersed regional centres of cultural and public life” (2005:31).

48 Introduction

Music in the Romani Rights Movement: Origins and Anthems The Indian origin of Roma is supported by historical linguistics, but the

precise time, location, and nature of the Indian exodus is contested (Matras 2002; Hancock 2002).'° Activists, however, sometimes use dubious historical connections to prove cultural ties to India, such as asserting that certain Romani musical scales or dance steps come from India (see Chapter 2). Furthermore, Western European Gypsy music festivals are usually modeled on the documentary film Latcho Drom, which depicts linear nomadic migration, starting in Rajasthan, India, and ending in Spain (see Chapter 12). This may convey a misleading message that Rajasthani music today is what Romani music sounded like a thousand years ago. Furthermore, as discussed in Chapter 1, not all Roma are nomadic. In the 1970s, Macedonian and Serbian Romani musicians embraced Indian-inspired melodies and songs, reflecting the growing diaspora consciousness of Roma. In Macedonia there was a veritable craze for Indian culture; parents gave their children Indian names such as Rajiv and Indira, and one famous singer made pilgrimages to India (see Chapter 10 on Esma RedZepova).'® Movies from India were widely viewed by Roma (who

could understand them because Hindi, like Romani, is related to Sanskrit), and movie tunes were turned into €oéeks. For example, in 1990 the snake theme from the Indian movie The Cobra became “Sapeskiri Coéek” (the snake’s G€ocek; Pettan 2003).

Muharem Serbezovski'’s Serbian song “Ramo Ramo,” a tune inspired by an Indian film, became a hit in the 1970s.'’ Many versions were released in Yugoslavia. A Romani version appeared in Serbia/Kosovo in the 1970s as “Celo Dive Mangasa’” (All Day We Beg; audio example with text supple-

ment 3.1). This version emphasizes the themes of poverty and loss of a friend. Note the older Kosovo style of acoustic instrumental accompaniment, comprising clarinet, accordion, dZumbus (long-necked, fretless, plucked lute with a skin face), and tarabuka (the synthesizer had not entered the scene yet). Another 1970s song invoking India is Serbezovski's “Ramajana,” whose title refers both to the Hindu epic and his daughter’s name. Like many musicians, Serbezovski (born in Topana, Skopje, in 1950) moved to Sarajevo in the 1970s to further his career; there he married a non-Romani Bosnian woman and faced issues around assimilation of his children.'® This chapter of his life is chronicled in the song: when he asks his daughter if she speaks Romani, a chorus of children answer, “No I dont know Romani’ (audio example with text supplement 3.2, video example 3.1). The song displays Indian elements not only in the text but also in the music.!'°

In the mid-1990s, the Serbian Romani singer Zvonko Demirovié released “Stranci” (Strangers; Serbian) which deals with Indian origins and the tragic fate of Roma (audio example with text supplement 3.3).

The song has a pop/jazz introduction followed by a slow 4/4 meter (number 5 in Figure 2.1). The text is more about the suffering of Roma Dilemmas of Diaspora, Hybridity, and Identity 49

than about Indian origins, but it does mention the posited origins of those in Macedonia who call themselves Egyptians. Hundreds of other songs deal with poverty, suffering, orphaned children, death, and lack of work— in general, the hard lives of Roma. In fact, these are the some of the most common themes of Balkan Romani song texts. A few songs deal with resistance to suffering, that is, fighting back or rising up. One such song is “Kemano Ba§Sal” (The violin plays; by the singer DZansever, discussed in Chapter 2; on Basal Kemano/ Violino Sviri, Soko} MP 21102), which metaphorically calls for the unity of all Roma (audio example with text supplement 3.4). Some Macedonian Roma refer to this song as their “anthem.”*° Besides Kemano Ba§Sal, there are other local “anthems” such as “Ciganyhimnusz” (The Gypsy anthem), which is widespread in Hungary (Lange 1999). Recently, a group of Romani musicians including Esma RedZepova, Kal, and rapper R Point composed versions of the European Union anthem for the antiracism campaign Dosta (Enough), funded by the Council of Europe (http:/Awww.coe.int/T/DG3/ RomatTravellers/dosta_en.asp, accessed June 17, 2011). The song that is claimed most widely as the Romani anthem is “Dzelem Dzelem’ (I traveled and traveled), whose trajectory is a good illustration of the interplay between politics and music. The melody of the song (in a minor scale) was in oral circulation in multiple variants in the Balkans at

least since the late nineteenth century. It is possibly a Romanian song adopted into Serbia (Marushiakova and Popov 1995:20-21). It became popular when it was featured in the 1960s in the Yugoslav feature film Skupljaci Perja (literally, the feather buyers, known in English as J Even Met Happy Gypsies, 1967), directed by Aleksandar Petrovic. The song's more recent political import is tied to the April 1971 meeting of the Comité Internationale Tsigane in London. Romani activists gathered and reconstituted the Comité as the First World Romani Congress, which was eventually constituted as the International Romani Union. Serbian singer Jarko Jovanovié embellished the song for the Congress by taking several verses from oral tradition and writing several new ones. The British sociologist Thomas Acton reported that “Jarko composed them on a bus, the day people from the congress formed a delegation and went to Walsall, where three little Romani children had been burned to death in a trailer while the police were towing [it] away” (Gelbart 2004:1). Donald Kenrick, a British linguist and educator who was also there, remembers that Dr. Jan Cibula, a Romani activist from Slovakia, contributed to the text. It was adopted as the official song of the Congress and sung at its closing (Marushiakova and Popov 1995:21). It eventually became the “Romani anthem” through use at numerous political gatherings, and it now frequently opens or closes major Romani political events in the dias-

pora such as International Day of Roma, April 8. For example, Esma RedZepova sang “DZelem DZelem” at the opening of the Skopje Romani music festival Sutkafest in 1993 (video example 3.2 and Chapter 10). The lyrics in text supplement 3.1 are taken from Gelbart (2004) but modified in translation and orthography. Gelbart took them from the Albanian 50 = - Introduction

Romani group Rromani Dives (Romani day).”' The text exhibits a strong and indicting reference to the Holocaust, not common in Romani songs. However, as I noted above, since 1989 activists have mobilized the Holocaust as an organizing symbol for Romani unity and resistance. I believe the song has a more general emotional appeal than a specific historical appeal. There are hundreds of variants in circulation, and many versions have been commercially recorded in myriad styles, although its popularity is greatest in Serbia and Macedonia.” Most of the variants now in circulation neither have overtly political texts nor mention the Holocaust. Serbian Romani singer Saban Bajramovic’s 1980s version about love has been countlessly emulated both in text and melodic contour. According to Gelbart, activist Valery Novoselsky claimed the song “is important not only for our politicians and representation but for ordinary people also. . .. [When non-Roma hear it] they can understand more of who we are’ (2004:3). Activists point out its political function, but ordinary Roma often become teary when they hear the song. It sometimes helps to bridge the gap between Roma and non-Roma. When Macedonian Romani singer Esma RedZepova performed the song in Serbian at a private New York City party in 1996, the audience consisted of Macedonian Roma, Serbian Roma, and American Kalderash. These groups do not normally socialize, and there is little camaraderie among them. Esma directed her performance of the song (in Serbian) to the Serbian Roma and the American Kalderash (see photograph 3.2 and video example 3.3); the rest of her program was directed to the Macedo-

nian Roma. But at the moment of performance, there was a palpable feeling of unity in the room. On the other hand, sometimes the song fails to achieve this unifying function. In Chapter 12 I recount how “Dzelem Dzelem” was rejected as a finale piece by most of the musicians in the 1999 Gypsy Caravan tour because they didn't relate to it. Finally, video example 3.4 shows Esma singing “Dzelem Dzelem” to a mixed audience of Macedonians and Roma in 2004 at a Macedonian church in Garfield, New Jersey. The song thus reveals a complex web of identity politics and charts how Roma choose to represent themselves.

The Crucible of Identity In examining use of the anthem, the flag, and the quest for a literary language, we see that although Roma have been excluded from the dominant tropes of national folklore and cultural heritage (see Chapter 7) they have constructed their own symbols of heritage as part of a strategizing process in European politics. Herzfeld points out that “states AND citizens both depend on the semiotic illusion—that identity is consistent; they both

create or constitute homogeneity and produce iconicities” (1997:31). Although “essentialism is not exclusively a state activity ... states do have a rich variety of devices [and I would add institutions] for essentializing. . . . It seems like common sense” (31). Marginalized ethnic groups such as Roma

Dilemmas of Diaspora, Hybridity, and Identity 51

often engage in what Gayatri Spivak has termed “strategic essentialism” (1988) in the cause of mobilization. Herzfeld reminds us that “powerful state agents and humble social actors all engage in the strategy of essentialism to the same degree.” In fact, “social poetics is the analysis of essentialism in everyday life” (1997:31).

Herzfeld rightly draws our attention back to essentialism, a concept that has been so demonized in cultural theory that Werbner called it “the bogey word of the human sciences” (1997:226). Perhaps the concept of hybridity became so fashionable because it seemed the perfect antidote to essentialism. Demonization of essentialism is quite unfortunate because we can never understand identity politics without it. Furthermore, as scholars we remove ourselves from the trenches of political struggle when we point fingers and assign accusatory labels. As Dirlik writes: “It seems that any admission of identity, including the identity that may be necessary to any articulated form of collective political action, is open to charges of essentialism” (2000:188; also see Dirlik 1997).*3 Similarly, bell hooks welcomes a critique of essentialism but warns: This critique should not become a means to dismiss differences or an excuse for the ignoring of experience. It is often evoked in a manner which suggests that all the ways black people think of ourselves as ‘different’ from whites are really essentialist, and therefore without concrete grounding. This way of thinking threatens the very foundation that makes resistance to domination possible [1990:130].

Both hooks and Dirlik remind us of the irony that postmodern/postcolonial intellectuals have the luxury to repudiate essentialized identities. These scholars construct “identities and histories almost at will in those ‘in-between’ places that are immune to the burden of the past,” whereas those who suffer “the sentence of history” are supposedly too caught up in the past and thus misguided in their collective claims (Dirlik 1997:221). Too often academics intellectualize an unequal playing field into an abstract argument. Nicholas Thomas states: Clifford writes as though the problem were merely intellectual: difference and hybridity are more appropriate analytically to the contem-

porary scene of global cultural transposition than claims about human sameness or bounded types. I would agree, but this does not bear upon the uses that essential discourses may have for people whose projects involve mobilization rather than analysis. ... Nativist consciousness cannot be deemed undesirable merely because it is ahistorical. ... The main problem is not that this imposes academic (and arguably ethnocentric) standards on non-academic and nonWestern representation, but that it paradoxically essentializes nativism by taking its politics to be uniform [1994:176].

52. Introduction

Both Thomas and Dirlik encourage scholars not to dismiss cultural and historical claims to collective identity as mere essentialisms, but to analyze them as works in progress in a hierarchical political playing field. For Dirlik history is critical; he titles a chapter in his book The Postcolonial Aura “The Past as Legacy and Project: Postcolonial Criticism of Indigenous Historicism” to differentiate history as static heritage from history as a political project. Using indigenous cultural politics as a case study, he writes that its political significance lies “in its claims to a different historicity that challenges not just postcolonial denials of collective identity but the structure of power that contains it. To criticize indigenous ideology for its reification of culture is to give it at best an incomplete reading” (1997:228). Thus the use of cultural and historical symbols in political struggles of marginal peoples cannot be merely explained away as “social constructions.” With the case of Roma, although we may be tempted to label their nationalist symbols “invented traditions” because they are newly created, we fall into several traps by employing the term invented. Hobsbawm and Ranger (1983) first used the term to refer to symbols and practices that figured prominently in European nationalist discourse but were of recent historical provenance. They therefore implied that some traditions are real or authentic (meaning old) while others were invented, hence madeup and inauthentic. Handler and Linnekin (1984), Wagner (1979) and Hanson (1989) broadened the argument to claim that all traditions (and for Wagner, culture itself) are invented in the sense that they are social constructions. Thus authenticity is itself a social construction. This constructivist position fit nicely into the 1980s postmodernist critique of bounded notions of culture but couldn't have been more ill-timed in terms of world politics.

Indeed, the 1980s were precisely the era of the emergence of identity politics, when marginal groups were finally taking center stage and defining their own histories and symbols. As Clifford states: “For just at the

moment the radical post-structuralisms became popular in the US academy, a whole range of formerly marginal and excluded peoples and perspectives were fighting for recognition: women, racial, and ethnic minorities, new immigrants. These groups, for the first time entering the public sphere, often felt the sophisticated cultural critics to be, in effect, telling them, ‘Oh yes, we understand your gender, race, culture and iden-

tity are important to you, but you know, you're just essentializing” (2003:64). Indigenous scholar/activists such as Haunani-Kay Trask (1991) rejected “the implication that dynamic traditions were merely politically contrived for current purposes” (Clifford 2004:156) and criticized con-

structivists as neocolonial outsiders who were thwarting the legitimate political agendas of marginalized people. Other scholars analyzed the confrontation between these two sides, arguing that we should simultaneously abandon the loaded language of “invention” and interrogate all positions as to motivations, agendas, and funding (Briggs 1996).

Dilemmas of Diaspora, Hybridity, and Identity 53

Taking Briggs’s suggestion, I aim to elucidate how the concept of heritage/tradition can be pried from its narrow historical moorings so we may understand the symbols of the Romani rights movement as historically placed responses to marginality. At the same time, an expanded notion of heritage can help us widen bounded notions of national culture to embrace multicultural and hybrid forms. Indigenous heritage movements, such as those of various Native American groups, can serve as useful comparisons. Dirlik writes: “Contrary to critics ... who see in every affirmation of cultural identity an ahistorical cultural essentialism, indigenous voices are quite open to change; what they insist on is not cultural purity or persistence, but the preservation of a particular historical trajectory of their own’ (1997:223). As Clifford notes, indigenous leaders are simultaneously loosening and reclaiming the notion of authenticity; sometimes authenticity can be “a straightjacket, making every engagement with modernity (religions, technologies, knowledges, markets, or media) a contamination, a ‘loss’ of true selfhood” (2004:156). Rejecting their emplacement in the past, native leaders are asserting their legitimate place in modernity through global displays of media, technology, and legality. Simultaneously they are claiming land, reviving languages and rituals, reclaiming sacred objects and burials from collections, building cultural centers, and representing themselves in museums. Similarly, Roma are starting to establish cultural centers, design exhibits, produce films, publish histories, and produce their own music festivals and albums (see Chapter 12). As Clifford writes, these

are “zones of contact” (1997:188-219), “whereby authenticity thus becomes a process—the open-ended work of preservation and transformation. Living traditions must be selectively pure: mixing, matching, remembering, forgetting, sustaining, transforming their senses of communal continuity” (2004:156). To examine what Roma and other marginalized eroups are doing is to implicitly interrogate and rethink received notions of tradition and authenticity. Clifford claims that “what is at stake is the power to define tradition and authenticity, to determine the relationships though which . . . identity is negotiated in a changing world” (2004:157). The challenge is to reject both a pro- and anti-essentialist position and to embrace an anti-anti-essentialist position. As Clifford writes:

The two negatives do not, of course, add up to a positive, and so the anti-anti-essentialist position is not simply a return to essentialism. It recognizes that a rigorously anti-essentialist attitude, with respect to things like identity, culture, tradition, gender .. . is not really a position one can sustain in a consistent way... . Certainly one can't sustain a social movement or a community without certain apparently stable criteria for distinguishing us from them. These may be .. . articulated in connections and disconnections, but as they are expressed

and become meaningful to people, they establish accepted truths. Certain key symbols come to define the we against the they; certain

54 ‘Introduction

core elements . . . come to be separated out, venerated, fetishized, defended. This is the normal process, the politics, by which groups form themselves into identities [2003:62 ].

Stuart Hall makes the point that identity politics arises precisely around issues of representation (also see Hancock 1997): “Though they seem to

invoke an origin in a historical past ..., actually identities are about... using the resources of history, language and culture in the process of becoming. ..; not ‘who we are’ or ‘where we came from’ so much as who we might become, how we have been represented, and how that bears on how we represent ourselves. Identities are, therefore constituted within, not without representation” (1996a:4). Hall’s concept of identity rejects an unchanging traditional core; it “does not signal that stable core of the self, unfolding from beginning to end through all the vicissitudes of history without change. ... Nor... is it that ‘collective or true self hiding inside the many other, more superficial or artificially imposed “selves,” which a people with a shared history ... hold in common’ and which can stabilize, fix, or guarantee an unchanging ‘oneness’ or cultural belongingness underlying all the other superficial differences.” Rather, identities are “never unified, and... increasingly fragmented and fractured, never singular but multiply constructed across .. . intersecting and antagonistic discourses, practices and positions” (Hall 1996a:3-4). For Roma, identity has always been construed in relation to hegemonic powers such as patrons of the arts, socialist ideologues, European Union officials, and NGO funders. According to Clifford, “tradition is not a wholesale return to past ways, but a practical selection and critical reweaving of roots” whereby “some essentialisms are embraced while others are rejected (2004:157). Tradition should not be read as “endless reiteration but as ‘the changing same,’ not the so-called return to roots but a coming-to-terms with our routes” (Hall 1996a:4). Here Hall is referencing Paul Gilroy’s useful formulation of tradition as the “changing same” (1993:101). Gilroy advocates that the term tradition be used “neither to identify a lost past nor to name a culture of compensation which would restore access to it” (198). The “lost past” is sometimes conceived by African-American writers and activists as the African homeland, whereby “Africa is retained as one special measure of their authenticity’ (191). But, according to Gilroy, this ignores the important place of the diaspora in forging African-American identities. Similarly for Roma, Indian origins, whether historical, linguistic, or cultural,

are valorized but diasporic flows and cultural circulations define the Romani experience. Rather than standing in opposition to modernity, tradition indicates a specific relation to it: “We struggle to comprehend the reproduction of cultural traditions not in the unproblematic transmission of a fixed essence

through time but in the breaks and interruptions which suggest that the invocation of tradition may itself be a distinct, though covert response to the post-contemporary world” (Gilroy 1993:101). Gilroy, Clifford, Hall, and

Briggs all urge us to analyze specific identity projects in their historical Dilemmas of Diaspora, Hybridity, and Identity 55

contexts, paying special attention to inequalities and hierarchies. Just as the project of African-American identity making was forged in the crucible of slavery and diaspora (Gilroy 1993) and the project of Native American identity making was forged in the crucible of genocide and displacement,

similarly the project of Romani identity making was forged during centuries of discrimination and diaspora. The marginal position of these eroups has led to an urgency of cultural matters tied to human rights and global entitlements. And music in diaspora contexts assumes an especially important place in this process, as | illustrate in the chapters that follow.

56 ‘Introduction

PART II

MUSIC IN DIASPORIC HOMES

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4 Transnational Families

li chapter the issue of transnationalism from the point of view ofexamines Romani communities. Romani families are “transnational,” defined by Bryceson and Vuorela as those “that live some or most of the time separated from each other, yet hold together and create something that can be seen as a feeling of collective welfare and unity, namely ‘familyhood, even across national borders” (2002:3). Not only does Romani music travel in transnational circuits; Romani musicians and community members travel and communicate in a diasporic network. As mentioned in Chapter 1, the center of Macedonian Romani life in the United States is located in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx. Nermin, a middle-aged woman living in the Bronx, summarized: “We stay in touch with the relatives at home [in Macedonia]—we speak on the phone,

we send music, we send videos of our weddings. People come here.” Almost all Roma in Macedonia have relatives abroad in many countries of Western Europe, in the United States, and in Australia. In this chapter, as well as the following two, I explore how the New York community cements

its ties to Macedonia and other diasporic locations through marriage, language, and ritual, all enacted performatively via cultural markers such as music and dance.

Migration Narrated in Song Since the 1960s, Balkan singers in general and Roma in particular have used the theme of gurbet or pecalba (working abroad)! to lament the separation of loved ones. For example, after he arrived in New York in 1992,

Ferhan Ismail composed the text of the song “Gurbeti” to a Turkish melody and recorded it (audio example with text supplement 4.1, photoeraph 4.1;). Ferhan wrote this precisely when he had emigrated from Skopje, and its text voices the pain of separation. Another song, “O Gurbetluko,”

59

composed by the Macedonian Romani singer Ramko (Ramadan Bislim), tells about a dying father whose son went abroad to work (audio example with text supplement 4.2). The father’s bitterness from illness and separation causes him to curse his son in his last living moments. This is a very erave utterance in Romani culture, as children are ideally sacred. Similarly, the song “To Phurano Bunari” (Your old well; audio example with text supplement 4.3), composed by Abas Muzafer of Suto Orizari, laments separation by way of his brother's wedding in Germany, which he cannot attend. In this text as well as the previous two, note first that money becomes worthless or “cursed” when compared to the ordeal of separation from family. Second, family rather than place is missed, underlining the

person-oriented rather than place-oriented values of Roma. Money is blamed for the pain of loss, and, strikingly (in “To Phurano Bunari’) it becomes bloodied money. Third, the guest worker is depicted as suffering

abroad while his relatives suffer at home. He is pictured as lonely and isolated, reduced to a prisoner begging for bread, even wanting to die. Finally, in “To Bunaro” home is described as an “an old well.” Muzafer’s home, indeed, had a well in the courtyard, so this is a personal vision. These texts provide an artistic view of immigration stories; when the songs are performed in the diaspora, Romani audiences are visibly moved. Similar sentiments are kindled when talava singers improvise greetings to relatives abroad (see Chapter 2). The movement of people, things, and ideas occurs among several sites

in the diaspora, occasionally even without reference to Macedonia. Although Macedonia is the nominal “home,” Roma often prefer to travel to other diasporic locations. A woman in Toronto, for example, saved money to visit her sister in Melbourne whom she had not seen for twenty-

five years; this was more important than a cheaper trip to Macedonia, where she has many more relatives. Travel is contingent on having proper documents and substantial money for tickets and expensive gifts; visitors are expected to treat relatives to meals and sponsor banquets; these practices are often the reason families cannot afford to travel. The trajectory of one family clearly illustrates transnational migratory patterns. In the late 1980s, Osman lived in Belmont; his natal family consisted of a brother who lived with their aging mother in their hometown, Prilep; a brother in Germany; and a sister, AiSe, who married Ali and lived in Skopje. He invited me to meet his wife, Jasmin, and his sister, AiSe, who was visiting in order to attend Osman’s son’s circumcision party and to earn some money.’ Short work visits were a common occurrence in the 1980s. AiSe invited me to visit her in Macedonia, and she helped me arrange my living quarters in Suto Orizari in 1990. After AiSe returned to Macedonia, one of her brothers came to Belmont to visit and work. His

son also came to visit and eventually emigrated. Another brother emierated from Germany with his wife and children. In 1992 AiSe’s oldest son, Ramo (born 1970), arrived in Belmont, and then AisSe came again in 1994.

During all these extended visits, Osman and Jasmin were their hosts, housing and feeding them in their small two-bedroom apartment, and 60 Music in Diasporic Homes

helping them find work and social connections. Their generosity was boundless. I especially remember the care that AiSe gave Ramo when he had an accident, was incapacitated, and had to be nursed back to health. AiSe and Ali also had a younger son, Rifat, who had remained home in Skopje with Ali. I remember a moment in August 1994 when AiSe and Ramo in the Bronx telephoned Ali and Rifat in Skopje and everyone started crying, all thinking of loved ones in the diaspora. Since family means everything, people suffer when family members disperse; yet they must, for economic

and sometimes political reasons. Note that the two sons were at the age when marriage becomes a factor. In 1995, Ramo planned to marry Metola, who lived in the Bronx and was born in Prilep. Meanwhile, Rifat (living in Skopje with his father) became engaged to marry Fatima, a Romani woman born in 1973 in Toronto whose parents were from Prilep (see the story of their marriage later in this chapter). The parents wanted a double wedding for their two sons, but the celebration couldn't take place because Ali could not get a visa for the United States. Rifat could travel freely because of his wife's legal Canadian status; AiSe and Ramo, however, could not leave the States, so they couldn't go to Toronto to see Rifat. The only solution was to wait and keep applying for an American visa for Ali. After more than a year, Ali finally received a visa and the wedding was held (see next chapter).

Viewing this situation from both American and Balkan viewpoints helped me understand how Roma negotiate across distances. When I traveled, I was given gifts to bring to Skopje and was instructed to take copious photographs and videos to show to relatives. Whereas AiSe hadn't

seen her husband in more than a year, other relatives who traveled saw him, brought gifts, and gave each side pictures and videotapes (some of which I had filmed). I even served as part of a large communication network consisting of relatives traveling back and forth visiting, working tem-

porarily, and looking for spouses. After Ali emigrated to America, his family’s transnational ties multiplied significantly. Almost all of the children of his brothers and sisters in Sutka have married Macedonian Roma in the diaspora. Rifat and Ramo now have cousins in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, and Holland.

Early Emigration Stories Nermin was one of the first Macedonian Roma to emigrate to America in the 1960s.’ She narrated: Before I came to America I worked in a state job in Macedonia. I had four kids. ... A cousin of mine came to America via Vienna... . My husband was also in Vienna working. My cousin's wife was here six months and she encouraged me to emigrate. She said, “You have to come over here, Nermin, I can't live here alone.” They sent us documents, guarantees. Roma didn't go to America then—perhaps to Austria but not any farther. We came to America in 1968. There weren't any Roma here then.

Transnational Families 61

Leila, who was ten years old when her family arrived from Prilep in 1971, described why her family migrated:

My dad [Zahir] was one of the first few Roma in the town to become educated. That in itself is an accomplishment. He had the opportunity and the desire to... go to school. My uncle supported him—he put him through school. He became a veterinarian, got married, and had me and my sister. But, as an educated Rom he realized that opportunities were very limited for us, his children. It was super hard for him to get to where he was, and he didn’t want it to be that hard for us. So,

he came to the States. We came through Vienna, through some friends. Once we got established my dad brought his nephew here. And then my mom brought her sister and her brother, then my grandparents—we've extended the family.

Whether arriving in Australia, Western Europe, or New York, newcomers lived with relatives who furnished food, housing, clothing, child care, and work contacts for them until they could venture out on their own. Note that a substantial burden of providing for new arrivals falls on the women, since they are in charge of the domestic sphere. When the hosts themselves are newly arrived, the strain can be intense. Nermin illustrated: After we were here for a year a brother of my husband came with his eight children. They stayed with us for three weeks. After that, three more families came. We took care of them for five-six months—it was a very harsh winter. Then five of my brothers came, then my sister, then two more brothers, then my mother, then another sister. Gradually the whole family came and now everyone is here. . . . We lived for three years as a super'; then we bought a building on Belmont Ave. More and more came, each one helping the next. We have over three hundred houses here.

Nermin’s comments illustrate that kin ties are activated in the female as well as the male line. She sponsored more relatives than her husband, despite the fact that Romani society is (ideally) patrilineal and patrilocal. Many of Nermin’s relatives migrated to Western Europe and to Australia as well as New York. These families are transnational and multisited, although they label Macedonia home (Bryceson and Vuorela 2002; Al-Ali and Koser 2002). Many family members have lived in at least three countries. This experience means that multilingualism is the norm. In Macedonia, Roma were and still are multilingual; the older generation spoke Turkish in addition to Romani and Macedonian. Today, in Prilep and Skopje, Roma tend to speak Romani, while Roma in Bitola speak Turkish. The Romani language is, however, on the decline in Belmont; the trend is to retain Macedonian-English

bilingualism. One counter trend, however, is the constant trickle of new Romani-speaking spouses and visitors coming from Macedonia.

62 Music in Diasporic Homes

Work and Family Life All Belmont families started their immigrant experiences with virtually no

material resources; rather, they relied on human resources. Leila illustrates: “When we came, we only had two hundred dollars on us. My uncle took us in. He helped my dad and my mom get a job. He helped us find an apartment. He took us under his wing, so to speak. He was a friend of my

dad from back home. My dad bought a house within three years after coming here.” Both men and women are expected to work outside the home; this was true in Macedonia and remains true in the diaspora, as Nermin narrates:

There was work to be found even without the language, but for the best work you had to know the language. The kids were learning the language, but the parents? My husband's brother found work downtown as a janitor. One of my brothers was a tailor—we found him work; another brother was an electrician so we found him work. We worked for $1 or $1.50 an hour, $30 a week [in the 1960s]. My husband made $60 a week. Our salaries together were $90 a week. We worked at night—we had to leave the kids at home alone. But things weren't as dangerous then as they are now. Life was pretty good and we saved money even though we made so little. There is a strong work ethic in this community; having a job is the norm and laziness is condemned. Everyone believes there is work to be had, even if it is unskilled or menial. Unlike in Western Europe, few Macedonian Roma in America are officially refugees, so they are not entitled to social services. They view welfare as somewhat of a stigma and prefer to support themselves. The occupations in which Belmont Roma engage are coded by gender, just as they were in Macedonia. Some common male occupations, such as

electrician, construction worker, car mechanic, and tailor, have transferred well to America. Other occupations such as metalworker do not as readily transfer. Ali, born in 1948 to a family of kovaci (blacksmiths), had a Skopje home workshop where he crafted metal objects, plus a stall in the open market where he sold these objects and traded clothing. A creative combination of trades is very characteristic of Balkan Roma (Silverman 1986). In 1990, I observed that Ali was marketing his metal work in five languages. When he emigrated to the United States, he crafted fences and ornamental wrought iron for private homes, but his earnings suffered and he did not want his sons to continue his profession. Many electricians, on the other hand, have successfully trained their American-born sons to take over the family business. Some males have to take any job available, such as factory work; security ecuarding; bread, pizza, and meat delivery; and janitorial work in schools, nursing homes, hospitals, and office buildings. One family opened a hot dog booth, sharing hours among male and female members and making a

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modest income. Ali's son, who was well educated, worked his way up from a meat deliveryman to a manager and eventually established his own meat distribution company. Several professional musicians combine music with a day job. For example, drummer SeverdZan Azirov worked as a delivery van driver, and singer NeSo Ajvazi worked as a janitor (see Chapter 5). No females are professional musicians because of the stigma of performing in public (see Chapters 6 and 10, and Silverman 2003).

Female employment is a necessity in almost all families, although the ideal is a sole male breadwinner.’ If there are small children and no older females to care for them, mothers stay home; day care centers are rarely used. The middle and older generation of women work as cleaning ladies in office buildings, as cutters in the clothing industry, as sales clerks in neighborhood shops, as caretakers for the elderly in their homes, as food managers in nursing homes, and as hair stylists and cosmeticians. These jobs are similar to those in Macedonia, with the exception that in the Balkans they were state jobs with stable pensions and vacations. In the United States, there is little security in terms of employment and benefits. Much depends on legal status. Those who are undocumented, male or female,

are extremely limited in their jobs. In the 1980s, for example, Roma worked in a neighborhood plastics factory for $4.00 per hour. Undocumented workers have no job security, no vacations, no pension plans, and no medical insurance; they are constantly afraid their employers will report them. Belmont is a multigenerational community. Despite the youth orientation of American culture, elders occupy a venerated position in Romani families. Female elders sometimes work, but they also do child care and visit. Typical Belmont households are multigenerational vertically, but not horizontally (via brothers), as is more common in Macedonia. Ideally, in one dwelling live a son, his parents (and perhaps his grandparents), his wife, and his children. Girls live at home until they marry, when they move

in with their husband, whereas boys rarely move out. In Macedonia the zadruga was a patrilineal, patrilocal, extended familial residential unit that communally owned resources. In its classic form, all brothers with their families lived together and pooled income. Although this is rare today in Macedonia, the value of living together in a large unit persists in the diaspora. Tasks can be divided among available and skilled men and women, child care is easier for women, and emotional ties ensue. On the other hand, living in close quarters generates conflict. For daughters-in- law, who are the least powerful members of the family because they are female outsiders, living with their husband's relatives is especially challenging. The mother-in-law, who supervises and trains the daughter-in-law in domestic and ritual tasks, can be very critical. Young people currently crave privacy, and if they can’t get it at home they escape to the streets, especially if they are males. Monetary conflict may also erupt, especially when finances are tight. In spite of these challenges, children rarely move out before marriage not only because of family bonds but also because they can’t afford it. Musician Seido Salifoski told me his mother

64 Music in Diasporic Homes

simply fainted when he told her he was moving out. For her, Seido moving out signaled disrespect for the family and for Romani culture.

The membership in a residential unit, typically a small apartment, is quite variable not only because of migration but also from a belief that a variety of related women can raise children. Mothers do not hesitate to give their children to their mothers or sisters for a few weeks, or a few months if necessary. For example, one girl was raised by her grandparents because her mother migrated to Australia after a divorce. The community is extremely close-knit; everyone knows one another face-to-face, sees one another often at celebrations, and socializes within the community. Elders rarely have friends outside the community. For women and children, socializing takes place in homes or in front of buildings where people gather after work or on weekends. Men, on the other hand, congregate in several “clubs,” which are community centers or bars in the basement of apartment buildings, where card playing, drinking, and recorded music are found. When misfortune or illness strikes, families rely on each other. If someone is ill, the extended family plus friends and neighbors keep vigil at home or in the hospital. The highlights of community life are life cycle and calendrical celebrations (see Chapter 5). Leila illustrated: “Family values ... are very important. My family was everything to me. ... This was always the main issue growing up.” She saw family as defense against the hostile outside world: Not to feel alone in the world, like many Americans, that is the main reason I stayed within the family. I could not imagine going against the family and the tradition, and being out there on my own and being ostracized from everything I knew from the time I opened my eyes. Your family is who you are, and it is there forever. The family is a positive thing, and it is our only defense. We have no choice, especially in Europe. If you go and you try to become a part of somebody else’s community as a Rom, they don’t want you. So you have to make the best of it. The family is so strong because we are not accepted anywhere. It has become almost an obsession. Leila points out that kin orientation is an adaptive mechanism in a world filled with hostility against Roma. Relying on one’s own family has been a way to ensure trust to counter the threats from a mistrustful environment. What defines the field of social relations is a “very high level of interpersonal and intercommunal investment and trust—economic, social, emotional and moral” (Werbner 2002a:272). Community members “define their subjectivities as moral individuals through long term relations of sociality such as marriage, family, and community’ (272-273). The Muslim religion is a strong cultural identification point, but the level of practice varies tremendously. In general, Macedonian Roma in the past were not very observant; even today, most eat pork, drink alcohol, and do not pray. During the 1980s, I rarely heard of anyone going to a mosque except for a funeral. But in the 1990s, the Musa Mosque was built in the

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heart of Belmont, financed by a rich community member. Subsequently,

the mosque became a focal point; funerals, for example, were very crowded. Women and young adults became more involved, and some Romani male children began attending Arabic language classes. About a decade ago, the community center next to the mosque reorganized into another mosque. The Islamic Center (see photograph 4.2) is nowa vital community center, and many young Roma have become quite religious. The marriages of several Romani couples, for example, have featured a mosque ceremony, and two nonalcoholic weddings took place recently.°®

Identity Issues As mentioned, New York is home to Roma from every group, but they neither socialize nor intermarry. If, as the anthropological literature suggests, identity is always configured in opposition to others (Barth 1969; Appiah and Gates 1995), then the boundary between Roma and non-Roma is definitive, and one is either in or out (Hancock 2002; Sutherland 1975). This division, however, applies more to Kalderash Roma, who are much

less integrated into American society, than Balkan Roma.’ The school system, as an institution for integration into American life, is viewed pos-

itively by most Macedonian Roma, especially the younger generation. Whereas Kalderash Roma tend to be distrustful of schools because of drugs and sex, Macedonian Roma are not. Given their history of compulsory education in socialist Macedonia, they see it is as very useful for work

advancement. Some Roma voice concerns about drugs and sex, but they do not pull children out of school at the same rate as Kalderash Roma do. Most Belmont families educate their children through high school; higher education is not the norm, although a few families have stressed it. Belmont Roma feel different not only from majority Americans but also

from other Muslim Balkan ethnicities and from other Roma. When speaking Romani, they call themselves Roma, when speaking Macedonian they call themselves Gjupci, and when speaking English they call themselves Gypsies.* For Belmont Roma, identity issues arise in part because the dangers of assimilation are ever-present. They are well aware of the tension between American individualistic ethics and the collective family ethics of their community (Ong 2003:7-8). Living, working, and going to school alongside outsiders makes them aware of what they claim distineuishes them from others: their family orientation, their ties to Macedonia, and their culture, including customs, music, and languages. Note that

this list does not include all the usual features of ethnic identity (Romanucci-Ross and De Vos 1995): shared territory, history, and language.

Territory and history are missing. Belmont Roma know little about their origins from India; rather, as mentioned earlier, they relate to Macedonia as home. Home, however, is a discursive trope, a reference point, not a fundamental unchanging value. Home is wherever their community is;

66 Music in Diasporic Homes

this diasporic attitude minimizes a singular homeland. Because they are people-oriented more than place-oriented, they take their home with them wherever they are. For example, when people speak of wanting to travel to Macedonia, it is always to see people, never “to be there.” I was surprised to hear how often people said they didn’t need to visit Macedonia because “everyone was here.”

Community members are proud to be Roma, but exactly what that means may be contested. For the older generation it may be language and

customs, and for the middle generation it may be finding appropriate spouses for their children. Second-generation Roma, who were born here, are often challenged to define themselves. A twenty-one-year-old unmarried girl told me she doesn't really know what or who she is: “I’ve never been to Macedonia, so am I Macedonian?” When someone hasn't seen a homeland, indeed, it may seem very remote. Furthermore, how one constructs one’s ethnicity for others is often a different issue from how one feels within one’s own community.’ Certainly this is true for musicians, who are forced to deal with marketing images that are usually created by

non-Roma. But all Roma are forced to deal with their public identity whether they want to or not, because of the stigma associated with it. In the Balkans, non-Roma readily identify (and often stigmatize) Roma by where they live, what language they speak, how they dress, or the color of their skin. Of course there are Balkan Roma who have successfully passed as non-Roma, but this requires cutting off ties to one’s community so as to avoid detection. In Europe, passing is extremely difficult. For American immigrants, however, there are more choices available because America is a more mobile environment, and Americans tend to pry less than Europeans; privacy is valued. The American government is less intrusive into family life than in Eastern European states. In America, you can hide your family history, you don't live in an exclusively Romani neighborhood, few can pinpoint your foreign language, and there are other dark-skinned people around. As a result, in Belmont Roma exhibit a diversity of self-presentational attitudes. Many community members do not readily reveal their ethnicity to non-Roma because of discrimination. In the United States, stereotypes about Gypsies center on criminality. Police forces in several cities have divisions specializing in “Gypsy crime” (Becerra 2006); there have been several “exposés” about con schemes of American Kalderash families on television. The Peter Maas film King of the Gypsies was a hit in the 1970s; and in 2007 the FX cable network inaugeurated the series The Riches about a Gypsy/Traveler family engaged in pickpocketing, robbery, and credit card and identity theft. Belmont Roma, then, need to be cautious about their ethnicity. Leila said that her parents often claimed, “We're Turkish, to avoid not being able to find an apartment, a job. To avoid the whole issue.” A Belmont resident who moved to Australia narrated: We are very cautious. If you say you're a Gypsy people begin to look at

you. They think you steal, you can’t be trusted. We would lose our Transnational Families — 67

jobs. We say we are Muslim Macedonians. Australians don't know the difference—they just think we are Muslims; but at work if there are Christian Macedonians and Serbs, they begin to suspect. Then they

hear our last names and begin to figure it out. Then they distance themselves. My cousin, on the other hand, does the opposite—she doesn't hide she is Romani. On her locker at work she wrote “Gypsy.” She's not afraid like us.

One Rom neither volunteers he is Romani nor denies it, but if someone says something against Gypsies he will bring up his ethnicity. One woman specifically asked me not to tell the proprietors of a banquet hall her family was renting that they were Roma. She explained: “Gypsies are considered the lowest level of person by Americans. Blacks, they've come up, but we are still down. I don't tell people 'm Romani—they don’t have to know. Once at work I told my co-workers I was a Gypsy and they didn't believe me. They said, ‘But you've been at this job for over three years—you don't live in a tent!’ My husband —he tells everyone, but not me.” Occasionally,

Roma raised the question of my role as a researcher in relation to their adaptive strategy of passing. One woman told me, “So when you come along, saying you are studying us, that you teach about Romani culture, we are suspicious of you. We pull back. We are always hiding who we are to non-Roma. We hear you say you take photos of Roma. We want to know why.” One community member did not want me to identify Belmont as a Romani neighborhood.'” Leila’s older daughter tells non-Roma that she is Macedonian.!'' According to Leila: “If they question further, she'll say she’s Gypsy. And that’s what I teach her. You can tell them we’re Macedonian because we are. We were born there. We're citizens of that state. Our boys died in the war, too. If we're not Macedonians, why do you draft our boys?” Fatima, a college-

educated married woman, explained, “Whether we say we are Roma depends on whom you talk to. You really have to pick carefully who you tell because they can throw it back at you. Some of my friends and coworkers know and some don't.” Similarly, Ramo told me: “I’m proud that I’m a Rom, but others hide, they say they're Turkish, whatever. I hate that. A lot of people think that we steal, that we don’t work. Where I used to work, I told them I am Gypsy and they didn't believe it—they said that is impossible, you can't be Gypsy. Most people think we live in tents.” In 2007, in the Islamic Center, some women reported hearing disparaging comments about Roma from other Balkan Muslims.

Roma sometimes hide their ethnicity by refusing to publicly identify with symbols of their culture. In the 1990s, two brothers from Draéevo (a village near Skopje), Severdzan and Menderes Azirov, tired to organize a Romani dance group in Belmont. They are excellent dancers and had performed in several groups in Macedonia such as Koéo Racin, Orce Nikolov, and the Romani KUD Phralipe (brotherhood).'* Parents, however, were reluctant to let their children attend, especially the girls (see discussion later in this chapter, and Chapters 6, and 10). SeverdZan said, “When they 68 Music in Diasporic Homes

reach fourteen or fifteen years old they don't want to let the girls out. Also, they don't want people to know they are Roma. This is art—they should be

proud of Romani folklore. We gave up—these people just don't understand.” Similarly, several Macedonian Romani musicians refused to play in a prestigious concert for non-Roma when they learned that they were identified as Roma in the program notes. These same Roma are extremely proud of and involved in their music when it occurs in all-Romani contexts, but they shy away from the Gypsy label in mainstream American contexts because of the stigma.

Leila explained that those who experienced racism in Macedonia or other diasporic locations were the most afraid to admit their ethnicity in America. She narrated: “In the 1970s I was afraid because my parents were afraid; I would say I’m Macedonian or Yugoslavian. If someone would ask how come you're so dark, I’d say we're Turkish. While we were

in Vienna... the people we were living with said to us, ‘Dont speak the Romani language because if people find out we're Gypsies, they'll deport us.’ So we had to keep a low profile. And when we came here, my parents carried that through.”

After a while, however, Leila realized that she could not reject her ethnicity:

I can't deny what I am. Maybe I can deny it to the world, but I can't deny it to the mirror... . It'll always stare right back at me. You may tell everybody you're Yugoslavian, or Macedonian, or Turkish but I know youre Gypsy. You carry your shadow everywhere you go, so that’s the main reason why. .. . I’m not going to deny it. I never really felt racism here, growing up in the States. Once I started school and became unafraid, I would tell my teachers, I would tell my friends what Iam. And I didn't feel the rejection and the racism like we do in Europe. So, once I started working, I would tell my manager, and she would make a comment like, “Oh, but Yugoslavians are so lightskinned—you're so dark.” “Well, that’s because I’m a Gypsy.” “Oh, what is that—those people that fortune-tell?” So, I've become open about what Iam, and I haven't felt the racism. The ignorance of Americans is sometimes contrasted with the blatant discrimination back home. “Battle” stories are told and retold, almost as parables, legitimating why they emigrated. The most striking narratives are told when relatives visit or when Belmont residents return home from trips. Leila narrated this story about her 2003 trip home to Prilep (a story I heard repeated many times by members of her family): I hadn't been home in seventeen years. I heard about going to places

where they wouldn't let you in because you're a Gypsy. I thought “Yeah, right” [incredulous]. My daughter and I, we were walking by this coffee shop. She says, “Ma, I want some pizza.” I went in, I sat down. The restaurant was empty. There were three tables occupied

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and another twenty-eight empty. The guy says, “Sorry, you can't sit here. These tables are all reserved.” I said, “Reserved for what?” He eoes, “For the tourists.” I said, “But the place is empty.” “Well, you cant sit here.” And, I had to get up and leave. Very blatant! I didn’t want to expose my daughter to that—she was only eight years old. She’s never been told she can’t sit here because she’s a Gypsy. And I didn't want to create a scene in front of her. . . . I felt prejudice. I felt it very strongly. My daughter was very uncomfortable in town. She didnt want to go any place outside the Gypsy environment. She felt the stares and the comments. And it made her uncomfortable; it made her unhappy. She said, “Why should I go there and, and have them look at me like that?” And now I can understand a little bit easier, why the Gypsies in Europe tend to keep a low profile. Musician Erhan Umer (see next chapter) narrated what happened when he took his family home to Bitola in 2002: “T was so excited to visit the city swimming pool that I had seen under construction years earlier. When I arrived with my family, an Albanian guy was selling entrance tickets. He said ‘Ne zemame Gjupci’ [we don't allow Gypsies; Macedonian]. I answered, ‘You can't tell me that—this is my city, I was born here I have every right

you have. In fact, I’m American.’ Things are very bad. I would never go back to live there.” Leila also encountered racism via the internet. A few Belmont Roma participate in diasporic chat rooms with Balkan or Romani themes. She explained:

I chose a nick [nickname] that says exactly who I am. Romani chaj

[Romani girl]. When I first went in with that nick, I used to get bounced right away. Macedonians would throw me out of the room just for walking in. Because they don’t want Gypsies in their room. And then they would start making comments. And I fight like crazy. They know me. They know when Romani walks into the room and if they make a Gypsy comment, she will start. That’s the only time I create problems in the room. Otherwise, I don’t argue with anybody. I just sit there and I play my music. I play Romani music. It’s video-

audio chat. And, I use Romani music as a statement—I put on a Romani song. In the beginning, they would bounce me right away. “No Gypsy music allowed in this room!” “Why not? It’s the Internet. The Internet is free.” “Oh, but it’s a Macedonian room.” “So what? I go to Macedonia and I hear Gypsy music in the cafés, in the stores. I hear it everywhere; it’s on TV, on the radio. Who the freak are you to tell me

I can't play my music on the internet, on my computer? If you don't want to listen to it, leave the room.” That's when I encountered the racism.

There are, then, a range of responses among Belmont Roma regarding identifying their ethnicity to non-Roma; while some hide, others boast,

70 Music in Diasporic Homes

and still others strategically pass. Gropper and Miller’s concept of “selective multiculturalism” (2001:107) illuminates that Belmont Roma nego-

tiate multiple ethnicities (e.g., American, European, Romani, Turkish, Macedonian). Their choices resonate with the choices musicians make in their diasporic encounters. Within the Belmont community, on the other hand, there is strong pride in being Romani; although the meaning of being Romani varies, a core value is marrying a Romani person.

Marriage Marriage underscores the significance of the family and demonstrates transnational ties via the network for spouses. Everyone is expected to marry, and those who don't are more or less stigmatized.'? Musician Seido

Salifoski told me he was derided by his family when he turned twenty eight years old and still wasn’t married: “I got married because of all the pressure my parents put on me.” In Belmont, young people congregate in the streets, at ritual events, on dance lines, at the mosque, and at school. Officially, there is no “dating,” but rather young people are supposed to socialize in groups with the elder generation supervising. In reality, however, young people do sometimes meet surreptitiously. At weddings, for example, teenagers meet outside for one-to-one conversations. This mirrors the situation in Macedonia, where people meet on the evening walk (korzo), at gatherings, in school, on public transportation, and in shopping areas (Silverman 1996b). Today communicating via cell phone and Facebook is common. The ideal is an arranged marriage within the diasporic community. Tra-

ditionally, the parents looked for appropriate spouses and the children acquiesced. However, there are myriad variations to this process: at one extreme, parents do indeed pressure children to marry, and at the other parents may acquiesce to a match entirely orchestrated by the children. Sometimes surrogate parents such as aunts and uncles enact the role of parents if birth parents are absent. Parents rarely force a particular spouse on a child, although they put pressure on children to marry by their midtwenties. If two people want to marry, the groom’s parents visit the bride’s parents to ask for her; the bride and groom supposedly agree before the deal is sealed. Parents get involved because they claim they can see beyond romantic love—they check out the reputation not only of the prospective spouse but also of the entire family. They obtain information such as economic standing, level of respectability, and how the family has treated its brides in the past. Women have “people knowledge”: when they socialize, they discuss people and their reputations. Thus, although men may be the

public face of the family in marriage negotiations, they rely on women precisely for the information that makes marriage negotiations possible."* Marrying their children to Macedonian Roma is the goal of parents in Belmont; they believe this ensures continuity of the culture. Intermarriage, though discouraged, happens in a minority of cases. Leila explained: “We Transnational Families = 71

hope they'll stay within the community. As a mother, if my daughter falls in love with some American guy who is going to make her happy, and he's a good person, I have nothing against it. Because the most important thing to me is her safety, her happiness.” In the 1980s, a woman married a Hispanic male against her family’s wishes; although she still attends weddings and other large family celebrations, she is not immersed in the fabric of the community, and her children do not speak Macedonian or see their cousins regularly. On the other hand, there are several cases of men marrying Ital-

ian or Hispanic women. Although the parents disapproved, the children eloped and eventually the parents acquiesced. An Italian wife and several Hispanic wives have even learned some Macedonian language. Despite his parents’ disapproval, Seido Salifoski married a Japanese woman, and she helped him raise his daughter from his first marriage. His wedding ceremony creatively combined customs from both cultures. If a young man or woman can't find a suitable spouse in New York, usually the family takes a trip to Macedonia to “look around.” Of course, only people who have legal status can travel abroad. Every summer, families embark on this ritualized journey. Word goes out “back home,” in Prilep, for example, or in a diasporic location such as Vienna, that certain family members are coming, and their Macedonian relatives network to arrange meetings with prospective spouses. These trips can be very stressful, considering the short time period. Leila, who met her husband on a threemonth trip to Prilep, commented: I met my husband through relatives. It was a group choice. I hadn't

met anybody that I felt would be somebody I could work with. When you don't know people, you don't want to take a risk. But eventually, as time neared for me to come back, I had to take a risk. I have known people who were in love for five, six years, then got divorced. There are no guarantees in life, even if you know somebody. When I met my husband, he presented himself really well,

and I thought this is someone I can work with. ... I was honest with him about who I am; I’m too honest! I told him: “I’m not going

to be a typical Romani wife. I go to school, I have a mind of my own, and I’m not afraid to express it. I'll be working with men; I may have to go on trips. Sometimes you may have to clean the house. You may have to pitch in and be an equal partner, and if you can deal with that, fine. If not, it’s not going to work.” We kind of agreed. And here we are, still married seventeen and a half years later.

Leila is somewhat of an exceptional case because she was twenty-five years old and in college. In spite of her family’s insistence on education

(see discussion later in this chapter), she knew she needed to find a spouse. She had an aura of self-confidence and honesty that was rare for young women of the 1980s. Her philosophy has carried through for her children:

iz Music in Diasporic Homes

I wont force my daughter to go back home for a husband. It’s so stressful, especially if you don’t have the support from home. Everybody is telling you what you should do. They don't approve of anybody, and you don't know anybody. How are you supposed to make a decision? One relative says—you can’t pick this one—his family did something 250 years ago! I hope my daughter finds someone here in the community that she will be happy with. If not, if she chooses to go home, she'll have my support. A woman from Skopje met her husband when he made a trip home to find a bride. She narrated: I was sixteen years old when he came for me. I saw him twice. I really didn’t want to get married but my parents arranged it. They made a small wedding but when we arrived in the Bronx my in-laws made a

big party. I cried for weeks to go home, but I stayed, learned the language, and got used to it. My parents and siblings went to Germany as refugees, and I haven't seen them for years. The U.S. embassy turned down a visa for my mother to visit me.

Fatima, met her husband, Rifat, on a 1994 trip to Prilep. Note in Fatima’s narrative that the couple is given some time alone together, plus the option of refusal on either side: We were on vacation. My aunt is an in-law of Rifat’s aunt. The two women arranged for Rifat and me to meet without us knowing. My aunt woke me up and said, “Get dressed up, we're having guests.” He came over with his cousin and we started talking. We liked each other immediately but we weren't thinking of marriage at first. Only when we were leaving, at the airport, did we know that our parents were involved. At the airport, Rifat and I took a walk and when we returned to the table where everyone was sitting, we saw everyone was shaking hands. We asked, "What's going on?” and they told us the marriage was approved. We were very happy. Aise, Rifat’s mother, who was in Belmont at the time of the summer trip,

told her version of this story: “Rifat got engaged this summer to a wonderful Romani girl. She came to see her relatives and they met each other. At first, Rifat was reluctant. Ali called me to ask what we should do; we were thinking North America was too far away and Rifat was too young. But Rifat said, “We are in love.’ So we said, ‘Since they are in love how could we separate them?’ So we gave our blessing. She got him papers. Fatima is modest, a very good wife.” There are failed trips, but not many. Seido Salifoski told me of the reluctant trip he took with his parents; he didn't care for anyone in Prilep, so they went to Turkey to visit his relatives and “look around.” He agreed to marry a Turkish woman, but the marriage lasted only a few years. Most Transnational Families 73

marriages, however, are successful. Some parents of Belmont sons prefer a Macedonian bride because the girls in America are spoiled; as several people claimed, “They don't want to cook, clean, care for children and do domestic chores.” They reason that if a bride is brought over from Macedonia, she is more likely to accept traditional roles because she wouldn't know English and her legal status would depend on them. Bringing grooms to America is more complicated in cultural terms than bringing brides because it contradicts the patrilocal residence expectation; nevertheless, it is done regularly out of necessity, as with the case of Fatima and Rifat above. Given the patriarchal nature of the family, it is awkward for a man to move in with the bride's family and depend on them for language, employment, and legal status. He is known as a domazet, meaning a live-in son-in-law, in Macedonian, which has a pejorative connotation. Leila explained: “When he’s a zet in the house, they are made aware of it from the moment the marriage is announced. They'll get the comments, Sega kje bide§ domazet. Zena kje ti se komandva (Now you'll be a live-in husband. Your wife will command you [Macedonian]). And they'll get that cruel stare.” The stigma, however, is balanced out by the opportunity to emigrate.'° Parents often will not agree to a match because of objections regarding the family. One family in Sutka refused to give their daughter because the man had a child with another woman. The bride’s parents usually use

euphemistic terms of refusal, saying the child is “too young,” or “not ready,’ rather than the real reason, which may be related to character or economics. Elopement is a possibility when parents won't agree. In fact, it is quite common for a young woman and man “to run away.” The bride is then called a nasli chaj (runaway girl) rather than a manglardi chaj (askedfor girl). What this actually means is that they go to the home of a friend

or relative, consummate the marriage, and then wait for the reactions. Sexual consummation is basically an irreversible act, since it signals the termination of the woman’s virginity (see more on this later). People often refer to this situation after elopement with the terms “Tt’s all over” (gotovo, Macedonian). The parents will typically relent and agree to the match ata ceremony known as smiruvanje (Macedonian, reconciliation). Some parents, however, never agree to their child’s choice. One young woman ran away with a married man, and—despite the fact that he obtained a divorce

to marry her, and that they are very happy together, and that his ex-wife had been having adulterous affairs—the woman's parents cut off relations with their daughter. The birth of a child often leads to reconciliation.

The Bride s Reputation Among Roma, the test of the bride's virginity is an extremely significant custom, both in the Balkans and the United States. It presents visible manifestation of a girl’s reputation and the honor of her family. Moreover, it is symbol of Romani identity in terms of keeping the proper order of things

74 Music in Diasporic Homes

in a changing world. Until the 1960s, this custom was practiced among virtually all ethnic groups in the Balkans regardless of religion, but today it has declined. Many Macedonian and Bulgarian Roma, however, still practice it, whether they are Eastern Orthodox Christian or Muslim, and in the United States it is part of many marriage rituals. Gjulizar DZeljadin of Sutka commented: “The bride must be honest and honorable. On Monday we want to see the stained sheet. .. . If the bride had brought us all of Europe's wealth, it would not have been worth as much as what she gave us, her honor. That was the most beautiful gift to us.” Theoretically, in Macedonia the consummation of the marriage takes place during the wedding at the groom’s house (see next chapter). The mother-in-law looks for blood stains on the wedding sheet, and if she finds them she publicly announces “the good news.” Gjulizar explained that after the couple consummates the marriage, “we send word to her father’s house that she is honest, that she was worth the expense. .. . The test happens at night without music. We Roma only accept blood. Even a doctor's note is not enough. If she is a virgin we send news to the bride’s mother right away. If the mother-in-law doesn't see blood, she will send the bride home riding on a donkey with pots and pans tied on clattering. All gifts are returned.” When I asked her if she ever witnessed this, she says she heard it did happen. Obviously, the threat is enough for most young girls to make them conform to sexual restraint before marriage. Leila confirmed that the sheet is shown during the wedding in Macedonia, and I witnessed it may times: “If they haven't eloped then they show the sheet during the wedding. ... They bring the sheet, that night, over to the mother’s house, and then everybody celebrates. Technically, that’s how it’s supposed to be done.” I asked her if she knew of instances where the

woman is a virgin but doesn't bleed; would the sheet then be more of a symbolic object?

L: No, they want to see the blood. C: They really want to see it? L: Darn the symbolism. C: Really? It’s that literal? L: They want to see blood. C: But not everyone bleeds. L: She's going have a tough time proving that she was a virgin. C: I’ve heard all stories about a little chicken blood, whatever. L: They do what they've got to do. In Macedonia, after the test, the sheet is placed on a metal tray (tepsija), covered with gauze (see photograph 4.3), and the wedding party (which includes the groom but excludes the bride) processes to the bride’s house to bring the good news to the mother of the bride. This is a very important moment because it vindicates not only the bride’s reputation but also the family’s; it is the job of the mother to raise her daughter in preparation for

this very test. The entire ritual dramatizes transmission from mother to Transnational Families = 75

daughter of proper control of sexuality. Termed blaga rakija (sweet brandy, Macedonian), the ritual features a procession with zurla and tapan, led by

the groom's women carrying a brandy bottle decorated with flowers, ereenery, and red ribbons (fertility symbols). The mother is required to tip

the groom and feed him feminine foods (sometimes literally placing a spoon in his mouth), most notably eggs. His friends play tricks on him, such as offering him cigarettes but pulling them away three times, then finally letting him smoke. Elvis Huna, the keyboardist with Esma RedZepova's band, described his wedding night: “Normally the morning after the wedding I would go to my wife's family house and eat eggs. . . . It’s a Gypsy tradition. Eggs signify

birth and so I eat eggs to signal that we have good births” (Cartwright 2005b:118). The groom, in other words, eats fertility foods to display the transference of the bride’s reproductive potential from her family to his. In addition he receives gifts from the bride’s family (bovéalok, gifts sewn on a sheet) such as shirts and handkerchiefs, which are draped over him (see photograph 4.4 and video example 4.1 from a wedding in Sutka). Despite the pride in ritual elaboration of the test of the bride's virginity,

there is a recent campaign in Macedonia to eradicate the custom. It is based on the human rights dictum that every person has inalienable personal rights, regardless of culture.'® Activists claim that “the test” is a form of subjugation of women (since only women need to be virgins), is humiliating for both men and women, and often leads to psychological trauma.

The campaign was spurred by Romani activist Enisa Eminova, who in 2001 conducted a survey of 660 Roma (parents and children fourteen to twenty-five years old, from ten Macedonian Romani communities) funded by the Open Society Institute. Surprisingly, most Roma agreed to partici-

pate in the survey, and the older generation did not uniformly express traditional views. Nearly half of the parents said they would accept brides if they were not virgins, but 70 percent replied they were not sure whether their sons would. Many respondents saw no need to maintain the custom. In short, the survey revealed much uncertainty on the issue and opened up an avenue of debate."’ In Belmont, the custom of checking the sheet is simply called adet (the general word for custom in Macedonian; of Turkish origin) and is widely practiced. However, it is virtually never done during the wedding because

the timing of rituals has been altered in the American context. Blaga rakiya has been removed from the test and is celebrated whether the test is done or not. It has morphed into a separate party in a banquet hall, put on by the bride's side a few days or up to a week after the wedding. The ritual brandy bottle is still decorated, the ritual foods are still consumed,

and the ritual gifts are still given, but the setting may be at home or a rented hall, and the bride's virginity is not the issue (see Chapter 5). Given Leila’s liberal views on education and marriage, I was surprised to

learn that she and other educated younger women approved of the custom.!'* She said: “It is oppressive. I have mixed feelings about that issue. I had to do it. And if I could do it, everybody should be able to do it. But, it’s

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not necessarily a good thing. I was able to sacrifice, and remain a virgin and go through it, and it was a demand I had to meet. And if we're going to expect these girls to stay in the culture and in the community, then yes. It is still very important in this community. Very important.” Leila explored the changes in her attitude as she aged:

When I was growing up, I was against it. I felt, “Why do I have to prove it to everybody?” “Why does it have to be done so publicly?” “Why can't just I bring the sheet out after I do whatever I do with my husband?” I've learned to accept that it is part of the culture, that it is part of the tradition, part of proving you are what you are. And, if you can't fight ‘em, you join ‘em. So, I’ve kind of learned to join them. I

mean, a lot of the younger ones are against it, that is, until they become women and have children, and they have sons. And, their sons are expected to bring home a virgin and then all of sudden it becomes, you know, a major issue. I asked Leila how the test works if the couple elopes, and she answered: “They're supposed to save the sheet, yes. Now, if they've run away, or if they've eloped, they'll pick a date. If she’s menstruating, they'll wait until she’s clean. Or, they may wait if the families aren't in agreement about the marriage. Some people will wait to see, “Well, are they going to take her back?’ And if the girl says, ‘Tm not going back. I’m here to stay, and the families are in agreement, they'll do it that night.” Elvis Huna described how his elopement in Skopje dovetailed with the adet: “T had to steal her. My family went to ask for her... . Then my wife tells me that her family thinks it is better next year for the wedding, so I take her to my home and you know its important that the Gypsy girl is a virgin... and I take her virginity. So we do it and we show the... sheet! Now her mother cannot... take her home. .. . This wedding tradition stretches back through my ancestors” (Cartwright 2005b:118). One couple “ran away because the parents of the girl wouldn't give her.

So they'll elope and then it’s over. They will do the adet. We're going to have good news tomorrow.” I was also told that one couple “waited to do the adet” until the groom's relatives drove to their town. Proper timing indicates respect. Finally, in one instance a mother who was against her

daughter’ marriage and still refuses to speak to her participated in the test because this was the respectful thing to do. The test of virginity, then, is not only about the bride but also about the bride’s family’s honor and reputation.

The Question of Women's Power Romani culture is patriarchal, but the various forms of gendered power need to be dissected. Education is one important factor that may mitigate gendered power (see text supplement 4.1 for a discussion of education and Transnational Families = 77

gender). First-generation males have much more freedom of movement than women, and they expect to be respected and be served in any home. Women do all domestic tasks: they cook, shop, clean, and take care of children. Because there is age as well as gender hierarchy, new brides have the lowest status. This is the standard pattern among all ethnic groups in the Balkans, but Roma adhere to it very strictly. New brides sometimes will kiss the hand of and bow before older relatives. Women’s sexuality is especially restricted; clothing, dance styles (see Chapter 6), and mobility are closely monitored, and brides also must endure the test of virginity, as has just been discussed. Men are the nominal heads of the family and occupy positions of authority; for example, they represent the family in ritual occasions, such as arranging marriages, even if the knowledge on which it is based is obtained

by women. Males, then, occupy the public sphere of Romani life, while women occupy the domestic.'? This observation, however, obscures the fact that women influence the public realm from their position in the domestic realm (Nelson 1974). They are the links between the two families, and their reproductive abilities perpetuate the family. In addition, women provide substantial income; they may keep their own salary, and in fact some manage their husband’s income. Family budgets, then, are sometimes in female hands. Claiming I was giving too much credit to women, Leila insisted that large financial decisions are routinely made by men. She said, “A woman has a budget to run the house. But when the big things like weddings come up, when they go to rent the hall, a woman won't do that. The men do that. Or they go together. She won't go alone. Because that involves a large amount of money, and that has to be a mutual decision. Some men wont even take their wives. They'll just go alone.” Leila took issue with an article I wrote about Sutka (Silverman 1996b, 2000b) where I claimed that women exercised substantial power. She saw more sexism than I did, as this conversation shows: L: A male-female relationship, it’s never equal. It'll never be equal. There's always times when you have to be the woman and stay quiet. And there are times when he has to be the man and step away, and let the woman do what she has to do.

C: I think in many Balkan cultures, but especially in Romani culture, that women have a great deal of power in the home in terms of money and raising the children. The men are in the public realm, for example, when guests come, they’re in the living room, but dayto-day decisions about money, don't you think the women run much of it? L: Not the money. I read that in your article and it kind of upset me. I’m like, “No. Not really!” Maybe she has a say in the shopping, but

major decisions about buying a home or a business, or putting on a wedding, those kinds of things, the man has the final say. If he’s a decent person, he'll take the woman’s view into consideration.

78 Music in Diasporic Homes

My 1996 article dealt with the myriad roles women occupy in celebrations, from leading dance lines to deciding and directing which rituals should be performed, to managing details of their execution and their budget (see Chapters 5 and 6). I argued that this leads to respect for ritual knowledge and a female sphere of ritual power. Leila, however, argued that men had more monetary power than I allowed: “The women buy the bride the dress and the gold, etc. But the man gives her the money.” Precisely because Leila disagreed with me, I think it is worth exploring how women negotiate power in the family. Leila may be reluctant to admit the extent of the power she wields. Or her interpretations may reflect the fact that in New York women are less mobile than men; perhaps they have lost some ritual and financial power. On the other hand, several female East European Romani activists have written about the domestic as a site of oppression rather than power (European Roma Rights Centre 2000). In Belmont I observed the entire gamut, from supportive husbands to abusive husbands. Supportive men share power and help with child care and

shopping, usually by driving their female relatives to the supermarket (many women do not drive) and carrying bags; abusive husbands engage in domestic violence.

The literature on gender and migration has yielded mixed results in terms of women’s power. According to Brettel, “In some cases scholars have documented greater independence of women and more equity in the family. ... By contrast, other scholars have argued that even when immierant women earn more than their spouses do, this does not necessarily result in greater decision-making power within the household or greater autonomy outside it” (2003:147). In the case of Roma, we must keep in mind that women regularly worked outside the home in Macedonia, and thus work is not an arena of great change in the diaspora. With the flowering of female education in the younger generation (see text supplement 4.1), however, it will be interesting to chart future changes in gender roles.

Video Diaspora As I have emphasized, face-to-face communication is highly valued among

Roma, and thus communication across distance poses challenges. Roma deliberately videotape in order to show relatives in the diaspora what is happening in their communities. Sometimes I was the conduit for video exchanges, and sometimes I made videos to facilitate communication between families. Roma also hire professional videographers to document their celebrations. Videos, then, figure as valuable gifts in a global network of reciprocity. Videotaping in New York typically documents life cycle and calendrical events, such as circumcisions, baby showers, birthday parties, New Year’s parties, religious holidays, and weddings. When documenting their cele-

brations, Roma focus on two intertwined subjects: people and music. There are few video frames that do not include people; location does not

Transnational Families 79

command attention.”® Place is literally absent from Romani videos, sup-

porting the notion that Romani communities exist wherever there are Roma, regardless of location.

Persons depicted in the videos are usually actively performing, e.g., speaking, playing an instrument, dancing, or singing. People enjoy being the object of the camera; there is neither shyness on the part of performers nor hesitation on the part of the people behind the camera. This reflects the positive coding of performance in Romani life. Parents, for example, encourage children to sing, play an instrument, and dance for relatives at celebrations. Video subjects either already know the audience for whom the video is intended, or else they ask and tailor their performance for it. They often face directly into the camera and offer greetings to the intended viewers. In video example 4.2, an elderly Macedonian Romani woman in Melbourne, Australia, sends greetings in Romani to her relatives in New York in 1998. Along with personal greetings, music and dance are ubiquitous features in Romani videos. As I have explained, at Romani celebrations live music is the medium for hours or even days of dancing, and music also provides accompaniment for rituals. Time analyses of videos evince long sequences of dancing, often lasting for a few hours. As will be discussed in Chapter 6, dance is the site of displaying social relations. The video, then, is a guide to iguring out who is related to whom, who has married whom, who has children now, who has grown up, who looks ill, who has passed away, etc. This information is very important in the diaspora, where people rely on videos to evaluate information. It was also important to me, the ethnographer, as a graphic guide to who was who in the diaspora community.

Home videos of celebrations are a visual window into the aesthetic system of the community. The aesthetic system displays stylistic markers, which serve as badges of identity for the group, and compose a system of style, related to consumption and economic class (Bourdieu 1984). These markers surface most obviously in performances, where symbols (objects, genres, and behaviors) are elevated to representational icons for the group

(Leuthold 1998:18). For Macedonian Roma, these include the musical genre and dance form Coéek, female clothing, the instrument zurla, and certain ritual acts (such as temana, or bride’s greeting), and gift giving (see Chapter 5). Videos feature these icons prominently, and they are evaluated most thoroughly. For example, not only is costume coded as Romani but also the cost of the fabric and of the seamstress is evaluated. Similarly, food displays (banquet tables, wedding cakes) and gift exchanges (e.g., jewelry) are the object of the camera's gaze as indices to class. In fact, there are moments in rituals when the cost of gifts is publicly announced. Videos, then, capture the verbal and visual dramas of style and class. If possible, Roma begin watching the videos immediately. If the wedding is a three-day event, the family and guests might return home the first night and watch the video, no matter how late. Communal viewing

elicits evaluative comments; input is generated as to how the rest of the event should unfold. Evaluations debate the aesthetic system; for 80 Music in Diasporic Homes

example, viewers might comment on the costumes (are the hemlines too short for the women?), the music (how could the hosts afford to hire those famous musicians?), the dancers (what a great dancer she is!), the number of guests (few people came to their wedding because they aren't speaking to most of their relatives), the money spent on the event (the limousine cost $200 an hour!), the manner in which rituals are performed (the parents of the bride really didn’t want to let her go!), or their omission (she forgot the sieve when she led the dance). In recent years, YouTube has become a forum for sharing family videos; I am currently studying this phenomenon. In 1994, I gathered in the Bronx with AiSe and her son, Ramo, to watch a video of a double wedding of AiSe’s husband Ali's brother's sons. I had

shot this video in Sutka a few weeks earlier; it featured Ali and their younger son, Rifat, who played a prominent role in the wedding as the flag bearer (bajraktar; see next chapter). As we watched, AiSe caught up on all

the news about her husband's family, whom she hadn't seen in several months. She commented on the clothing, the hair, the food, the music, who drank too much, and who was engaged to whom. She also used the occasion to explain the wedding rituals to Ramo, who was at a marriageable age and “needed to know these things.” Videos illustrate and initiate conversations about the display of symbols of Romani ethnicity. They are the visual and social medium to concretize and reconfigure various subjectivities, including representations of identity. Moreover, they convey information about people and situations across the distance of diaspora. Following Appadurai, I suggest that videos both

create and reflect a Romani diasporic public sphere transcending the boundaries of the nation-state (1996:4). Appadurai asserts that a constitutive feature of modern subjectivity is the effect of media and migration on the work of the imagination (3). For Roma, electronic communication “impels the work of imagination” (4), which is, above all, the performance

of identity: “People not only position themselves vis-a-vis modernity through multifarious practices but also struggle to reposition themselves,

sometimes through deploying the very codes of the modern that have framed them as its others” (Schein 1999:364; and see Chapter 3). Through collective readings of images and words, videos create “communities of

sentiment’ (Appadurai 1996:8; also see Kapchan 2007), which supply meaning for Roma. The next chapter delves into the layered meanings of performative celebrations.

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5 Transnational Celebrations

Garren theinglue that binds to their families andmembers communities.are Both the Balkans andRoma in the diaspora, community not only gather regularly for events, most of which include music and dance, but also plan them well ahead of time and discuss them long afterward; events thus have a long symbolic life. They figure clearly in how Roma performatively conceive of their identity and how they distinguish themselves from both non-Roma and non-Balkan Roma. Moreover, celebrations are motivations for and manifestations of diasporic migration; Roma plan travel to coincide with celebrations (e.g., attending a relative’s wedding), and trips are sometimes the cause of events (visiting relatives sponsoring a farewell banquet). At any event, participants typically hail from several diasporic locations, as at the wedding of two brothers, Bilhan and Irfan in Sutka in 1994, which relatives and friends from Germany, Austria, Belgium, Australia, and the United States attended. In the United States, life-cycle events are celebrated more regularly than calendrical events. The wedding (bijav) and the circumcision (for Muslim Romani boys, sunet; Romani and Macedonian) are the two most important celebrations; in Macedonia, some families also sponsor a babina (party for a newborn baby, especially a girl, since she won't have a circumcision) or a soldier-send off celebration; all families arrange Muslim funerals. The most important Balkan Romani calendrical celebrations are Herdelezi/ Erdelezi/Herdeljezi (St. George's Day, early May celebration of spring renewal), Vasilica (St. Basil’s Day, early January), Ramazan (fasting month), and the two Muslim Bajrams. Baro Bajrami or Seker Bajram (big or sweet festival; Arabic Eid-ul-Fitr) falls at the end of Ramazan, and Kurban Bajram (festival of sacrifice; Arabic Eid-al-Adha) falls seventy days after Ramazan

(Petrovski 1993 and 2002). Note that some Muslims of the Balkans, including Roma, enact rituals that are related to Eastern Orthodoxy such as dyeing eggs in the spring (related to the fertility concept that predates both Islam and Christianity); this underlines Balkan religious syncretism. 83

In New York, Herdelezi is still sometimes celebrated with an outdoor picnic of lamb, the traditional food. Muslim funerals are common and both bajrams are celebrated in the home or mosque setting. A New Year's dance is regularly held by Bronx Roma, and often musicians from the diaspora are invited to perform. Celebrations display cultural values and serve as markers or organizing principles of the year and the life cycle; they are complex events entailing multiple genres, e.g., music, dance, costume, food, and ritual. Many dramatic roles are enacted, much economic planning is necessary, reputations are established or questioned, and individual and family power is negotiated. Furthermore, via celebration, Romani life evinces a conscious and heightened performative dimension. Video and photographic documentation has been common since the 1970s, and the resulting tapes become treasured historical documents. In emphasizing community, however, I mean to imply neither a conflict-free atmosphere nor a functional explanation of a system in balance. To the contrary, celebrations often lead to conflict or reenact prior arguments and schisms over resources and reputations. ! By far, weddings are the most frequent celebratory event and the focus of community attention. They are the ubiquitous subject of evaluative talk, ranging from the availability and suitability of spouses to future and recent marriages. Wedding and circumcisions often involve hundreds of guests, numerous meals, and lavish presents. Of course, poorer Roma put on more modest events,” but there is some truth to the claim that Roma spend their money on weddings.* For example, in Asen Balicki’s Bulgarian film compi-

lation Roma Portraits, a young Romani director, Mincho Stamboloyv, explained that he chose weddings for his filmic portrait because they are so significant: “They [the family] have been saving money for five to ten years but when... it is time for the wedding they are ready to spend everything. After the wedding they might not have a cent left but they really want a big feast.” In the same film, a family member explained:

It’s a big celebration for us. No matter how much money you don't have, you have to make a wedding. You remember my aunt’s wedding? They didn’t have any money—they sold their animals to put on the wedding and now they have no animals! They have to buy animals with the money they collected [at the wedding]. But they had to make a wedding! ... There was no other way! Weddings are sometimes delayed because of insufficient finances, even into the bride’s pregnancy. The same family member explained: “They waited and waited. The bride gave birth two days after the wedding.” Similarly, several Belmont weddings were delayed because of the lack of fit between relatives’ schedules and the availability of a banquet hall; it is not uncommon for the bride to be several months pregnant at the wedding and “almost showing.” Weddings are the key to the growth of the family, and the Belmont community has indeed been growing thanks to spouses relocating from Macedonia

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to America. Because the bride is ideally brought into the groom's family, weddings affirm her reproductive importance to patrilocal residency and patriarchal relations. The bride is thus the ritual focus and the most symbolically endowed personage in the event. She is the person undergoing the most marked transition, and because the alliance between two families depends on her she is the most precarious person.° It is not surprising that most wedding customs and song texts involve the bride. Song texts are a guide to the importance of weddings in general, and specifically of brides. Bori means bride in Romani (plural borja), but its meaning expands to “a woman married into our family,” dramatizing that a bride belongs to everyone on the groom's side, not just the husband. Bori thus means daughter-in-law to the groom’s parents, sister-in-law to the eroom’s sisters and brothers, etc. The groom’s relatives tend to use the term bori when addressing her or talking about her; using her name might signal too much intimacy. Furthermore, a woman remains a bori her whole life; only perhaps in old age will she outgrow being called bori. Along with the label comes the expectation of service to the groom’s family (not only to the men but also to the elder women). “First up in the morning and last to go asleep” is a proverb found in every Balkan language about the role of the new bride, but it is especially resonant among Roma. As a woman has children and matures, however, her status increases and younger borja serve her. Thus gender hierarchy is mediated by age hierarchy. The majority of Romani songs, indeed, are about weddings or specifically borja.° In Chapter 2, I discussed “Astargja o horo” from the repertoire of Dzansever (see audio examples and text supplement 2.6—2.8). I have heard this song performed at several weddings in Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and New York. The text reveals the significance of elaborate marriage rituals and illustrates how the bride's family gives her away and the groom's family welcomes her. Most songs in praise of the bride are expressed from the view of the groom's father. As the senior male in the sponsoring family,

he represents the voice of authority. In addition, the bride herself has almost magical powers in that she brings luck and happiness to the entire family; also note that she is displayed to the Romani public through dance (see Chapter 6).

Weddings in Sutka Contemporary Romani weddings in Macedonia are typically three-to-six-day events; their length distinguishes them from ethnic Macedonian weddings, which are typically one day or one evening. Several decades ago, however,

Macedonian villagers also had weeklong weddings (Kli¢kova and Georgieva 1996; Silverman and Wixman 1983).’ The entire Romani wedding conforms to a pan-Balkan structural pattern that was common fifty years ago regardless of region, religion, or ethnicity. Pan-Balkan themes include transference of the bride from her natal family to the groom's family and emphasis on her virginity and fertility. Structurally, the wedding illustrates Transnational Celebrations 85

Van Gennep’ss tripartite division of separation, transition, and incorporation, from the bride’s point of view (1961). Muslim Romani Macedonian and Bulgarian weddings differ from Eastern Orthodox Romani weddings in costume, use of henna, and more recently in New York the mosque ceremony (see discussion later). In Suto Orizari, Macedonia, perhaps the largest Romani settlement in Europe, music and dance are the community's expressive focus (Silverman 1996b). Weddings can be found every summer weekend, although in the postsocialist period the size and duration of celebrations have declined because of economic constraints. Indeed, from June to September in Sutka on any weekend evening one can find five to ten weddings on the streets. The outdoor dance portions of the weddings are regularly viewed by scores of uninvited onlookers, and there are times when uninvited people may dance. Dance-crazy Sutka teenagers regularly make the rounds looking for the best music for dancing. The Romani expression for putting on a wedding is kerava bijav, which means literally I make a wedding. Note that bijav is also used as a general term for a celebration; thus the party for a sunet (circumcision) is also a bijav. Also note that making and working are represented by the same word, as in kerava buti (I work), which implies that making a wedding is a type of work. Furthermore, ritual is a particular type of gendered work that charts the relationship between a family and the community via the aesthetic dimensions of music, dance, costume, and foodways. Female identity is thus constructed by the relationship of economics to kinship and is expressed aesthetically in a ritual and symbol system. I am inspired by Micaela di Leonardo's 1987 article in which she coins the term “kinwork” to describe female work other than wage work and domestic work. Unlike domestic work, which occurs within a household, kinwork cuts across households, and it mobilizes women across households. Kinwork also creates obligations and reciprocal work for the whole household, including men. The term nicely describes the kind of work Romani women do in

planning, organizing, managing, performing (including dancing), and evaluating ritual celebrations (Silverman 1996b). Older women direct rituals much more than men and younger women; in fact, many men and younger women are quite ignorant about what needs to be done and when. Music and dance are required at Balkan Romani weddings; music tends to be a male realm whereas dance is female (see Chapter 6 and Silverman 2008b). Through dance, participants enact some of the most important rituals in the wedding (Sugarman 1997; Cowan 1990). For example, guest families are called up one by one to lead dance lines, in the order of closeness to the sponsoring family; moreover, dance lines are usually led by women. Before the family begins dancing, someone requests a tune from the musicians, and a male family member tips them. Families are called up to lead by a “speaker,” a man who is eloquent, is a good organizer, and knows the proper order. He must not insult people by omitting them or calling them in the wrong order (the sequence must be ko redo, in order). Dance, then, is a performative display of social structure. One common

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speaker's formula is Akana ka khela . . . (now So-and-So will dance). Often

a speaker is instructed about the proper order by knowledgeable family members, but I have attended weddings where guests were furious at the order.

Weddings are occasions for parents to scrutinize potential spouses for their children. People discuss who is dancing next to whom and who is wearing what outfit; most important, parents of marriageable children ask kaske (whose) that son or daughter is, meaning to what family he or she belongs. Because dance lines are sexually integrated, they serve as a meeting

place for young people. Since dating is not practiced and arranged marriages are still the ideal, young Roma look one another over on the dance line and exchange glances. Young men and women sometimes dance next to each other (while friends and relatives watch), and conversations are initiated. The seeds of future matches, then, are planted at weddings. As I explain in Chapter 6, women of the sponsoring family are expected to dance for hours at a time at weddings. Because women have so many obligations, such as ritual enactments, food preparation, and dancing, men sometimes end up taking care of children—something that rarely happens outside of rituals. Male dancing is more optional than female dancing, although there are some ritual moments requiring male dancing (as when his family is called up to lead the dance line). The males of the bride's family must also solemnly dance with her just before she is transferred to the groom's family (see later discussion). I argue that in addition to dance, food preparation and presentation are performative because they are public behaviors with a marked aesthetic dimension that others evaluate according to shared criteria (Bauman 1975). Both women and men participate in food preparation, but in a segregated manner. Women, for example, are mobilized across households to prepare

foods, such as baking hundreds of bread products, making salads, and stuffing grape leaves (photographs 5.1 and 5.2). For one Sutka wedding, it took five women eight hours to prepare 1,200 sarma (stuffed grape leaves). Men slaughter animals, prepare meats, and transport ready-made foods from bakeries and warehouses (photograph 5.3). Serving food at banquets is done mostly by men who activate kin networks to recruit the necessary laborers; this is a significant reversal of the normal division of labor and is necessary in part because women need to be free to dance. Washing dishes and pots is done by women. Costume is also an important performance arena under women’s direc-

tion. The most widespread form of clothing worn by Balkan Romani women (whether they are Muslim or not) is Salvari, also called Cintijani or dimije, wide billowing pants (often 10 feet), matched with vests or jackets for festive events (Dunin 1984). Women are expected to wear numerous and appropriately styled outfits during the course of the wedding. Knowing they are on display on dance lines, females dress up, and sometimes young

unmarried women change their clothes several times (borrowing their friends’ and relatives’ outfits; see photograph 5.4). Clothing also figures significantly as wedding gifts. For example, at various rituals during the Transnational Celebrations 87

wedding (such as the henna party), the bride is given clothing by female members of the groom’s family, who have tastefully arranged it on fepsii (metal trays, photographs 5.5 and 5.6). Women shop and sew (or hire some-

one to sew) the outfits they wear and give as gifts; they also financially manage all of the tasks mentioned here, sometimes quite independently of men. Does this female ritual knowledge represent power? In the last chapter, I discussed my conversation with Leila about this topic; whereas she focused on the underlying patriarchal nature of the Romani family, I noticed the arenas of female competence. Owing to space limitations I will not describe the prewedding manglar-

ibe, “asking for the bride,” involving visits and bargaining sessions; the angrustik, the period of engagement; or the postwedding prvié, the first visit of the bride to her family.’ Note that sometimes lavish gifts are given by the groom's family to the bride’s family at the engagement ceremony. Gjulizar DZeljadin described the engagement gifts of Amdi Bajram’s son"® as follows: “twelve meters of fabric for Salvari for the mother or the grand-

mother, a lamb, fifteen beers, two liters of brandy, ten pairs of women’s slippers,” plus much jewelry (including the ring). She was careful to point out that “Our girls . . . have never been sold for money, only for a gift (baksis). But there are Roma that sell them for money, but not ours.”!! All of these reciprocal exchanges trace the alliance between the two families. The order of the wedding week in the 1990s was as follows'!?:

Kana (henna, Romani; kina, Turkish), Wednesday Banja (bath, Macedonian), Thursday Igranka (dance parties at bride’s house and at groom’s house, Macedo-

nian) and second henna ceremony, Kana gedze (Romani; Turkish gece, evening), Saturday

Zemane getting (or taking), transferring, and incorporating the bride (Macedonian), Sunday Blaga rakija (sweet brandy ceremony, celebrating the virginity of the bride, Macedonian), Monday

Dzumaluk (bride’s relatives visit the bride at the groom’s house), Monday

Henna and Bath Ceremonies The first henna ceremony takes place at the bride’s house during late Wednesday afternoon; henna is a vegetable dye used for beautification on women’s hair, hands, and feet.'* The groom’s female relatives dance while processing through the streets toward the bride’s house. The eroom’s women carry decorated metal trays (tepsii) laden with bridal gifts such as Salvari, jewelry, shoes, underwear, sometimes the white wedding gown, and items of clothing for other family members. Often chickpeas and candies are put on the trays to ensure fertility. One tray contains the henna paste and is covered with a red cloth. Like many 88 | Music in Diasporic Homes

Romani rituals in Macedonia, the event takes place mostly outdoors; as a result, neighbors and other unrelated people watch. Romani homes in the Balkans are typically modest and poorly ventilated, so, weather permitting, people congregate on porches and balconies, or in courtyards, or spill out into the street. Weddings typically take place June through September in Macedonia and Bulgaria, a period called the “wedding season.” Summer weddings allow relatives in the diaspora to attend, and the hot weather favors outdoor banquets and rituals. The outdoor location

(often blocking traffic on a street) and the loud music both mark the event as public and performative. Note that in my analysis of the spatial aspect of the henna ceremony, I am avoiding use of the dichotomy domestic-public.'* For Roma there are many publics. First, there is the public sphere of macro society that is dominated by non-Roma but in which Roma work. Second, there is the sphere of the larger Romani public, which I term the Romani community. Third, there is the sphere of the extended family. When I speak of community, I mean the sphere of local public life that is visible to other Roma, be they kin or neighbors, as in the henna ceremony. The non-Roma public is irrelevant here, and as a rule non-Roma do not have access to these local settings. For the henna ceremony, we may speak of a specifically female public sphere. I deliberately avoid the term domestic to define this female space because it is too narrow. The configuration domestic-public obscures rather than illuminates because the domestic arena is not always private and subordinate but is instead part of community life. The henna procession is accompanied by a zurla and tapan band (video example 5.1; see Chapter 2), while other dance events use a modern wedding orchestra. The two musical styles are markedly different. Zurla/tapan music is the oldest musical formation, and it evinces a more intense volume and texture (Blau et al. 2002; Peycheva and Dimov 2002). Note that it is also used for the actual cutting in the circumcision ceremony, another intense moment. Also, practically speaking, zurla/tapan bands are mobile, require no amplification, and are cheaper because they consist of only three or four people. Note that fifty years ago zurla and tapan bands were the often the only professional music available and were used for all musical aspects of the wedding. Today only the best zurla players know the appropriate ritual melodies for the kana and sunet.'* For the henna party of seventeen-year-old Ramisa, who married Hasan in 1990, the groom's female relatives traveled from their village outside Skopje to the bride’s house in Sutka. The six sisters of the bride’s mother, Nazlija, had all helped prepare for the henna party, including making the tel, silver streamers that the bride wears on either side of her face (see photographs 5.7, 5.8, and 5.9). Tel is usually prepared by the groom’s females and brought to the bride’s house for the kana, but in Ramisa’s case

her relatives made the tel, perhaps because the groom’s mother was impoverished. Typically the only males present at the henna ceremony are the hired zurla/tapan players; male relatives, if present, stand at a distance and look from afar. At Ramisa’s henna ritual, however, her father, Muzafer

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Mahmud, a very famous zurla player,'® took the zurla from the hired musician and played briefly at the ceremony (video example 5.2). Outside Ramisa’s house, the bride’s women greeted the groom's women; they danced together and were led into the courtyard, where they sat down and were served lokum (Turkish delight). A representative of the groom’s women opened the trays and announced each gift with formulaic language wishing the bride health and happiness: who it is from, where it is from, and often what it cost; then she handed it over to the bride’s side. At Ramisas ceremony, Hasan’s sister was the “speaker” and Ramisa’s sister gathered the gifts on a white sheet (see video example 5.3). Since the groom was poor (Hasan’s father had died), the gifts were very modest. Wealthy families may give five or six pairs of Salvari, the white dress, and many gold necklaces. After the gifts were announced, the music started again and the bride was led to the courtyard (photograph 5.7) as the women screamed, ululated, crowded around her, and threw candies and chickpeas. This was a very loud and intense moment, as it was first time she emerged publicly (video example 5.4). In 1990 Ramisa wore tel, Salvari, and a white veil (photographs 5.7, 5.8, and 5.9), but it is more typical for brides to have their white veil covered with a red veil (red is a powerful color, invoking blood and life). A series of rituals ensued, enacted by one woman from the bride's side (her sister) and another from the groom's side (his sister); both

had to be nursing mothers. They put sugar in each other’s mouths (for future sweetness) and squirted breast milk onto the bride's hair (for future fertility). Then they dipped a gold coin into the henna and stuck it onto the

bride’s hair (for future wealth); finally, they applied henna to her hair (video example 5.5). At this moment, they made Ramisa cry by telling her

she would be moving far away and would never see her parents again. These remarks were formulaic and did not necessarily represent the bride's actual situation; they did, however, structurally show the bride’s transition and the uncertainty of her future.'’ After her henna was applied, dancing resumed with lines led by her relatives (photograph 5.10, video example 5.6). After the groom’s women departed with the musicians, we watched the videotape of the whole ceremony at Ramisa’s house. Ramisa’s relatives evaluated who wore what and how the rituals were enacted. In intense ritual moments the bride generally assumes a passive stance,

evinced by her downward gaze and how she is led around and told what to do. Only selected elderly women have the knowledge to direct the

ritual, and they shout out instructions (and sometimes argue among themselves) as it transpires. At several henna ceremonies, I heard criticism regarding the lack of a red scarf for the bride. Decisions about the ritual unfold during the moment of performance. Ritual objects may be prepared ahead of time, but there is neither rehearsal nor instruction of the bride in advance. One display that is prepared in advance is the bride’s

trousseau, Ceiz, which is arranged in her house and inspected by all females. A parallel display may occur in the groom's house, consisting of clothing (borjana Seja) and household gift items.

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The next morning Ramisa had her banja, bath ceremony, where the henna is washed out. Fifty years ago the bride would go to the public bathhouse,'*® but almost all bathhouses were torn down in Macedonia and Bulgaria as part of an effort by the socialist governments to remove Muslim cultural elements and modernize. In 1990 Ramisa bathed in a neighbor's newly remodeled bathroom, accompanied by young female relatives from

both families. Meantime, her aunts prepared pita (salty cheese pastry baked in a tepsija) and other foods for the groom’s women, who arrived around noon with sweets, rakija, and trays of meat pastry. Ramisa was led

out from her bath wearing tel and the Salvari and jewelry the groom’s family gave her the day before, and she performed the ritual kissing of the

hands of her future female relatives, receiving small monetary gifts. Among Macedonian Roma, kissing elders is performed in a specific manner: you take their right hand in your right hand, kiss it, and touch it to your chin and forehead in a bowing manner (video excerpt 5.7). Because this was a Zenski muabet (an all-women party; Macedonian), the dancing was solo Goéek and more sensual than it might be in male company. Video example 5.8 shows a young girl at this event being instructed to dance by

a female relative. At another bath party, an older female relative did humorous suggestive dances. Women sometimes get drunk at these bath parties; they laugh, sing, and cry over close relatives they miss who are abroad in the diaspora.

Igranka On Saturday, an igranka (dance party; Macedonian) is held at both the bride’s house and the groom's house. For the bride's side, this is the single

most important event; the groom's igranka is optional and depends on economic capacity. The term is actually shorthand for a series of rituals occurring on Saturday. During the day the women decorate a sita (sieve) with greenery and red ribbons (and sometimes tel plus a grain product such as popcorn), all symbols of fertility and prosperity (see photograph 5.11); this sieve will be used to lead dance lines. Costume for the igranka is typically the fanciest Salvari sets (pants and jacket or vest) and western dresses that women own (photograph 5.12). Often new Salvari are purchased specially for the igranka, and fabric styles change every few years. Women are quite critical of old-fashioned styles and fabrics, and indeed I received quite a few gifts of outdated Salvari.'° The igranka is a decidedly female event even though men are present, and dance lines are usually led by women. The first line dance of the event is led by the most respected female elder, who holds a sieve decorated with a grain product, greenery, anda red scarlf; this known as sitakoro (the sieve dance). The sieve symbolically links the fertility of the land (wheat and flour) to the fertility of the bride (photographs 5.13 through 5.16; audio example 2.2; video example 5.9). At Ramisa’s igranka, the bride’s mother, Nazlija, led the first dance, followed by her brother’s wife, followed by

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Nazlija’s sisters; eventually Ramisa led, dressed in the Salvari she had received at the henna party a few days earlier. Women were called up to lead the line one by one, in the order of age and closeness to the sponsoring family. Coéek as a female solo dance has an important place in ritual (see Chapter 6). It is danced in the middle of the area near the front of the dance line; simultaneously, the line snakes around (video examples 5.10 and 5.11). For example, at Ramisa’s igranka the bride’s close female kin danced Goéek in the middle. The igranka takes place in the late afternoon, often on the street, accom-

panied by acoustic instruments such as clarinet, saxophone, dumbek (hour-shaped hand drum), and accordion (and sometimes dZumbuS, the plucked string instrument with skin face discussed in Chapter 3). These instruments are all portable; they can be played walking, unlike synthesizers and drum sets. For Ramisa’s wedding, clarinetist/saxophonist Feta Sakir’s band was hired; he led one of the most popular bands in Sutka in the early 1990s (video example 5.10 shows Feta and his son on drums). Toward dusk the musicians climbed up to the stage and plugged in their instruments, adding a synthesizer, dzez (drum set), and singer (video examples 5.9 through 5.15 and 5.17 through 5.21 feature Feta’s band; in video example 5.15 note how young boys under the stage played makeshift drums). As more relatives and friends arrived at the igranka, the dance line grew to fill the street. At first, only those who were “invited’”?° danced, but many others came to observe. A favorite activity in Romani neighborhoods in Macedonia and Bulgaria is strolling around to watch weddings. Observers tend to wait to dance until all the important relatives have been called up to lead. As it gets dark and more people gather to dance, the groom’s female relatives prepare a tray of henna with candles for the second henna ceremony. They leave their family’s festivities and process to the bride’s house with zurla and tapan music. At Ramisa’s wedding, they arrived after dark with their music and their lighted candles, causing a loud cacophony and a visual glow amidst the dancing, thus increasing the intensity of the ritual (video example 5.16). Ramisa’s female relatives led her into her courtyard, and the groom’s women put one of his shirts on her head and then applied henna to her hands and her feet, which were encased in special blue (in other cases, red) silken cases. The color red, as mentioned earlier, brings luck, and blue wards off the evil eye, a force to which brides are especially vulnerable because they are beautiful and happy (photograph 5.18). The women threw chickpeas and candies over her. While she sat immobile with the cases on her hands and feet, the bride was made to cry again, as in the first henna ceremony, with warnings about her bleak future. At this point, the zurla melodies imitated the girl crying. The groom’s women then departed with their musicians. On Saturday night a meal is served at the igranka. During the banquet, a speaker calls up close relatives, in a respectful order, to lead the dance line, and the male head of each family tips the musicians. Later, gifts from each family to the couple are exchanged and announced and recorded by

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a speaker. Gifts combine soft goods like blankets and fabric with jewelry

and money. Remembering who gave what and how much is essential because of reciprocity; at future weddings guests are expected to reciprocate with similar amounts. At Ramisa’s wedding, however, the groom did not host his own Saturday night banquet because of his family’s economic condition; thus he and his relatives joined the bride's banquet (video example 5.17). Many famous musicians, notably the Romani clarinetist MuametCun (video examples 5.18 and 5.19), Macedonian singers Jagoda Filipovska and Jonée Hristovski, and the group Tavée Gravée, performed because they were colleagues of the bride’s father at Radio Skopje. A modest hall was rented and the food was catered; in the 1990s, many banquets were set up on the street with rented tables and chairs. Conversely, when a rich groom marries a poorer bride, the bride and her relatives may join the groom’s banquet. Such an arrangement occurred at Amdi Bajram’s son’s wedding in 1992. Amdi’s banquet took place in a large Skopje convention center, and several hundred guests attended. Tables of roasted lamb were displayed, and the bride wore a heavy necklace of gold coins. The music consisted of several local groups, plus Esma Redzepova and her ensemble and Slobodan Salijevics brass band from southern Serbia. Hiring nonlocal performers is a mark of status for the sponsors. Similarly, the sponsors of a circumcision I attended in Sutka in 1990 gained status because Greek Roma were hired. This is also true in the diaspora; for example, in Western Europe and New York Roma invite and pay for the transportation of guest musicians from the Balkans (see Chapter 2).

Getting the Bride Sunday is the day of transference of the bride from her natal home to the eroomss home. It is enacted whether the couple are virtual strangers or have been living together, because it is the symbolic dramatization of the patrilocal principle. The bajraktar (flag bearer; Macedonian) leads the street procession to get the bride.”' The bride's parents, if they can afford it, engage musicians, and all the relatives dance with the bride in front of her house (see video example 5.20). She is dressed in a white gown and her relatives demonstrably show their sadness by crying. As soon as they hear word that the groom’s party is approaching (typically without the

eroom), they seclude the bride inside the house, and the men set up a barricade in the street. The bride’s men wield sticks, knives, shovels, and axes and act very threatening. As the groom’s party approaches, the cacophony of the two musical bands becomes more intense. The groom's

men try to get inside the barricade, while the bride’s men resist. The eroom'’s men jokingly buy their way in with bribes and cases of beer. At many Sutka weddings, the bribe had to be paid in western currency! Note that this ritual dramatizes the close bond between the bride and her ex-

tended family, and their reluctance to see her leave. The ambivalence Transnational Celebrations 93

between their happiness to have her married and their pain of separation is performatively enacted. The drama continues as the bride is led out from her house by an elder male relative, who holds her head down (photograph 5.19). In Ramisa’s case, her brother fulfilled this role (video example 5.21). The bride is expected to gaze down demurely (photograph 5.20) and she sometimes performs temana (the expression used is zema temana [Macedonian] she takes temana), a slow arching movement done by one hand, then the other, then both (see New York video examples discussed later). Temana is done primarily in Skopje, Tetovo, and Gostivar and demonstrates respect.”* The bride is then led into the street and transferred to the groom’s males after more bargaining (see the end of video example 5.21). This is the saddest moment for the bride's side, and all her relatives cry. If they can afford it, the groom's family rents a pajton (horse driven cart, Macedonian), to transport the bride. Amdi Bajram rented an airplane to transfer the bride; it accommodated about fifty wedding guests and briefly circled above Skopje.” In any case, the path taken to bring the bride to the groom’s house must be different from the path taken to get her; this is to confuse the evil eye.

Note that many rituals express traditional patriarchal values, e.g., the stance of the bride in which her eyes are lowered and she acts modestly, which seem to contradict both the powerful position of women in ritual management and the display of her sexuality through dancing. This paradox questions and sets into tension some of the traditional patriarchal tenants that the rituals themselves enact. Taking the ritual of a male elder leading the bride out of her house with her head lowered, for example, we would certainly be correct in assuming this was a symbol of female subordination. Yet we cannot assume a singular interpretation of this symbol. The fact that the ritual is directed by women who may have alternative views, and the fact that it is embedded in a complex set of female-centered performances and economic roles, mediates the patriarchal message. The song that was performed during the transference of Ramisa from her natal family to her affine family was “Sine Moj” (My Son [Serbian], popularized by Muharem Serbezovski), which reflected the theme of the passing of childhood (video example 5.21). More typical for this moment, however, are the two songs “Oj Borije” and “Kote Isi Amalalen”; the former

extols the beauty of the bride via a dialogue between her and her fatherin-law (video example 5.26 with text supplement and video example 5.32 from a New York wedding). The latter extols the bride’s pedigree (see audio example 5.1 with text supplement and video example 5.23). Another song often performed at this moment is “Ustaj Kato,” a Serbian song in 7/8 telling of a jaybird’s conversation with a young girl about her arranged marriage. See video example 5.29 with text supplement from a New York wedding. The bride is incorporated into her husband's family with a series of rituals supervised by her mother-in-law (whom she often calls mother, daj).

She is the most significant female to her; she will spend much time with her and has to follow the rules of her house.** The groom puts a belt

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around his bride's neck and pulls her slowly into the house as she carries a loaf of bread under each arm; a third loaf is held above her head. She smears honeyed water on the three walls of the threshold and kicks over (or steps on) a glass of sweetened water on the floor. As noted above, sweets and wheat ensure happiness and fertility. Depending on the economic standing of the family, there may be a banquet on Sunday night, similar to the Saturday night banquet. If the couple have not run away, then at some point on Sunday night the marriage is consummated and the “good news” of the bride's virginity is announced. As described in the previous chapter, the blaga rakija ritual requires the

eroom and his relatives to process outdoors with music to the bride's house to show the blood-stained sheet to her mother. There they receive gifts and are fed eggs (video example 4.1 shows Ramisa’s groom at the blaga rakija). Dzumaluk” refers to the first visit of the bride’s relatives to the home of

the groom. It usually occurs on Monday, the day immediately after the taking of the bride. Ramisa’s dZumaluk is illustrated in video example 5.22, where the bride's relatives arrived with decorated trays filled with food and

gifts, and the groom’s musicians met them. Ramisa, wearing her white gown (by now a bit faded) and looking forlorn, greeted her relatives and everyone cried as they took turns leading dance lines with her (video example 5.23; note the song “Kote Isi Amalalen,” discussed earlier). In video example 5.24, Ramisa respectfully kissed her aunt, mother, and father as they gave her money. After several hours of dancing and feasting, Ramisa tearfully bade her relatives goodbye. Although Monday signaled the end of the wedding proper, visiting continued for several weeks, including prvi¢ the first visit of the bride to her natal home.

Weddings in Belmont In the American context, many traditional rituals have been eliminated while a few new customs have been introduced. Rather than seeing diasporic weddings as lacking, however, I focus on how and why weddings

change, that is, the decisions made regarding inclusion, exclusion, and innovation. For example, in Chapter 4 I described how in Macedonia invitations to a wedding are typically delivered formulaically face-to-face. In Belmont, on the other hand, invitations are professionally printed in the Macedonian language but with Latin letters, because many young Roma cannot read Cyrillic; but they are still delivered face-to face if possible.

Belmont Roma usually confine their weddings to one or two weekend days. The rigid American work schedule stands in marked contrast to more flexible Macedonian work schedules.”°

In the diaspora, sponsorship of weddings often departs from the patricentered norm. If a groom is brought over from Macedonia, for example, the bride's family, especially if they are poor, may feel no need to put on an event. The groom's side may have already sponsored an event in Macedonia.

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On the other hand, if the bride's family can afford it and if they have many relatives here in America, they might sponsor a wedding. When a groom brings over a bride from Macedonia, there is usually a wedding. Because of migration, key family members are sometimes absent, and thus substitutes enact ritual roles. For example, people are assigned to be the bride's parents and a Belmont apartment may be designated as the bride’s house. Of course, this adjustment also happens in Macedonia. For example, the parents of Bilhan’s bride could not attend her wedding in Sutka because they lived abroad. To dramatize the transference of the bride to the groom's side, some friends of the groom acted the role of the bride’s parents and used their Sutka house as her home. As discussed in Chapter 4, Belmont families are involved in choosing spouses. The prewedding arrangements, visits and bargaining sessions, and gift giving and engagements are very similar to those in Macedonia, if both sets of parents are present. Sometimes engagement parties are held in banquet halls. The six-day wedding, however, is typically shortened to one to three days, but they are not necessarily consecutive. The henna party is sometimes eliminated, but if held it is combined with the second henna ceremony and may take place at any time prior to the wedding banquet. Surprisingly, in Belmont it is sometimes sponsored by the groom’s side rather than the bride's side. Ramo and Rifat’s double wedding in 1995 (see the previous chapter) included a midweek kana in their parents’ tiny three-room apartment. Ap-

proximately twenty-five women occupied the living room (which was nicely decorated with gifts for the two brides), and the few men were relegated to the kitchen. There was recorded music. At Samir and Lebabet’s wedding in 2004, the groom's parents sponsored a large henna party on the night before the banquet in the courtyard of their apartment building in Belmont. They beautifully displayed clothing and gifts for the bride.

Musicians used a powerful sound system, and guests danced outdoors until 3:00 AM. The clarinetist and singer, who were born in Macedonia and were relatives of the bride’s father, were flown in from Germany. Not only is it very prestigious to hire musicians from abroad; they also bring news of relatives and return with gifts and videos. For this wedding the two guest musicians performed with local musicians. They all knew the same repertoire of songs and dances because every performer's musical reference point is Macedonia. Lebadet led the first dance with a fancy handkerchief (not a decorated sieve, as in Macedonia; video example 5.25). One by one, her female relatives as well as the groom’s led the line. Before each woman led, she (not a man) tipped the musicians. Lebadet wore a gown, then Salvari, then another gown. Salvari are infrequently worn in the United States, but a few elders insist that brides wear them for rituals. As this was a female-centered party, the men stayed on the sidelines. The dancing became bawdy as the women loosened up, and the mothers of the bride and groom climbed on chairs and mimed sexually suggestive movements in a humorous way. In

terms of the intense female presence, this event resembled the henna 96 Music in Diasporic Homes

parties I had attended in Macedonia despite the absence of some of the specific customs.

Henna was brought out on a tepsija (with the song “Oj Borije,” video example with text supplement 5.26) and, amidst loud screaming, was applied by an elder from the bride's side to the hands and feet, which were

then covered in satin bags; a small amount was put on Lebadet’s hair (video example 5.27). Most brides in Belmont do not want their hands to look odd at work, so they request just a dab of henna. After a while Lebadet washed off the henna; there was no bath ceremony. The next day (Sat-

urday) included a ceremony in the mosque (this custom is becoming common in Belmont) and the formal banquet, but it did not include getting the bride. As the couple emerged from the mosque, they danced toa band of acoustic instruments, including clarinet, accordion, and tarabuka; several local musicians took turns performing (video example 5.28). Many relatives congregated, and although the dancing in the street blocked city traffic (video example 5.29) everyone was very polite; eventually a limousine arrived to take the couple to the banquet hall. Other American weddings do feature “getting the bride.” At Ramo’s and

Rifat’s double wedding, both grooms and their relatives first went to Ramo’s bride Metola’s house (by car and limousine) and bargained their

way into the courtyard, accompanied by an acoustic band. Metola emerged, eyes downcast and with her head held down by male relatives, and she “took the temana’” (video example 5.30); this is done very rarely in the United States (AisSe, the grooms’ mother, had previously instructed the brides in the temana). Metola was ushered into the limousine, and her trousseau was piled into another car. Then the limousine headed for Rifat’s bride’s (Fatima’s) house, which was actually out of town, but a relative’s Bronx apartment was used as a substitute. The same ritual ensued, with the bargaining (video example 5.31), the leading out, and the temana with the song “Oj Borije” (video example with text supplement 5.32). Then they drove to the grooms’ apartment, where, AiSe, the grooms’ mother, took charge of the incorporation rituals; many people remarked that these rit-

uals are rarely done in the Untied States. Video example 5.33 shows Fatima as she walked up the stairs with a bread over her head and rubbed

the threshold with sugar water; Rifat led her in with a belt around her neck and (gently) knocked her head on the walls (note the bridal gifts pinned to the walls); then he teased her with a knife and everyone kissed each other. All this was done with AiSe’s formulaic blessings for luck, happiness, and “a male child next year.” The highlight of the wedding was the evening banquet, whose structure mirrored American weddings in that it took place in a rented hall with a

dais, catered food, and a wedding cake. Typically, Romani weddings include a buffet plus cocktails followed by a sit-down dinner with Mediter-

ranean foods. Other American customs include throwing the bouquet, throwing the bride’s garter, drinking champagne, and cutting the first piece of cake. Bride’s maids and ushers are other American adoptions; they are usually chosen from the younger unmarried relatives of both Transnational Celebrations 97

sides and wear matching gowns and suits. They may enter the hall in pairs, hold an arch decorated in greenery, and lead the bridal couple under it. At Ramo and Rifat’s double wedding, the first dance line of the evening was led by AiSe (photograph 5.21), followed by her female relatives (video example 5.34); later AiSe led again, followed by Fatima’s mother leading a slow crossing dance (video example 5.35). As in Macedonia, several close relatives danced solo inside the curve of the line. Then came the formal entrances into the hall, announced by the speaker, who was Osman (the erooms mother’s brother).?’ When the bridal couples entered, the brides again took the temana. The band consisted of Ramiz Islami (clarinet and saxophone), his son

Romeo (clarinet), Erhan Umer (synthesizer and vocals) and his father Husamedin (drum set and vocals), Trajée DZemaloski (synthesizer), Kujtim Ismaili (guitar), and several other drummers (video examples 5.36 and 5.37). I discuss these musicians later, but here I note that because Ramo was a singer, his colleagues were glad to play for him. Husamedin some-

times played dumbek and sometimes tapan in the center of the dancers (see video example 5.38). After the two bridal couples entered, they did a slow American couple dance to a Romani song that Ramo sang, which morphed into a free-form céoéek and became more intense as the three fathers threw money over the couples. As in Macedonia, the speaker called up the relatives to lead dance lines in order of closeness. This is an entirely constant element in the dias-

pora and, as mentioned earlier, is a visual interpretation of social structure of the extended family. For example, at Lebadet and Samir’s 2004 wedding, the speaker announced, “The bride’s mother and father will now dance.” The father requested a tune and tipped the musicians, while the mother led the line and close females danced solo in the curve of the line. The father left the line to tip again so the dance would be extended. The momentum tangibly built up at the front of the line, until there was a visceral intensity (video example 5.39). As in the Balkans, women are the primary dancers; they dance for hours while men dance sporadically. But in New York there is also a small, strong eroup of young male dancers. As in the Balkans, the solo Goéek is considered a female specialty, and talented women are surrounded and encouraged by their relatives. Toward the end of Ramo and Rifat’s wedding, after everyone had loosened up, the two couples danced solo Goéek standing on

chairs. At another wedding in 2004, the sponsoring family innovated by hiring a non-Romani American belly dancer. Note that, as will be explored in Chapter 6, although Romani Goéek shares some movements with belly dancing, the latter is more overtly sexual, is costumed with naked flesh showing, and is danced by professionals for strangers for money. Wedding guests had mixed reactions to the belly dancer; elders for the most part disliked it (because it was not part of their tradition), and younger guests either liked the novelty or criticized it for taking the focus off the couple. Another important part of weddings is the procession of the bridal couple around the banquet hall to every table. This can take several hours 98 | Music in Diasporic Homes

and is accompanied by slow songs, often in Turkish. The couple greets each elder family member with the customary kiss on the hand, and they receive money. The largest cash gifts, however, are given in envelopes at the end of the banquet to the sponsoring family, as each guest family lines up to bid farewell. Common but not ubiquitous in New York is a blaga rakija banquet. It is usually sponsored by the bride's side, and held in a rented hall anywhere from a day to a few weeks after the banquet.*® The day after Ramo and Rifat’s banquet, for example, Ramo’s bride's parents sponsored a blaga rakija party. Roughly the same musicians were hired as the night before, with the addition of Kurte Islami, Ramiz’s son (video example 5.40). The traditional rituals were enacted, including the groom receiving gifts sewn to a sheet of fabric (bovéalok; see Chapter 4, and video example 5.41), eating eggs and doughy products, and joking with his male friends. Guests also brought gifts for the couple, and everyone danced for hours (see video examples 5.42 through 5.46). Note that in New York weddings the financial outlay of gifts on all sides is substantially larger than in Macedonia. In New York, a guest (even distant kin) has to provide gifts for the engagement, the kana, the wedding banquet (in fact, several gifts during the wedding, plus tipping the musicians), and the blaga rakija. The main gift costs approximately $100 per adult. This represents a financial strain for most Belmont families, and they struggle to give honorably in spite of limited resources. They do, of course, expect to reciprocally receive gifts when they sponsor events. Putting on a wedding in New York is a huge financial commitment; if several hundred guests are invited, the cost of the rental hall, the caterer, and the musicians runs over $20,000, not including the gowns, gifts, limousine, and tips. According to Condé Nast Bridal Magazine the average national cost of an American wedding in 2005 was $28,000. This is precisely why families save up money.

Belmont Musicians As I have emphasized, music in Romani communities is an important con-

duit through which social obligations are enacted. There are more than twenty regularly performing Macedonian Romani musicians in the New York area, and a younger generation is now emerging. They are all male, including singers, because it is considered immodest for a woman to be a professional and perform for strangers (see Chapter 6). Belmont Roma engage musicians for weddings from the local or diasporic Romani community because a successful performer needs to be familiar with the language, the rituals, and the dance repertoire. Families typically contract a lead player, who then assembles the rest of the band and secures a sound system (usually owned by one of the musicians). A fee is negotiated, but the musicians also expect to receive tips. Typical fees vary from $100 to $400 per person. For example, at one Belmont wedding in 1996 the saxophonist

Transnational Celebrations 99

received $300, the keyboardist $250, one singer $200, another singer $400

(because he also owned the sound system), the guitarist $200, and the drummer $250; tips totaled $1,500, which were divided among the six musicians. These fees increased until 2008, when the economy declined and events became more sporadic. This is not a small income for one event, but Romani weddings are sporadic, and thus most musicians need to service other ethnic groups and have day jobs. Some Romani musicians play for Bosnians, Serbs, Montenegrins, Mace-

donians, and Albanians as well as Roma; in Chapter 11 I discuss Yuri Yunakov in depth, who also plays for Turks, Armenians, and Bulgarians. Patrons hire musicians to perform for weddings, circumcisions, baptisms, eraduations, and New Year's parties. Musicians also play in restaurants

and ethnic nightclubs in Astoria, Ridgewood, Staten Island, and the Bronx, but these establishments frequently go out of business; for example, a Bosnian club in Clifton, New Jersey, employed Roma for many years as well as Bosnians, Serbs, and Bulgarians. For each patron group, musicians must know the appropriate dances and songs. Thus for nonRomani events musicians usually engage a singer from the ethnic group of the patron.

In the diaspora, good Romani musicians try to cast a wide net for patrons. Once someone is known to be talented and trustworthy, he is asked to perform by many colleagues. On a good weekend, for example, a musician may play in a Bosnian club on Friday, at an Albanian wedding on Saturday, and at a Romani circumcision on Sunday. Local musicians often combine with visiting Macedonian Romani artists, as at Samir and Lebadet’s wedding discussed earlier. In the last fifteen years, visiting artists have included Esma RedZepova (see photograph 3.2 and Chapter 10), Bilhan Maécev (clarinetist who trained with Esma and Stevo Teodosievski), Tunan Kurtis (clarinetist, now living in Germany), Ferus Mustafov (clarinetist and saxophonist see chapter 2), Severdzan Amzoski (clarinetist, known as Klepacéa from Bitola), Gardjian (singer), Vehbi Mefailov (clarinetist, from Bitola), Rifat Demirov (clarinetist now living in Vienna), and Muharem Serbezovski (singer now living in Germany; see Chapters 2, and 3). When Serbezovski performed for a New Year's party in 1997, the crowd was especially large since he is a well-known artist and was accompanied by Bilhan Macéev (photograph 5.22, video examples 3.1 and 5.47). The older generation especially liked his hits from the 1970s, while the younger Roma preferred Maéev’s contemporary repertoire. When Esma RedZepova visited New York in 1996, a group of Bronx Roma organized a dance party in a rented hall. Esma performed a miniconcert in which she sang her hits, and she then took requests by walking from table to table (video example 3.3); afterward, her drummer and gifted vocal protégé, Sadan Sakip, sang for a dance party accompanied by contemporary Skopje-style dance music played by Bilhan Maéev (video examples 5.48, 5.49, and 5.50). Because Esma had such a broad fan base and because this event was not a private family event, Serbian Roma, Kalderash Roma, Slavic Macedonians, and American folk dancers attended as well as Macedonian Roma.

100 Music in Diasporic Homes

It is quite unusual to have these groups together in the same space because they do not normally socialize. On the dance lines, ethnicities clustered but everyone felt welcome. On the other hand, when Roma venture out beyond their community to musical events, there is sometimes tension; because of prejudice, they are not readily accepted by other Balkan ethnic eroups. In 2003 I attended a New Year's party at a Macedonian Orthodox Church in New Jersey with about fifteen Macedonian Roma from Belmont (and with Sani Rifati, a Romani activist from Kosovo). The featured vocalist was Blagica Pavlovska, who sings in Romani style; the featured band were the Struskite Svadbari (Struga Wedding Musicians). Roma were not welcomed by most Macedonians at this event (especially when nationalistic songs were sung) and as a result were ill at ease, did not dance freely, and departed early. A similar experience happened when Esma played at a Macedonian Church in 2004 and several Romani families attended (video example 3.4). On the other hand, Romani musicians are much more used to interacting with Macedonians and other non-Roma, and they are immune to stares and hostile glances. They adapt readily and are much more adept at crossing borders thanks to their professional experience playing for patrons of varying ethnicities. Ramiz Islami was a seminal musical figure in the New York Romani

community in the 1980s; he lived in Brooklyn and died in 2004 at the young age of forty-eight. He was the favorite clarinetist/saxophonist for events through the 1990s, and he played at Ramo and Rifat’s 1995 wedding. Ramiz is from a family of Albanian speakers from the Prespa (Resen/ Ohrid) area, and his uncle, Dule, the most famous clarinetist of the region, played regularly for Albanians and Macedonians (Leibman 1974).?? Various incarnations of his band, Grupi Sazet E Ohrit (Ensemble from Ohrid; Albanian), included Kujtim Ismaili on guitar and vocals (born in Ohrid in

1965, married to Ramiz'’s sister); his brother RedZep on clarinet/saxophone; his two sons, Romeo on clarinet and Kurte on drum set; Erhan Umer on accordion/keyboard; Muren Ibraimov from Bitola on violin; and Seido Salifoski on dumbek. Ramiz trained NeSo Ajvazi (vocals) in addition to most of these musicians. Ramiz had a sweet tone, great mastery of technique, and a varied repertoire. Photographs 5.23 and 5.24 and video examples 5.34 through 5.38 and 5.40 through 5.46 feature Ramiz and his band 1988-1995. Today his

two talented sons, who moved to the Philadelphia area, continue his legacy, although Romeo has somewhat departed from his father’s older Albanian Prespa style and repertoire in favor of a technically flashier Skopje Romani style (he is also influenced by Ivo Papazov’s Bulgarian wedding style). 3° Kujtim’ s son Muamed (born 1990) is also emerging as a talented keyboard player. Erhan Umer (known as “Rambo”) was born in Bitola, Macedonia, in 1973 and emigrated to the United States in 1986 with his parents; at home his family speaks Turkish and Macedonian. He plays accordion and keyboard, sings, and is a very popular musician. He comes from a long line of professional male musicians: his father, Husamedin, was invited to play Transnational Celebrations 101

tapan with Tanec, the national professional folk music ensemble of Macedonia; and his uncle, Jusuf, also played tapan; both brothers are excellent dancers (Jusuf leads a dance line in video example 5.44). Erhan’s older brother Sevim narrated: “My father was invited to play with Tanec in Skopje 1959. He joined for one month but my grandfather objected, saying ‘How can you leave me alone in Bitola?’ So Husamedin had to drop out! My grandfather was also a tapan player but he wanted his youngest son near him at home. Those were the traditions back then.” As a young man Husamedin played in the Bitola KUD (Kulturno Umetnicko DruStvo, amateur ensemble) Ilinden. Eran recalls how his father endured the stressful life of a professional musician even as a child: “Husamedin was eleven years old and had just received a new tapan from his father—he was playing it with the father for the first time at a wedding, and was so proud. In the middle of the wedding someone approached the father about buying

the tapan, for a good price. My grandfather took the drum away from Husamedin and sold it right then and there. Husamedin felt like crying. Money counted, not a child’s feelings.”

Husamedin switched from tapan to drum set and currently plays regularly for Albanian events in New York (he speaks Albanian fluently). He still plays tapan when the music and the atmosphere require it (see video example 5.38). Most of Erhan’s other male relatives are musicians: Vebi (first cousin) is a singer, Turan (brother, born 1968) plays guitar (he and his family lived in Germany for several years before coming to New York), Dzevat (brother living Switzerland, born 1960) plays drums and keyboard, and Sevim (brother, born 1965, speaks Albanian) regularly plays drums and tours with Albanian stars Merita Halili and Raif Hyseni. In addition to family celebrations, Erhan performs regularly in clubs that cater to Albanians, Bosnians, Serbs, and Macedonians. Erhan was trained by Ramiz as well as his father; video examples 5.34 through 5.38 and 5.40 through 5.46 feature Erhan playing with Ramiz at Ramo and Rifat’s 1995 wedding. As young man, Erhan formed his own band, Amanet (Testament), which has had varying personnel and produced several cassettes, one of which features Ferhan Ismail (his cousin) on vocals, Ramiz Islami (clarinet), Ilhan Rahmanovski (guitar), Seido Salifoski (dumbek; photographs 4.1 and 5.26 and audio example and text supplement 4.1 of the song “Gurbeti,” discussed in Chapter 4). Erhan recorded the master tape in New York and then, to save money, sent it to Macedonia for duplication. On several of Erhan’s albums, Yuri Yunakov was contracted to play solo improvisations. In recent years Yuri, Erhan, and Sevim have collaborated extensively, and Yuri has included them on tours for American audiences (see Chapter 11). Video examples 5.51 and 5.52 feature Erhan and Yuri at the 2008 California Herdeljezi festival, sponsored by NGO Voice of Roma. Erhan’s teenage son Husamedin (nicknamed Uska, born 1989) is emerging as a talented vocalist and has begun to sing with his father. In May 2007, he performed with his family band (and guest Ismail Lumanovski) for Americans at the Voice of Roma Herdeljezi festival (see video examples 5.53 and

5.54). Like many other young Macedonian Roma in the diaspora, Uska 102 Music in Diasporic Homes

keeps abreast of the newest musical developments in the Balkans via the internet. He has thousands of Romani songs on his computer and trades them with his cousins in the diaspora. He graciously shared his extensive knowledge of new Macedonian Romani music with me; like many young musicians, he is also knowledgeable about Bulgarian Romani music. Ilhan Rahmanovski, who emigrated in 1993, is a guitar player who plays professionally, as well as a handyman for several buildings (photographs 4.1, 5.22, 5.25, and 11.1). He narrated: I didn’t play music at home in Prilep, I learned here. I was living in the

same apartment building as Erhan who was learning keyboard. He encouraged me to learn guitar. I play regularly in clubs and weddings for Bosnians and Serbs. The clubs were more popular in the 1990s. In those years Balkan men came over na pecalba, to work, to earn money, and they patronized clubs. They had no families, low rent, few bills, and no family life. They went out to clubs to meet each other, to hear music from back home. I used to play four to five nights a week. Now there are only a few clubs left. Today they are family men with bills, rent, and large families. Plus the war in Yugoslavia brought tension to these clubs.*! But I still play fairly regularly. Ilhan’s son, DZengis, is a teenage tarabuka player who grew up surrounded

by his father’s musical friends. He watched Seido Salifoski perform for years, was invited to play with his father at several gigs, and played with other Belmont teenagers. Video example 5.55 shows DZengis performing at the East Village club Maia Meyhane with his father, Seido, Saban Dervisoski (accordion), and Ismail Lumanovski. Another young musician, Sal Mamudoski, a cousin of Seido born in 1988, is a promising clarinetist being trained by Yuri Yunakov. Sal debuted with Yuri for American audiences at the 2006 Zlatne Uste Golden Festival, in a band that included Ilhan, DZengis, Kujtim, and Muamed. In 2007 Sal toured nationally with Yuri, Erhan, and Bulgarian Romani drummer/tam-

bura player Rumen Sali Shopov for American audiences. Currently Sal plays regularly with Yuri in his ensemble at the downtown club Mehanata with Alfred Popaj, an Albanian keyboardist. Video examples 5.56 and 5.57 feature them at Hungaria House in 2007; video example 5.51 features Sal, Yuri, Erhan, and Rumen at VOR’s Herdeljezi festival in 2008. Seido and Yuri are thus training the younger generation and exposing them to varied American audiences. Severdzan Azirov (born 1967) and his brother Menderes left their birth-

place, Draéevo, a suburb near Skopje, in 1983, lived in Ljubljana, and emigrated to Belmont in 1990. When they resided in Macedonia, the two brothers were dancers in several KUDs, including Phralipe (brotherhood) in Skopje (see Chapter 6), and in ensembles such as Koéo Racin and Orce Nikolov. They know a large repertoire of ethnic Macedonian dances plus the Romani repertoire. At Belmont events, they often lead men’s lines,

and their parents are also strong dancers (video example 5.58 features Transnational Celebrations 103

Menderes leading Ca¢éak and 5.42 features his father leading a line coéek).? SeverdZan is also an excellent drummer (photographs 5.22 and

11.1) and performs regularly in clubs and at weddings for Bosnians, Macedonians, Serbs, and Albanians, as well as Roma (he is playing in many of the video examples from Lebadet and Samir’s wedding, and also in video examples 6.4 and 11.1). Almost every New Year's, for example, he plays at a Macedonian Church in Garfield, New Jersey. SeverdZan’s son, Sabuhan, in his early twenties, learned keyboard and production skills for

hip hop and for some time played Romani fusion rap music with Yuri Yunakov’s son, Danko. NeSat (NeSo) Ajvazi is one of the few professional singers in the commu-

nity, and he also has a janitorial job in an office building. He was born in Belgrade in 1970 but regularly spent his summers in PriStina, visiting relatives from Kosovo; thus Serbian is the language he speaks most fluently, although he knows Albanian, Romani, Macedonian, and English as well. His father, a theater director, was from the ASkalija group (Albanian-speaking Roma) in Pristina, and his grandfather was a dzumbuSs player. His mother, from Gnijilanje, Kosovo, died when he was very young and his father remarried a woman from Skopje, so he has always been close to Macedonian Roma. He emigrated in 1985 when he was fifteen years old and lives in Staten Island. NeSo learned to sing in the United States as an adult under the tutelage of Ramiz Islami and later with Yuri Yunakov. In video examples 5.59 and 5.60, he sings at the 2005 Balkan Music and Dance Workshop, sponsored by the East European Folklife Center, in Iroquois Springs, New York, accompanied by Ismail, Seido, and ethnic Macedonian keyboardist Toni Jankuloski.

Ismail Lumanovski (known as Smajko), born in Bitola in 1984 to a Turkish-speaking family, is a masterful addition to the pool of young Romani musicians; he is unusual in that he received western classical training. He started playing the clarinet at the age of nine and made his debut in 1998 with the Macedonian Philharmonic. He came to the United States as a teenager as a result of winning a stiff competition to study at Interlochen Academy in Michigan, making his American debut in 2002 at the Interlochen Arts Camp with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra

and becoming its principal clarinetist. He graduated from the Julliard Conservatory in 2008 and is a member of the Juilliard Symphony Orchestra; in 2010 he obtained his master’s from the Julliard graduate program. He has won numerous competitions and awards, including first prize at

the 1998 Folk Music Competition in Macedonia and first prize at the twenty-third, twenty-fourth, and twenty-fifth National Clarinet Competitions for classical music in Macedonia. He has played in numerous clas-

sical music concerts and competitions in France, England, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Bulgaria, China, Turkey, and the United States. Thus Ismail is one of the few New York musicians who read notation and play Western classical music as well as folk music. His father, Remzi,

sang for Macedonian Radio in the Turkish, Macedonian, Serbian, and Albanian languages. Ismail is a brilliant master of a wide variety of styles,

104 = Music in Diasporic Homes

including Macedonian village repertoire. He is well connected to ethnic Macedonian musicians and often plays for the Macedonian church in New Jersey. He is very highly respected by Macedonian Roma and was the youngest performer to participate in the Clarinet All Stars at the first New York Gypsy Festivals in 2005 (see Chapter 13). His own group, the NY Gypsy All-Stars (www.myspace.com/thenygypsyallstarsband), regularly performs at the downtown club Drom (road). In photograph 5.25 he performs with Ilhan Rahmanovski and Saban Dervisoski (from Prilep) at Maia Meyhane, New York, in 2006. Video example 5.61 shows Ismail playing “Gaida” (the clarinet imitates a gaida) in 2005 accompanied by Seido Salifoski on tapan and Tony Jankuloski keyboard in New York; video example 5.2 shows a masterful solo from 2005; video examples 5.53 and 5.54 are from California Herdeljezi 2007. Seido Salifoski is one of the most versatile of the New York Macedonian Romani musicians (photograph 5.26). A brilliant dumbek player, Seido is the son of Nermin, who was one of the first émigrés to Belmont from Prilep (see Chapter 4); Seido emigrated when he was six years old. He has remained within the Romani community in terms of kinship ties but has moved away from it to forge an unusual musical career, live alone for many years, perform with non-Roma, travel extensively, and marry a Japanese woman. Surmounting many challenges, he lives in two worlds by balancing familial loyalties with personal goals. The fact that he is an only son makes him particularly obligated to his parents. However, he has had some conflicts with his relatives and can be quite critical of his community. Musically, Seido bridges several worlds. From a young age he listened to

Romani music and other folk and popular musics. Growing up in Belmont, he befriended a variety of performers: “At first I got together with the Black and Spanish musicians in my neighborhood. I was playing Latin

music, Santana, all those styles. I hung out with them, they were my friends. I was really into that stuff. I brought these guys into my home in

Laurelwood and we played music in the basement. My parents didn’t mind—I guess that was pretty open of them.” In his younger years, Seido played regularly at community events with Ramiz and the musicians mentioned above, and he recorded several albums with them (audio example 4.1). But he also sought other styles and wider audiences. He has played regularly with Bulgarian Romani wedding musicians Yuri Yunakov and Ivo Papasov, Turkish artists Tarkan and Omar Faruk Tekbilek, and Greek and Arab performers. He is equally at home in the jazz fusion world, and

since 1990 he has been a member of the Paradox Trio, with whom he recorded four albums. The trio, made up of Matt Darriau, Brad Shepik, and Rufus Cappadocia, performs Balkan/jazz fusion and tours regularly in Western Europe. Seido is one of the few Romani artists, along with Yuri Yunakov, who perform with and socialize with Americans who play Balkan music. He is a member of the Zlatne Uste Brass Band (composed of Americans) and has taught at the East European Folklife Center’s Balkan Music and Dance

Transnational Celebrations 105

Workshops, and many other folk dance camps. In 2005 he formed his own band, Romski Boji (Romani Colors [Macedonian]), with various Romani musicians. The band performs in downtown clubs and for American folk dance events (see video example 5.55). Video examples 5.59 through 5.63 feature 2005 performances; 5.52 and 5.63 show dazzling solos. Seido is one of the only Romani musicians to offer music lessons to non-Romani students and maintain his own website (www.seidoism.com), designed by his wife. He also sells T-shirts (also designed by his wife) with his web logo and the words “Honorary Rom” printed on a field of blue and green (with the wheel as the letter O). The packaging of these shirts includes a quote from scholar/activist Ian Hancock explaining the symbolism of the colors and wheel as related to the Romani flag (see Chapter 3), and a pledge that

a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Romani political causes. Seido is thus the most activist of Belmont musicians; he enthusiastically helped me by furnishing extensive commentary on chapters related to Belmont in this book. The musicians described here are all respected members of the Belmont community; the music they offer is the means through which performative Romani identities are enacted. Diasporic Macedonian Roma, whether in New York or the Balkans, readily opine that music and dance help define them and set them apart from others. Now I turn more closely to Balkan Romani dance to explore diasporic styles and gender relationships.

106 Music in Diasporic Homes

6 Transnational Dance

AS mentioned inBalkan previous chapters, dance is closely imbedded tied in the social life of Romani communities and is especially to music, gender, and status. Dance mediates female sexuality and reputation; its practice is governed by community ideas of propriety, context, and talent. As a solo dance, €oéek has a long history rooted in Ottoman professional genres and lies in a continuum to contemporary forms of belly dance. In the last fifty years, Coéek has traveled in the Balkan Romani

diaspora to Western Europe and the United States and has also been appropriated into new settings, including professional and amateur ensembles, Romani music festivals, world music events, and Slavic, Albanian, and Romanian community dance events. This chapter compares and discusses Romani dance in all these locations, investigating its stylistic, social, and power dimensions in relation to the marginality of Roma in the wider society and the ambivalent position of women.

Professional Dancers of the Balkans: Ottoman Roots According to Ottoman sources, from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century Romani women and men were professional dancers, hired in aristocratic, courtly, and military as well as tavern settings (And 1959, 1963-64:26-8). A professional male dancer was known as kécek (or raqq) and a female dancer was known as cengi, although both sexes were often called cengi (And 1976:138). The appellation kécek also became associated with the style of music played for accompaniment and later for the sensuous solo dance form known all over the Balkans today as €oéek (Bulgarian: kyuchek). See text supplement 6.1 for a history of Ottoman dance.

107

It is obvious that older cengi dancing informs contemporary female professional belly dancing in Egypt, Turkey, and the Balkans, as well as solo €oéek dancing in various Balkan communities. In Turkey, Seeman reports that professional cengis adopted Egyptian style movements and

tighter choreographies, resulting in a style known as “oriental.” In Istanbul Romani neighborhoods such as Sulukule, cengis were hired for weddings and for tourist shows (Seeman 1998:3-5 and 2002; Potuoglu-Cook 2006 and 2007). Seeman also reports that in the 1980s there was one professional Romani dancer in Skopje who was hired for men's celebrations (personal communication). Pettan remarks that in Kosovo in the early 1980s, “in the area of Pe it is customary that female musicians perform for a short while for male guests, and one of the musicians even dances’ (1996a:317). In Bulgaria, the budget for a north

Bulgarian panair (gathering) in 1884 included income from the kyucheks of female performers (Peycheva 1999a:41). And more recently,

in the early 1970s, Turkish-speaking Romani clarinetist Ivo Papazov partnered with Zvezda Salieva, a professional Romani dancer who performed at weddings. She and her sisters were part of a “dance dynasty” (214 and 247). On the one hand, cengis were admired for their musicality and beauty, while on the other hand they were criticized for their licentiousness and abandon, and many were assumed to be prostitutes. In the early years of the Turkish Republic (1920s), belly dancing was “a despised genre” associated with “fallen women.” It was rehabilitated in 1980 when featured on television for the first time. Now belly dancers regularly grace tourist brochures and furnish a steady income for restaurants and cafes (Oztiirkmen

2001:143). Sugarman points out that the late-nineteenth-century nationalist movements of the Eastern Orthodox southern Slavs mobilized specilically against the perceived decadence of Muslim culture (as symbolized by cengis; 2003:101-102). In this emerging nationalist discourse, Roma had two strikes against them: they were Muslim and they were Gypsy. According to Sugarman:

Their identity as Roma was yet another factor contributing to their poor reputation, leading to a highly ironic situation for them: having taken up the role of entertainer in part because it was one of the few economic niches available to them as a marginal social group, they were then further marginalized by the profession itself. Their perceived indecency could then be ascribed by non-Roma to the moral character of their ethnic groups, rather than to the particular social

and economic conditions and gender arrangements that prevailed within late Ottoman society [101]. Later in this chapter I explore how the market has been a constant factor in determining the place of professional dance, but first we need to examine céoéek in contemporary Romani communities and the historical, religious, and cultural baggage of ambivalence that surrounds it.

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Sexuality and Dance Condemnation of sensuous dancing is grounded in an ideology of female modesty and decorum that was historically shared by all Balkan peoples regardless of religion; today this ideology appears stronger among Muslims. As Cowan writes (on the basis of Eastern Orthodox Greek Macedonian materials), “Dance is a problem for women because in the dance site

‘ambivalent attitudes about female sexuality as both pleasurable and threatening are juxtaposed”’ (1990:190). The embodied nature of dance highlights its association with female sexuality. For Muslims “the female body is the embodiment of seductive power and its open expression is therefore strongly condemned in moral-religious discourses” (Nieuwkerk 2003:268).

The literature on honor and shame in the Mediterranean region is useful in that it identifies the honor of the family with control of female sexuality. But this literature must be criticized for reducing complex and variable systems to a rigid dichotomy. Various authors have shown that the supposed pan-Mediterranean concept of honor via music and dance means different things to different cultural groups (Magrini 2003). The Balkan Romani moral system contrasts pativ (paciv, pakiv; Romani, respect) with ladZ (Romani; shame). In the South Slavic languages, Roma speak of these

concepts as Cest (honor) and sram (shame). A bride who is a virgin is Cestna (honest, pure). A professional belly dancer nema sram (has no shame). A family’s reputation is expressed by offering hospitality to guests, respecting elders, and caring for family members in gender-specific ways. A man works and provides for his family; women work too, but they also

cook, clean, and take care of children, and they serve men. In public, women are expected to cater to and defer to men, as the latter are nominally “heads of household.” This association of women with sexuality bears directly on the stigma of the female professional dancer, for it is both the commercial relationship with a paying audience and the display of the body to strange males that threaten female modesty. For this reason dancing professionally is regarded

as far more immoral than singing professionally (Silverman 2003). In Chapter 10 I chronicle the challenges faced by Esma RedZepova in carving

out a respectable niche as a vocalist whose performances often included dance. Yuri Yunakov, a Bulgarian Muslim Romani musician (see Chapter 11), remarked that he would never let his daughter (who is a very talented dancer) become a professional dancer, as it was a degrading profession. Dancing for money involves performing for strange men, marketing one’s sexuality, and thereby devaluing it. Dancing nonprofessionally in the Romani community also has its challenges (more on this later), although they are mitigated by the high value placed on dance as a female art form. Although men are the “heads” of families, the ideology of patriarchy is contradicted by realms of female power and influence. The female role in income-producing activities, budget decisions, marriage decisions, information networks, and ritual all mitigate her subordination (see Chapters

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5 and 6 and Silverman 1996b). In the realm of sexuality, however, women theoretically must conform to ideal behavior precisely because sexuality poses the greatest danger of ladz or sram. Women are scrutinized by other

women as to their bodily appearance and deportment. Clothing (especially hem lines and bodices), makeup, eye contact, socializing patterns, company kept, time spent outdoors... all are noted and evaluated for violations of modesty. The most highly charged symbol of the proper deportment of female sexuality is the test for the virginity of the bride, still performed today in many Romani families in the Balkans and in the diaspora (see Chapter 4).

The common social structural argument explaining the potency of female sexuality argues that in patrilineal and patrilocal societies the possibility of a woman having a child with a man who isn't her husband disrupts the patriarchal system and poses a problem of affiliation of the child. Other views argue that it is the female body itself that is inherently sexual, in contrast to the “productive” body of men (Nieuwkerk 1995:154). A third view interprets Islam as conceiving of women as more sexual than men, thus needing to be constrained (Mernissi 1975). These views are somewhat relevant for the Romani case, but they are insufficient explanations. Balkan Roma talk constantly about the problems of a child who isn’t rightfully attached to an extended family; children conceived in adulterous re-

lationships are pitied and their mothers are rebuked. But a woman's deviant sexual behavior is seen as part of her intrinsic immoral character. Roma seem to view sexuality as inherent to females, but not in contrast to the “productive bodies” of males. True, males have to worry less about public scrutiny of sexuality, but on the other hand Roma view females as productive bodies. In fact women are often viewed as more productive than men. Most Roma agree that women hold the family together emotionally and culturally, and in addition many families survive on women’s incomes. An important manifestation of the proper deportment of sexuality is monitoring where and for whom dance is performed. Because dance is so sexual, it should, ideally, be performed only among one’s own sex. According to Dunin’s pioneering research in Macedonian Romani communities, segregated male and female dancing was the norm until the 1970s. Women danced in private home settings to the accompaniment of a female dajre player and women’s singing; women dancing for men was considered crude (1971:324—325; 1973:195; 2000; 2006). Note, however, that this was also true for Eastern Orthodox Christians and for non-Romani Muslims of the Balkans (Rice 1994; Sugarman 1997). Esma RedZepova, speaking of her childhood in the 1950s, remembered, “Women used to be in a separate room, men separate, and they used to celebrate segregated at weddings.” During the women-only bathing-the-bride ritual at Esma’s wedding in 1968, there was a female orchestra composed of one violin and two daires (Teodosievski and RedZepova 1984:108). Some women conceived of older weddings as two simultaneous events:

a women’s party and a men’s party. An elder woman remembered the 110 = Music in Diasporic Homes

1950s as follows: “During the Saturday celebration of the wedding at the bride’s house, there would be a professional female orchestra—two violins, a daire player, and the singer, usually the daire player.” The spatial

segregation during celebrations was often described in terms of the “inside” women’s world and the “outside” men’s world. This concept of space is shared with non-Romani Muslims of the region (Sugarman 1997; Ellis 2003). In the henna ceremony, for example, Esma recalls that “the

women were inside, the men were outside with the zurlas and tapans.” Pettan reminds us not to take the words “outside” and “inside” too literally. In the Balkans, many courtyards have high walls; thus a women’s courtyard performance is outside, though not as public as the street. The courtyard is sharply distinguished from the street, where men perform (Pettan 1996a:316; 2003). Henna celebrations in Sutka, for example, take place either “inside” the house or “inside the courtyard” of the bride. As I described in Chapter 5, women from the groom's family dance through the streets and then make the bride’s courtyard into women’s space (video examples 5.1 through 5.8). Similarly, at Lebabet’s Belmont henna ceremony, described in Chapter 5, an urban courtyard became women’s space (video examples 5.25, 5.26, and 5.27); in both cases, men looked on from the periphery (except for musicians). These descriptions do not imply that Romani women are confined to the domestic sphere. Although they are associated with the domestic, both historical references and ethnographic observations show that Romani women regularly occupy the public sphere, primarily for economic activities such as music, dance, seasonal agricultural work, and selling at markets. Pettan observes greater freedom of movement of Romani women in comparison to other non-Romani Muslims of Kosovo: “Similarly to nonGypsy ethnic groups and musicians in Kosovo, Gypsy men are oriented towards the public domain while Gypsy women primarily towards the private domain. Their private domain, is however, extended in comparison to most non-Gypsy women” (Pettan 1996a:316). Pettan further explains that although this is true for sedentary Roma, nomadic Romani women are even more exposed in the public realm, through fortune telling, selling herbal medicines, and begging (Pettan 1996a:316; also see Okely 1983). In the 1930s, freedom of movement of Romani women was noted by Catherine Brown, a British traveler: “One of the most striking features of these gypsy women is their great freedom and independence of bearing as compared with other Mohamedan women in Macedonia. Although among orthodox Mohamedans [non-Romani] one may occasionally see on feast days groups of men strolling about the village together, tinkling gently and rather halfheartedly on small stringed instruments, no women are ever to be seen with them, the women’s festivities being invariably quite separate and confined to the harem. Here [among the Roma] men and women joined freely together in whole-hearted enjoyment. The whole scene resembled an enormous ballet” (C. Brown 1933:307). Unlike upper-class non-Romani Muslims, Romani women have historically worked outside the home among non-Romani women and men.

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To return to the theme of propriety, Dunin’s Macedonian research in the 1970s showed that line and processional dancing were sexually integrated while solo dancing (which is more sexually suggestive) was segregated.

Dunin remarked that “whenever the dancing began during segregated parties, the curtains or drapes were secured so that no one could look indoors. If a child playfully pulled the curtains from outside, he was sent scurrying for fear of being punished... . This dance was meant to be performed by women for women and not in mixed situations” (1973:195). By the 1980s, however, thanks to relaxation of gender divisions in many areas of life, solo dances could be found in mixed company. Women now dance

solo in the presence of men; women also continue to dance in sexually segregated events such as henna parties. How women negotiate varied contexts is discussed later.

Coéek in Diaspora Balkan Romani Communities Coéek, or Cucek in Macedonia and Kosovo (kycek, Albanian) and kyuchek in Bulgaria, is the most characteristic Romani solo dance form. Note that €oéek can also refer to the musical genre used for this dance, in 2/4, 7/8, and 9/8 (see Figure 2.1 and Chapter 2); the term thus serves a double function. Note too that €oéek can also refer to the line dance performed to this musical genre. As a solo dance, Goéek is improvised, using hand movements, contractions of the abdomen and pelvis, shoulder shakes, movement of isolated body parts (such as hips and head), and small footwork patterns. Men as well as women perform it, but it is overwhelmingly associated with women. Coéek is clearly an heir to the dances of the Ottoman cengis (the term comes from kécek), but in Romani communities its subtlety and restraint distinguish it from contemporary belly dancing. I conceive of solo €oéek dancing as a continuum, with subtlety and a covered

body (as found at Romani community events) on one end and belly dancing and exposed skin on the other. Coéek is embedded in ritual events, which are numerous and obligatory in Romani communities, as discussed in Chapter 5. Close kin women are

expected, even obliged, to dance for hours at weddings, sometimes for three or four days in a row, no matter how tired they are. The only excuse not to dance is illness or mourning. Women who do not dance well or are mentally or physically disabled also dance and even lead dance lines. Male dancing is more optional than female dancing. As I explained in Chapter 5, there are some moments where a man’s dancing is required. Men dance

for entertainment too, and some men dance a great deal, but they are rarely obliged to dance. On the dance floor one finds both children learning by immersion and seasoned elders. A typical wedding dance line, whether located in the Balkans or in the diaspora, has a ratio of approximately three to one women to men. Men often dance together, put a great deal of energy into the dance for a short while, and then sit down. In Belmont, there are groups of young

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men who always dance together; they look for each other at celebrations

and try out complicated steps. In fact, men seem to demonstrate their masculinity more in line dances rather than solo dances. Women and girls also tend to dance with their relatives and friends; they too join the dance line in pairs or groups, rarely alone. But unlike men, women and girls are on the dance floor for practically the whole event. Dunin’s research describes ordinary Romani women looking “very comfortable and confident of their movements probably due to the frequency

of dancing, which occurs almost every week” (1971:323-324; also see 1973; 1977; 1985; 1997; 2008; 2009). Indeed, €oéek as a solo dance has an important place within all rituals. It is danced in the middle of the floor by

important females near the front of the dance line; simultaneously, the line snakes around (see video examples 5.6, 5.11, 5.12, 5.25, and many others in Chapter 5). For example, in Sutka, at an igranka, the bride’s close female kin will dance ¢oéek in the center as relatives are called up to lead the dance line. A few female members of the beckoned relatives (rarely

men) might also join in the center. The style changes as new tunes are played and new family members are summoned. Even though women may be ostensibly doing the same dance for hours, its texture migrates, for example, from fast and bouncy to slow and heavy. Dancers may show their exuberance by climbing on tables to perform; photograph 6.1 shows a solo dancer on top of a car during a circumcision procession. Ritual contexts of dance are obligatory, but dancing for entertainment is also common, for example, during the less ritualized parts of celebrations. Video examples 5.48, 5.49, and 5.50 show a party in New York in honor of Esma RedZepova with line and solo dances; example 5.50 shows a talented solo dancer. A good €oéek dancer has the admiration of the entire community, and her family proudly displays her talents. At a wedding in Sutka, the father of an excellent teenage dancer was very angry with her because she was nowhere to be found when the family was called up to lead the dance line (video example 5.11). His family’s artistic competence depended partly on his daughter, who possessed a valuable female asset. Women and

girls squarely take center stage as excellent dancers, and people crowd around them to watch. Esma Redzepova remarked, “That was the most beautiful, to show dignity. A mother-in-law might say to another mother-in-law, ‘my daughter-in-law raises her hand [while dancing] as if she could take everyone's life!’ This would show how delicately she danced; this was the realization of Romani tradition.” Girls more than boys are coached by family members to dance (see video example 5.8). At home, taped music is played as experienced female dancers demonstrate techniques. At dance events, mothers “put up” their daughters to dance on tables (video example 5.19). The female art of dancing C€oéek is chronicled in hundreds of songs; for

example, see audio example with text supplement 6.1. In “Romani Chaj Sijum” Macedonian Romani singer Dzansever (see Chapter 2) sings of “throwing” the stomach, implying that the movement is quite sharp and rhythmic; this is a characteristic move for Turkish Roma, and the phrase

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describing it is shared by Turks and Roma (see video examples 6.1 from Bulgaria and 6.2 and 6.3 from Sutka). Peycheva’s Bulgarian Romani infor-

mants all speak of the stomach flick as an essential part of kyuchek (1999a:244-245). Seeman also documents the importance of the stomach flick (2002 and 2007); it becomes especially dramatic in the 9/8 rhythm that has become emblematic for Turkish Roma. In fact, at New Year's dances sponsored by Macedonian Roma in New York, 9/8 tunes are played exactly at midnight. Although family members seek to show off the dancing of unmarried girls, they must delicately negotiate the propriety of the display. Some displays are crass and transgressive while others are appropriate, depending on context and audience. At Ramisa’s wedding banquet in Sutka, for example, a mother put her sixteen-year-old daughter on a table to dance while she, her sister, her husband, and the dancer's sister and brother all danced in front of her (on the floor), encouraging her with shouts of appreciation and even with monetary tips (video example 5.19). Similarly, female relatives of good dancers often stop dancing and clap for the talented performer. In spatial terms, the nearest audience for proper female Cocek dancers is composed of relatives. Strangers, however, do watch from afar. Ironically, it is precisely for strangers that the girl’s talent needs to be shown (for marriage purposes). The physical proximity of relatives

is not only a permeable wall—a shield of protection against claims of sexual immorality—but also a transparent screen through which to view female bodily displays. Also note that Roma (especially in Macedonia) do line dances to €oéek

music that vary in step and style by region, age, and subgroup of Roma. Rhythms of 9/8 and 7/8 are less common than 2/4, and 9/8 tunes are often played later in the evening and induce increased intensity. The most common 2/4 line dance in Macedonia, Kosovo, and southern Serbia is a three-measure dance, sometimes called oro,” with versions that vary by rhythm and footwork (see video examples in Chapter 5); it is also danced

to 7/8. Note too that in addition to ¢oéek Balkan Roma have always adopted some of the dance repertoire of the non-Roma in their region. Line dances often start slow and speed up at the end, in typical Macedonian style. The New York Macedonian Romani repertoire of line dances includes Bugarsko (Bulgarian), Lesno (light), in 7/8 danced slow or fast (see video examples 5.38 and 5.44 from New York and 6.4 from Sutka); Cacéak (video example 5.58); Bitolska or Romska Gaida (Bitola or Romani bagpipe); Eleno Mome (Oh, Elena, girl); Jeni Jol (New way, Turkish; video example 5.48); and several 9/8 dances (including Afe Dude, video example 5.12 from Sutka). Beranée or Ibraim Odza is another popular line dance, especially loved by Roma from Bitola (it is often in 12/8, 3+2+2+3+2; see video examples 5.43 from New York and 6.5 from Sutka). Elder Roma or talented young Roma are often called on to lead the older, slow, heavy line

dances (Pharo/Tesko, heavy; Romani/Macedonian) in 2/4 or 7/8 and crossing dances that many young people do not know (see video examples 5.35 [second part] from New York and 2.1 and 6.6 from Sutka). Several

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older women in the New York community are excellent dancers. An exceptional solo dancer can even receive baksi§ (tips) on her forehead (see video example 6.1 and photograph 6.2).

Cotek as Social Dance Among Non-Roma in the Balkans and the Diaspora As solo dance, €oéek can currently be found at community events not only among Roma but also among Bulgarians, Albanians, Macedonians, Serbs,

Romanians, Greeks, and Turks—that is, among virtually all the ethnic eroups of the Balkans. The three-measure line version of €oéek known among Roma in Macedonia is found among Macedonians and Albanians from Macedonia, but not among Bulgarians. As a variant of lesno/pravo/ oro, it probably disseminated from Skopje and was picked up by Macedonians and Albanians in the 1970s (Dunin 2008); by the 1980s it had spread to Albanians in the Prespa region of Macedonia, and by the 1990s to Albanians in the North American diaspora, according to Sugarman (2003 and personal communication). As a solo dance, €oéek encodes a number of meanings for non-Roma, who to varying degrees may be aware of its sexual associations and its ties to Roma. Sugarman thoughtfully explores how contemporary young Muslim Albanian women from Macedonia redefine aspects of their own sexuality and their own modernity when they dance €oéek with other women. They still condemn professional female dancers, but “the genres once associated with them have been adopted by ‘respectable’ women and even men” (2003:112). Furthermore, they relate €oéek to Turkish urban culture, thereby placing it in the realm of art and “civilization.” I observed Bulgarians dancing solo kyuchek at community events in the 1970s (up to the present) when wedding bands included them in their repertoire (despite prohibitions against them). The typical pattern among Bulgarians is for guests to dance kyuchek at the middle or end of a wedding— at a moment of abandon and release. This may be a time for enacting the perceived freedom and unbridled sexuality of “the other’ in the form of the internal Gypsy or Turk. For some Eastern Orthodox Bulgarians, Muslim and Romani cultures are coded as unbounded by the constraints of civilization. As I discussed in Chapter 1, the Muslim cultural and political issue has

a long history and is still sensitive in Bulgaria today (Neuburger 2004; Ghodsee 2008 and 2009). For example, in Chapter 9 I explore how the pop/ folk genre chalga is criticized by many Bulgarians for being too uncivilized, which means too Muslim and too Gypsy.

Van de Port reports a similar phenomenon among Serbs who frequent cafes with Romani music in Novi Sad, Vojvodina (1998). Neither Serbs nor the Romani musicians who play for them are Muslims (both are Eastern Orthodox); nevertheless, Roma function as the internal uncivilized “other.” In the cafes, Serbs dress like Gypsies, dance €oéek, and drink with abandon, as if enacting what they perceive as the culture of Roma: “Within

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the Gypsy bar the door is opened to all those forbidden and hidden things which were deposited in the figure of the Gypsy. . . . As would-be Gypsies the visitors gain access to what is labeled as primitive and Balkan in the civilization debate” (188). Similarly, in Romania since the late 1980s a form of solo €oéek known

as mahala or manele has been adopted into popular youth culture.’ Drawing models from the southern Balkans, manele does have histor-

ical roots in urban Romani Romanian dance of the Ottoman period (Garfias 1984). Critics associate it with commercialism, sex, and Roma—all marks of the uncivilized. Despite public condemnation by intellectuals and folk music scholars and performers, it is widely danced and heard and has a growing fan base among Romanians as well as Roma (Beissinger 2001, 2005, and 2007). For example, the Romani brass band Fanfare Ciocarlia from the northern Romanian region of Moldavia currently tours with two female manele dancers performing Cocéek with bare midriffs. Upholding the tradition of performing with family members, these women are the Romani wives of the German managers of the band.* In the last decade, €oéek in its belly dance incarnation has become popular in American and West European clubs where young urban hipsters congregate to dance to Balkan music, either live or spun by DJs. I explore

this phenomenon in Chapter 13, but I note here that the atmosphere in these clubs is close to wild abandon. In my preliminary interviews with clubbers, I found that they viscerally identify with the unbridled frenzy of sexualized belly dance, which they attribute to Gypsies, thus enacting “the exotic other.”

Cotek as Professional Dance: Ensembles, Festivals, and Music Videos Since World War II ¢oéek has been incorporated into professional and amateur Balkan ensemble choreographies, some of which feature romantic and orientalist images of Roma (Dunin 2008). According to Shay and Sellers-Young, “Belly dance contexts . . . negotiate a transnational discourse of exoticism” (2006:25). Similarly, in her research on tango, Savieliano notes that “exoticism is a way of establishing order in an unknown world through fantasy” (1995:169). Dance choreographies are effective visual communication about what constitutes civilization, the nation, and the folk versus “others” (Shay 2002). In Yugoslavia, ensembles incorporated Gypsy suites into their repertoire to illustrate Tito’s ideal of “brotherhood and unity” of the nation’s ethnicities. Note that Roma did not typically dance in these companies. The Kolo (Serbian State Ensemble) suite, titled Vranje (a city in southern Serbia), choreographed by Branko Markovicé in 1949, has become a classic

for many amateur and professional ensembles. According to Dunin, it depicts Gypsies nonrealistically: tapping tambourines on their hips, 116 = Music in Diasporic Homes

elbows, and shoulders; dancing solo steps in unison; and doing intricate footwork (including spinning) over large distances (2008:118).° Shay describes another Gypsy suite with dances from Vojvodina, performed by Kolo in 1987 and displaying Roma “as childlike, irresponsible, sexually lax individuals who dance, sing and fornicate the night away. . . . All the visual clues—the campfire, the gypsy wagon, the false mustaches are present’ (2002:8). The men pull knives and carry the women off, and the women wear costumes revealing their legs and breasts, uncharacteristic of Serbia's Romani communities (8): The Gypsies are shown as childlike, indolent, oversexed . . . people. The choreographies featured stereotypical props [such] as a Gypsy wagon, camp fire and the clothes were covered in patches... . In the Serbian folk dances the women were portrayed as demure. .. . The

Gypsies, on the other hand, have their hair free and disordered to signify “sexual looseness,’ and the blouses are off the shoulder and they show bare legs (none of this is what actual Gypsies would do). At the end of the dance, a man runs his hand up the woman's leg under her skirt until the lights fade out, indicating a night of unbridled passion ahead (171-172).

I viewed a suite with similar images in 1989 at the Ohrid Folk Festival in Macedonia, performed by a visiting Dutch group. The men were bare-chested

and had whips, and the women had flare skirts and off-the-shoulder blouses. While I was offended at the stereotypification, a Romani journalist accompanying me clapped wildly. When I asked him how he could approve, he answered that it was wonderful that the Dutch performers sang in Romani; he was pleased at any public recognition of Roma. Later in this chapter, I discuss the implications of stereotyping for marginal minorities. The Serbian dance company Frula (which broke off from Kolo and is known for acrobatic stylizations) had an entire show titled Tzigane (photograph 6.3). Its 1986 press release states:

Lacking any national folk heritage of their own, the Gypsies have adopted the cultural traits of the localities in which they have settled... and have mysteriously made it their own. In addition to the many songs and dances, the program will feature performances of hitherto secret tribal rites celebrating marriage, birth, and death, as they have been practiced since time immemorial in Gypsy encampments all over the world. For centuries Gypsies have been the objects of curiosity, fascination and persecution among the world’s people. Their carefree, nomadic life style has inspired envy in the hearts of some, suspicion and disgust in the hearts of others. Their caravans and campfires have sung of the open road. Their flashing eyes, unbridled zest for living, and their passion for singing and dancing have made them popular attractions wherever they have settled or roamed. Though often identified with the

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supernatural and the occult, Gypsies generally will adapt to their environment and are happy carefree people.

Although I do not have the space to analyze all the implications of this text, note that all the major Gypsy fantasy themes are present: mystery, secrecy, the occult, rootlessness, freedom, music, wildness, passion, and sex. The message is: these are people are not like us. Note also the alternation of the dual polarities of fascination and repulsion. Up to 1960 Tanec, the Macedonian State Ensemble, included one traditional Romani line dance in its repertoire, “Cuperlika/Kjuperlika,” per-

formed to a well-known 7/8 melody. The 1950 Tanec program lists Cuperlika as a Turkish women’s dance, but it is also widely done among Macedonian Roma. The dance was collected by the Jankovié sisters in 1939 in Skopje (1939:75-77). Tanec’s 1950s line dance choreography was changed to add a solo €oéek, and for the 1956 United States tour “costumes were changed from Turkish style shalvare to translucent and narrower type pantaloons because Americans like to see more of the legs” (ViSinski and Dunin 1995:127).

In 2004 the Budapest Ensemble (composed almost entirely of nonRomani Hungarian dancers) presented an international tour of Gypsy Spirit, sponsored by Columbia Artists. Most of the show featured tasteful Hungarian Romani dance; one scene set in the Balkans aimed to capture the grace of €oéek but slipped into the stereotypical trap of exaggerated belly dancing and flimsy Salvari. In Chapter 12, I explore the problematic staging of this show, but here I note that a Hungarian Romani female audience member was appalled that in one scene a male dancer put his head onto a female dancer's lap. For her, the proximity of his head near her crotch was a violation of public sexual modesty, and she wrote the management a letter of complaint. When ensembles are composed of Roma, they too must constantly negotiate how to present “Gypsy” dance. For example, government-sponsored amateur Romani ensembles in Yugoslavia were encouraged to present their folklore and that of neighboring ethnicities at festivals. A Romani KUD (Kulturno Umetni¢ko DruStvo, Cultural Artistic Group) in Serbia was founded in Pristina, Kosovo, in 1969, followed by others in Serbia (Dunin 1977:14). In the mid-1970s, a festival for Romani KUDs from all over Serbia was organized; it was an important moment in the non-Romani public's recognition of Romani musical talent. Not surprising, groups followed the typical ensemble model of presenting complicated choreographies, most unknown in Romani communities. Although subtle GCoéeks were danced in some Romani KUDs, other “Gypsy suites” in Romani KUDs imitated the eross erotic movements done in state and amateur ensembles (15).° This brings up the question of self-stereotyping, which I discuss shortly and in Chapters 12, and 13.

Known as Phralipe (brotherhood), the Macedonian Romani KUD founded in 1949 in Skopje was very popular, won prizes at Yugoslav folk festivals, and even traveled outside the country to France, Poland, Bulgaria,

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Italy, and other locations (DZimrevski 1983:216). According to Dunin (2008), the group performed mostly Macedonian line dances (plus nonRomani dances from all over Yugoslavia, as was common for all KUDs) but

also included the stereotypical Vranje choreography mentioned earlier. After 1969, a wedding scene was introduced and solo éoéeks were incorpo-

rated (Dunin 2008). Dunin counted three Romani KUDs in 1988 (KUD Phralipe in Skopje, and Tetovo and Folklorna Grupa Trabotiviste from a village near Deléevo; Dunin 2009). By 2008 she counted twelve, five (from Kumanovo, Bitola, Veles, Koéani, and Deléevo) of which performed for International Romani day in Kumanovo in April 2008. According to Dunin’s research, the young female ¢oéek dancers in KUD Ternipe (Youth) from Deléevo learned their orientalized movements from the Brazilian television

soap opera O Clone, which features scenes of belly dancing in Morocco (Dunin 2009).

In the 1970s, Skopje Phralipe members told Dunin that “it was difficult to maintain a repertoire of Rom dances, because the girls did not continue in the group beyond marriage (usually between the ages fourteen and seventeen)” (1977:13). Similarly, in 1990 I learned from former Phralipe members that the group had problems recruiting girls and had to disband for a while in the 1980s. As sites of male-female socializing, ensembles might compromise the morals of unprotected females. Pettan writes of Kosovo Roma: “Engagement of Gypsies with music and dance within the school or amateur ensembles ends with marriage. This is more strict with the female part of the Gypsy population than with its male counterpart”

(1996a:316). This very same problem of female reputations plagued Severdzan Azirov in New York when he tried to start a Romani performing

eroup. As I described in Chapter 4, parents were reluctant to let their daughters attend dance rehearsals. The performance of Romani dance by ensembles in Yugoslavia can be contrasted sharply with its virtual absence in Bulgaria during the socialist period. In the 1980s, the genre kyuchek (both dance and music) was prohibited in the official media because the state claimed it was not “purely Bulgarian” (see Chapter 7). Weddings were sometimes raided by the police if musicians played and guests danced kyuchetsi. Of course, Roma, Turks, and Bulgarians found ways to resist, and the dance thrived in private settings, eventually emerging in vital form after 1989. During the 1980s and early 1990s in Yugoslavia, gala television proerams (for example for New Year’s Eve) regularly featured Romani musicians and dancers performing ¢€oéek. Some Romani performers such as Esma Redzepova (see Chapter 10) danced modestly; others enacted orientalized versions of €oéek with writhing, scantily clad belly dancers. In Chapter 2, I discussed video example 2.4, which features Ferus Mustafov and his band with two solo belly dancers who have exposed skin

but employ characteristic Romani stomach movements; in addition there is a group of non-Romani performers (the Ballet Troupe of Macedonian Television) doing modern dance choreographies that have little

in common with Romani dance. Watching these programs with my Transnational Dance 119

Romani friends, I heard them remark how the solo dancers had virtually nothing in common with Romani community dancers; plus they gave Romani women a bad name. On the other hand, it is clear these programs exposed non-Roma to Romani music and dance, albeit an orientalized version. The television program Maestro, with Ferus Mustafov from 1987, for example, featured him as a doctor in uniform playing to his bed-ridden female patients who shed their hospital sheets and emerge as belly dancers. Singer Esma Redzepova commented:

In recent times, .. . there has appeared . . . with Ferus Mustafov a Macedonian woman (she isnt Romani) who does belly dance—and they show this as if it were Romani. This isn’t Romani, it is Turkish. That is Ferus’ mistake. He makes a profit—money—from this. ... A Romani woman would never be undressed to show her belly button... . Women used to be in a separate room, men separate, and they used to celebrate segregated at weddings. At our weddings our women used to be dressed in beautiful dimije, beautiful shoes . . . nothing at all bare— beautiful vests, underdresses, handkerchiefs at their hands, blouses with handmade lace. When they got up to dance, two-by-two . . . all of the elders . . . would cheer whomever danced better. Among us, we didn't do any mixed [sex] dances—we only danced ¢oéek. You dance ¢oéek with your stomach, you don’t dance (with your hips) in a circle, you don't dance it with moans; we didnt have any of the new things with which people now deceive people. Esma’s modest sensibility prevailed at Sutkafest, the 1993 Romani sponsored festival in Skopje (see Chapter 8); the performers were fully clothed in Salvari and danced modest solo or line Goéeks. Video example 6.7 from Sutkafest shows the line dance Bitolska Gaida and solo éoéek. The tension between modesty and overt exhibition of female sexuality is juxtaposed in Romani beauty contests in Macedonia; they have emerged since 1991 as a forum for music, dance, and costume display, and sometimes music and dance contests are imbedded in them. Given the scrutiny of female behavior found in Romani communities, it may seem surprising that Romani beauty contests have been held annually in Macedonia with ereat success since 1991. With the typical walkway passes, panel of judges, and bathing suit and gown competitions, beauty pageants seem to embrace the opposite of feminine modesty and instead promote Western objectification of femininity. Closer examination reveals a more nuanced reading of these events. Beauty contests are framed to address intertwining issues of the modern world: the political struggle of Roma, the significance of

Romani culture, the role of Romani women, and the importance of Romani music. Either music is liberally interspersed as entertainment during the contest (as in the 1997 International Miss Roma Contest) or music contests are piggybacked onto the beauty contest (as in the Romska Ubavica Contest of 1998).

120 Music in Diasporic Homes

Promoters clearly describe their motives related to women. A news release for the 1996 international contest reads: “Since 1991 this event has been extremely successful in strengthening the Gypsy Community of Cen-

tral Europe as well as aiding in the cause of emancipation of Romani women. This event is a showcase for Romani culture and the talents and beauty of the Gypsy people, their songs, dances, folklore, art and fashion. ... The pageant is open to young women between the ages of 18 and 24, preferably women who can represent Romani communities and organizations in their part of the world.” Similarly, the producer of the 1997 contest said his vision was “to demonstrate the emancipation of the Rom woman and to remove the stereotype of the Roma as a backward peoples” (Dunin 1997:1). We should not, of course, naively believe the words of promoters, for they are primarily businessmen; rather we need to interrogate how and why displays are produced. Beauty contests, as well as por-

nography, have invaded all of postsocialist Eastern Europe, signaling objectification and commodification of all women and demonstrated by awarding “feminine” prizes such as jewelry, clothing, and cosmetics. We must also remember that the marketing of Romani dance and the traf-

ficking of Romani images have always capitalized on the sexuality of females. In postsocialism, beauty contests have become a mark of modernity and progress for some women. In spite of Western feminist critiques of objectification of women in these contests, they do bring women more squarely into the public realm. However, it remains to been seen at what price. It is clear that commercial dance images are directly related to the high market value of the hypersexualized female Gypsy body, a phenomenon with a long history.’ A cursory glance at the graphic design of cassettes, CDs, videos, and DVDs with Romani music produced in Macedonia and

Bulgaria since 1990 reveals that many of them feature seminude belly dancers, and some are explicitly pornographic.® The rise of this music/ dance imagery is related to the spread of pornography throughout the Balkans after the fall of socialism, which is in turn related to reconfiguration of female roles and to economic insecurity (Daskalova 2000; Gal and Kligman 2000a, 2000b). In Bulgaria the genre chalga (a fusion of pop and folk with predominantly kyuchek rhythms) capitalizes on association of kyuchek with erotic belly dance. In Chapter, 9 I analyze several examples of how the feminized oriental is produced via belly dance. Although we may view most of these examples as the product of non-

Romani marketing, Roma themselves are not immune to these stereotypes. Activists condemn these images, but entertainers often capitalize on them. For example, even Esma RedZepova, whose eloquent protest against belly dancing we have just read, made videos in the 1970s and 1980s with veiled belly dancers;? Esma claimed that the dancers in her videos were Macedonian, not Romani, and she did not have full artistic control over the staging. Her videos also featured campfires, tents, and other stereotypic symbols that have nothing to do with the actual history of Esma’'s

urban-based music. She explained to me that she thought the scenarios Transnational Dance 121

were staged beautifully, even though she knew they were not representative of her culture (see Chapter 10). Similarly, Lemon discusses Kelderara Roma in Russia who embraced stereotypic dancing around a campfire for a documentary film about them (2000:156-157).'°

The postsocialist mania for belly dancing in Bulgaria illustrates the interplay of gender stereotypes and politics. During postsocialism Bulgarian kyuchek became more “orientalized” and was influenced by trends in Turkey and Yugoslavia. In 1990, at one of the first public concerts to be labeled with the words Tsiganska Muzika (Gypsy Music), the all-Romani audience was ecstatic to hear and see the formerly prohibited kyuchek. The dancing, however, was not the subtle kyuchek that Roma do at their

in-group events but rather belly dancing with bare midriffs and bodily contortions. Belly dancers (some non-Romani, some Romani) now regularly appear on commercial videos with Romani singers in romanticized stagings. Furthermore, since the early 1990s in Bulgaria, belly dancers have been appearing with bands at festivals, creating a virtual craze. At the 1995 Romani Music Festival in Stara Zagora (see Chapter 8), the winning band Dzipsi Aver (Gypsy Friend) appeared with five kvuchekinyas (kyuchek dancers) with bare midriffs and oriental-style outfits (video example 2.5). There is now a prize for the best kyuchekinya.

Russian Romani dance and costumes (flared skirts and shawls for women, wide shirts and boots for men) are also becoming more popular in Bulgarian Romani dance groups (Peycheva and Dimov 2005:21). In 2000 a new award category was created at the Stara Zagora Romani Festival, for best dance ensemble (10). As a result, many new dance groups, such as Ansel from Vidin, Sukaripe from Sofia, Romska Veseliya from Septemvri, and Romaniya from Sredets, have been formed and have wide Romani repertoires, including Russian, Hungarian, and Indian dance; these groups make a statement about a pan-Romani consciousness (see Chapter 3). The groups showcase teenagers, both girls and boys, and bring a welcome degree of pride and gender integration to young Roma. The dance groups also serve as community centers and gathering places for young Roma."! The group DZipsi Aver also performed in the 1990s with another type of dancer: a Michael Jackson imitator. Partially clothed kyuchek dancers and

Michael Jackson imitators may seem to have nothing in common, but I believe they are both viewed as symbols of a modern Romani identity that goes beyond the local Balkan region. Recall that in Chapter 2 I mentioned the emergence of Romani rap at this time, and in Chapter 9 I describe the use of rap in pop/folk videos. Indeed, Roma (as well as non-Romani Bulgarians) are experimenting with African-American hip-hop styles; Roma may have a special affinity for American-American pop culture because they are similarly configured in musical and racial terms (Levy 2002). In Bulgaria, the belly dance boom has complex connotations embedded in ethnic and political displays of the postsocialist period. First, it is pre-

dominantly a youth phenomenon. In Chapter 8 I describe how the annual Stara Zagora festival, for example, has grown tremendously since its 122. Music in Diasporic Homes

inception in 1993 and regularly attracts several thousand Roma, most under thirty years of age, who actively dance while watching the performances. There is a party atmosphere, and it is one of the places where Roma feel safe in congregating. Second, the festival is tied to the cultural

and political mobilization of Roma. Romani festivals often feature speeches by politicians and are sponsored by political organizations or nongovernmental organizations.'* Thus professionalization of ¢oéek into belly dance is embedded in economic and political projects, all propelled by the precarious position of Roma in Bulgaria society. Returning to the issue of dance stereotypes, we can begin to tackle the thorny question of why professional Romani productions of €oéek now resemble non-Romani productions. Indeed, with the orientalization of Coéek it is sometimes hard to distinguish anymore what is produced by Roma. Roma engage in self-stereotypification (or mimesis of other's

projections of them) in part because it is economically profitable. Romani dancers, like Romani musicians, have never been in control of their own imagery, and they are quite used to being made (and making themselves) into “exotic others” (see Okely 1996; Lemon 2000; and Chapter 12).

We must also remember that the commercial success of belly dance performances and videos is one of the only positive economic niches in an otherwise bleak economy. Yet here too Roma remain marginal—they do not profit nearly as much as non-Romani performers, managers, and producers. Throughout history Roma have had to rely on outside patrons and the trade in outsider imagery for work. Some observers, even Romani activists, have criticized Roma for “cashing in” on outsider stereotypes. This position ignores the tremendous power inequalities between Roma and the non-Romani world of promoters and media producers. In truth, Roma have historically had few choices about their work and their images, and

even today they lack access to image-creating mechanisms (Hancock 1997). Few Roma produce their own music and dance, and most are subject to the marketing decisions of others. Female belly dance performances sell precisely because they fit the image non-Roma have of Romani women: sexually alluring, promiscuous, dangerous, provocative, and musically talented. The historical information about Ottoman cengis can be interpreted from this angle: cengis were selling not only their musicality but also their perceived (and often actual) sexuality. This is in contrast to Romani community C¢oéek performers, whose sexuality is muted. A community dancer is monitored for modesty but must also display the potentially sensual fluidity of body movement that defines a talented dancer. Traditional social arrangements, such as where and when she dances, shield the €oéek dancer from criticism, but

the ambivalence about the female dancer remains. For Roma, female Romani professionals are suspect but necessary. Because they embody commodification of sexuality, they can disrupt the social system from the inside. On the other hand, their performances in the marketplace underline the paradox of economic necessity versus ideal modesty.

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PART III

MUSIC, STATES, AND MARKETS

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7 Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian Socialist State

Ts chapter examines the relationship of Roma to the nation/state via music, taking Bulgaria as a case study. Although diasporas are usually defined in contrast to the nation and state, dispersed peoples often are ideologically, culturally, and historically connected to states (Werbner 2002a, 2002b; Lemon 2000). Bulgaria is a particularly illuminating case because the socialist state consciously targeted Romani music in its ethnonationalist cultural project of “Bulgarization.” This chapter traces the historical trajectory of definitions of heritage and authenticity through the socialist period in Bulgaria to show that Roma pose the question of belonging. Roma raise the issue of exclusion versus inclusion in the nation/state; they interrogate the framework of heritage by exposing its monoethnic framework. Inspired by Herzfeld’s concept of cultural intimacy (1997), I investigate the complex performative relationship between Roma and the socialist state through analysis of the politics of zurna and ttiipan ensembles and Bulgarian wedding music.' I also explore the issue of resistance to state policy, noting that resistance is often paired with collaboration. I continue this discussion in Chapter 8, where I deal with the postsocialist period. The terms heritage, tradition, and folk had great weight in nineteenthcentury East European nation-building projects; indeed, heritage and tradition were used to culturally define the nation as a community composed of homogeneous “folk,” thereby excluding Roma as well as other minorities. See text supplement 7.1 for discussion of the relationship among Bulgarian nation building, socialism, and folklore policy. Because folk music became a politicized symbol of the Bulgarian nation, its definitional borders were carefully patrolled, and Romani music was clearly outside those borders. Romani music, then, has never been performed in ensembles, festivals, or music schools under the rubric folk.

eae

Zurna and the 1980s Anti-Muslim Campaign in Bulgaria As mentioned, Balkan Roma have had a historical monopoly of ensembles consisting of zurna and ttipan. Today in Bulgaria this ensemble plays the

traditional dance music of the southwest (Pirin) region. In contrast to socialist Bulgaria, where zurna and ttipan ensembles were regulated and eventually prohibited, in Macedonia zurla and tapan players were regularly hired by state-sponsored radio and ensembles. Dissemination of recordings gave wide media, festival, and concert visibility to zurla and tapan music in Macedonia. In Bulgaria, on the other hand, zurna was excluded from most official settings, including folk music schools. However, even in Bulgaria there were long periods during socialism when zurna players performed with ensembles; from 1964 to 1969, for example, Mancho Kamburov from Razlog was employed by the Pirin Ensemble (Peycheva and Dimov 2002:179; also see Buchanan 2006:267). Sometimes regional and village ensembles had their gaida (bagpipe) players (typically Bulgarians, not Roma) learn enough zurna to perform it (Peycheva and

Dimov 2002:184). Romani ttipan players were likewise sometimes employed by Bulgarian ensembles; for example, Angel Krtistev was employed by the Yambol Ensemble from 1973 until his death in 2010. Although the ttipan is regularly played with traditional village instruments, it is not formally taught in schools. In 1984 the zurna was officially banned from all contexts, including fes-

tivals, media, urban and village celebrations, and private parties. Even earlier, however, it was prohibited in certain localities (Peycheva and Dimov 2002:213-214). In 1980 I attended a Pomak wedding in the village of Avramovo (Velingrad district, southwest region), where Romani zurna and ttipan players were hired despite the local ban (photographs 7.1 and 7.2). Family members served as guards, watching from the roof of a house to warn if officials were approaching. This underscores how both Roma

and their patrons resisted prohibition. When the zurna was prohibited from the 1985 Pirin Pee (Pirin Sings) folk festival, government officials substituted svirki (flutes) to accompany village dance groups. Svirki are much softer in volume and lighter in tone quality than zurni. Audiences failed to show up at the stages where dances were performed to svirki, and when they did they found the dancing boring and uninspired, lacking the vitality and loudness of zurna and ttipan. Despite the ban, Romani zurna and ttipan players arrived at Pirin Pee and played for dancing in a meadow above the festival. They attracted a large crowd (photograph 7.3), and dancers tipped them generously; people of all ethnicities danced vigorously until the musicians were chased away by the police. Several zurna players, among them Mancho Kamburov of Razlog, managed to perform surreptitiously and even teach his son (photograph 7.4) despite prohibitions. In the mid-1980s, Kamburov had to accept a state job as a gardener for a hospital, which actually served as a cover for his music. These examples show how Roma and their patrons

128 Music, States, and Markets

subverted the socialist system of musical management. This resistance allowed zurna and ttpan bands to survive until 1989, when prohibitions were lifted and they emerged as a vital tradition (see video example 2.2 and Chapter 2). The official reason for the ban was that zurna was a foreign (specifically

Turkish) instrument and thus had no place in Bulgarian folk music. In actuality, zurna-type instruments are found from India to Spain, and until World War II they provided much of the outdoor dance music of the southern Balkans. The Bulgarian state was itself contradictory about the official performance of zurna; although it was banned at the Pirin Pee festival, the National Ensemble of Folk Music and Dance permitted its eaida players to play the zurna for its Pirin suite. Buchanan points out that the instrument was legitimated by being incorporated into the ensemble’s stylized spectacle of the nation (2006:267). This illustrates Aretxaga’s

point that we need to “rethink the notion of the state in a new light as a contradictory ensemble of practices and processes” (2003:395). The rhetoric about purity is directly related to the 1980s state policy of

monoethnism and Bulgarization and its concomitant regulation of display of Muslim ethnicity (Poulton 1991; Neuburger 2004; Rechel 2008). In fact, the official Véizroditelen Protses (regeneration process) dictated that

there were no minorities; everyone was Bulgarian (thus Roma didn't exist). Roma were referred to in official contexts as grazhdani s novobtilgarski proizhod (citizens with new or modern Bulgarian ancestry). This

policy included name changes and prohibition of religious and cultural observances among the countrys Muslim minorities—Turks, Pomaks, and Roma. The policy was enacted among the three groups of Muslims at different times and with different consequences (Rechel 2008:138-141; Neuburger 2004). As early as the 1960s, Roma were targeted with name changes; that is, their Muslim names were forcibly changed to Slavic ones (Pomak name changes were initiated even earlier). Several Roma satirized this process by chosing the names of famous Bulgarians; for example, one man chose

the name Filip Kutev (after the head of the National Ensemble of Folk Music and Dance). Another well-known television director in Sofia chose

a name that sounded Slavic but was actually part Romani: Manush Romanov (manush means man in Romani; Romanov is a hybrid of a Slavic ending (ov) and the word Roma). Many Muslims never fully abandoned their Muslim names; they used them at home among their family and used their Slavic names in official contexts.2 When I asked Muslims in private “What is your name?” they would answer, “Which one?” It was rare for Roma to overtly resist name changes;* they superficially

went along with the process but resisted in more covert ways, as with using prohibited names and playing their music in private, which illustrates Herzfeld’s concept of “cultural intimacy” with the state (1997). Many Turks, on the other hand, resisted overtly, some arming themselves, going to jail, and losing their lives in the process. Because the Turkish minority

is very large and because the country of Turkey carefully monitors the Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian Socialist State 129

Turks of Bulgaria, the name-changing campaign drew international outrage. Human rights organizations reported numerous violations of civil rights. Perhaps Roma did not resist like the Turks precisely because they knew no one would come to their defense; no outside country represents the interests of Roma. Turks, on the other hand, had more security in their high numbers and in having Turkey next door. In spite of international outrage, the Bulgarian government forged ahead with the name-changing campaign. The climax of this process occurred in the summer of 1989, when 370,000 Muslims (mostly ethnic Turks) departed Bulgaria for Turkey (Poulton 1991; Eminov 1997). Although it was cast by the government as a voluntary move (dubbed Golyamata Ekskursiya, “The Great Excursion”), it was de facto an expulsion. Some observers have suggested that the fall

of Bulgarian socialism was due in large part to this misguided policy (Buchanan 1996:221).

In addition to name changing, Muslim clothing (such as shalvari), customs (such as circumcision), the speaking of Turkish and Romani languages, production and distribution of Muslim literature, and listening to and performing Muslim music (see later discussion in this chapter) were all prohibited in the 1980s.* School administrators stripsearched male students, bus drivers refused to pick up women in Muslim garb, and police officers imposed fines for speaking Romani and Turkish in public. Many of these prohibited practices did not disappear but rather were driven underground or into the private sphere, which became a refuge from state regulation.* At home women would wear shalvari or distinctive Pomak or Romani aprons, but when they went out they would remove their aprons and substitute pants worn under a skirt for shalvari. In the state’s effort to rid Bulgarian culture of all “foreign” elements, music played a decisive role. From 1984 to 1989 kyuchek, the main musical genre among Roma and Turks, as well as songs in Romani and Turkish were eliminated from all Balkanton (the state-sponsored record label) recordings and from all official performances. Before 1984 there were a few albums with kyucheks, but the euphemism fanc (dance) was used. The last record of Romani music that was released in the socialist period was a 1983 collection of Anzhelo Malikov’s songs and arrangements.° Anzhelo, son of Yashar Malikov (1922-1994), was a composer, arranger, and collector of Romani music (Peycheva 1999a:56 and 141). When I interviewed him in 1986, he was quite pessimistic about Romani music; at that time he

was employed playing the cimbalom in a Hungarian restaurant and was not allowed to perform Bulgarian Romani music. But he played Hungarian urban music, some of which is influenced by Romani music. In the early 1980s, he performed a program of Bulgarian, Spanish, and Russian Gypsy music for the restaurant Ogneni Ritmi (Fiery Rhythms) in Sofia. In 1984, everything was censored from his program except the Russian Gypsy part, which was in the Russian language. He couldn't compose or perform anything in Romani. To understand these prohibitions, we must examine the rise of “wedding music.”

130 Music, States, and Markets

Bulgarian Wedding Music, 1970s—1989: Instrumentation, Style, and Repertoire In the 1970s and 1980s the genre wedding music (svatbarska muzika) cat-

apulted to fame, causing “mass hysteria,” according to one journalist (Gadjev 1987:10). Roma were prime innovators in the wedding music scene, and this fact fueled the controversy around the genre. Labeled “kitsch” and “corrupt” by purists and excluded from folk music festivals, wedding music was the most popular music of the 1970s and 1980s, with the most fans. During the 1980s, the socialist government prohibited wedding music from recordings, radio, television, and private settings; note that Serbian music, as well as western jazz and rock, were also prohibited. The absence of wedding music from state media ironically promoted its success in unofficial media. Fundamentally a grassroots pan-ethnic youth movement, wedding music struggled against state censorship and became a mass underground cultural phenomenon. The rubric wedding music is somewhat of a misnomer because it encompasses music played not only at weddings but also at baptisms, house warmings, and soldier send-off celebrations’—in short, at major ritual

events in village and urban contexts, for both Bulgarians and Roma. Although its history reaches back to urban ensembles of the nineteenth century that were composed mostly of Roma,* wedding music as a distinct genre began to crystallize in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when amplifcation was introduced to folk music in village settings. The loudness of electric amplification and its affinity to rock music became a symbol of modernity and the West.

Hiring a band with a sound system enhanced a family’s status in the village; the bigger the speakers and the louder the sound, the higher the status. Japanese sound systems were preferred. Every band had an uredbadzhiya (sound man), who provided, transported, and monitored the system and received a fee similar to that of the musicians. The loudness alfected the texture of the music. As effects such as reverb and delay were introduced, an intentional, slightly overloaded distortion became desirable. What defines wedding music is a combination of instrumentation, rep-

ertoire, and style. Instrumentation typically consists of clarinet, saxophone, accordion, electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drum set, plus a vocalist.’ In the late 1980s synthesizers were added, sometimes replacing guitar, bass, and drums. These instruments have a greater range and

versatility than Bulgarian village instruments. Occasionally violin or trumpet or village folk instruments appropriate to the region, such as etidulka, gaida, or kava, are added. Note that the core instruments were outside the socialist rubric of folk. True, they were imports from Western

Europe, but clarinet and accordion have been used in Bulgarian folk music by both villagers and urbanites since the early part of the twentieth century.

Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian Socialist State 131

Even today, these instruments are not taught in folk music schools and are taught instead in schools for classical music. Ironically, if a student wishes to learn folk music on clarinet, he or she must attend a school for classical music and learn folk music on the side; or else a student can attend a folk music school with a different instrument, and then switch to clarinet. Such situations happened countless times. Kalin Kirilov, for example, a talented musician born in 1975 near Vidin, played folk music at home on accordion and studied classical music on accordion in Pleven; when he was six years old he was told by a teacher that if he wanted to compete for admission to the Kotel high school he would have to play “a

folk instrument” such as tambura, and he should not mention that he played the accordion. Later he was accepted at the Plovdiv Academy of Folk Music on tambura but played accordion covertly.'° The repertoire of wedding music can be divided into two main cate-

gories: Bulgarian music and Romani music (kyucheks). Bulgarian music is divided into slow songs (bavni pesni) and dance music. In wed-

ding music, the most common dance meters are pravo horo and rtichenitsa, with an occasional paidushko, krivo horo, or other dance meter.'' Tunes are either local or drawn from the standardized Thracian wedding repertoire created by famous wedding musicians. This repertoire has a Thracian emphasis because the most famous bands are from Thrace.

Instrumental wedding music is highly structured in some ways and highly unstructured in others; there are set passages played in unison or thirds that alternate with individual improvisations on the melody instruments. The set passages are composed by musicians, sometimes based on folk melodies; but they often have melodic and rhythmic surprises. Eclecticism is the preferred mode of creation. In the middle of a horo one may find the “Flight of the Bumble Bee,” the “Can Can” (from Offenbach), a quote from an advertising jingle, a popular rock-and-roll song, or phrases more reminiscent of jazz and rock than folk music. The emphasis is on originality and cleverness. Versatility is also prized. Clarinetist Ivo Papazov composed “A Musical Stroll Around Bulgaria” to display his regional diversity. He also does an imitation of a gaida on his clarinet, removes pieces from his clarinet (down to the mouthpiece), and plays clarinet and saxophone at the same time while the tune morphs to swing (photograph 7.5, video example 7.1). The theatrical element is definitely present. Moreover, audience members, who are often musicians themselves, listen carefully for what is new and interesting; they are highly critical listeners and relentlessly compare musicians and performances. Above all, ability to improvise is valued by both performers and audience. Each melody instrument in turn departs from the unison phrases and shows its virtuosity in original ways. Dazzling technique is displayed by complicated rhythmic syncopation, daring key changes, arpeggio pas-

sages, chromaticism, and extremely fast tempi. One journalist wrote, “Rhythms are frantic and unbridled showing a rare virtuosity as if playing were a question of life or death” (Gadjev 1987). Timothy Rice quotes

132 Music, States, and Markets

the phrase s hus (with gusto) to illustrate how proponents differentiated

wedding music from folk music, which they found prosto (simple) (1996:193). Indeed, musicians contrasted the svobodno svirane (free playing) of wedding music with the shkoluvano svirane (schooled playing) of folk music. '?

From the 1970s to 1989, wedding music was inextricably tied to large, opulent life-cycle events that were the pride of Bulgarians of all ethnicities. Weddings were a status symbol; villagers saved for years to invite hundreds of guests for a three-day event. Despite totalitarianism, this period was the apex of community celebration and display. Ignoring government warnings about “bourgeois conspicuous consumerism,” villagers insisted on abundant food and drink, expensive gifts, and good-quality music. Wedding music was central to the rituals (such as daruvane, public reciprocal gift giving), the banquets, and the dancing that occurred for many hours. Unmetered slow songs and slow instrumental tunes accompanied the rituals and the meals served at long banquet tables, and metric songs and instrumentals encouraged guests to dance (Silverman 1992). Thus many Romani wedding musicians had steady professional work in that era. Wedding songs are either from the local folk corpus or composed by the singers and instrumentalists. Songs performed by the most famous singers in the 1980s are still sung. The vocal style emphasizes rhythmic vibrato

and extensive ornamentation, imitating the melodic instruments and showcasing technique. The style is based on eastern Thracian models and was developed by Nedyalka Keranova, born in a village near Haskovo, Thrace; many musicians assert she was of Romani descent, from an Eastern Orthodox group locally known as sivi giiltibi, grey doves (see Pamporovo 2009). Keranova was the leading wedding singer until her death in 1996, and her vocal style is widely imitated (Bakalov 1992:229-238). Video example 7.2 is an excerpt of a signature Bulgarian slow song from the Trakiya Folk festival in 1994.'° The second category of repertoire consists of kyucheks, comprising both instrumental music and songs. The tunes for kyucheks are sometimes drawn from older Romani tunes but are more often composed by wedding musicians. They are inspired by eclectic sources: folk and popular music from Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, and Turkey; film scores from the West; cartoon music; Middle Eastern music; and Indian film music. Kyuchek titles in the 1980s included “Sarajevo ’84” and “Olimpiada,” in honor of the Olympics; “Alo Taxi” (Hello Taxi), from a pop song; and “Pinko,” in 9/8, based on the musical theme from the Pink Panther. There

are also covers of Macedonian, Greek, Turkish, and Serbian Romani kyucheks. Ferus Mustafov, a noted Macedonian Romani musician, performs several pieces based on melodies composed by Ivo Papazov. As I have emphasized, among Romani musicians there is cross-fertilization of musical styles, with a premium on innovation. Papazov confirmed that he and Mustafov would trade tunes over the telephone in the 1980s because travel to Yugoslavia was impossible.

Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian Socialist State 133

The Ivo Papazov Phenomenon The unquestioned guru of wedding music was and still is Ivo Papazov. Born Ibryam Hapazov" in Kurdzhali in 1952 of Turkish Romani ancestry, he is a founder (with his cousin, the accordionist Neshko Neshev) of the band Trakiya. In the 1970s and 1980s he was the highest-paid wedding

musician in the country and was in such demand that people waited months and years to engage him. People even married on midweek nights rather than the usual Sunday to accommodate his busy schedule. He narrated: “Some people came to see me about moving their wedding earlier, but I already had engagements. I offered them other musicians—but they wouldn't hear of a replacement. Only later I found out that the bride was quite pregnant and she had aborted the child so that we, only we, could play for her” (Stirnev 1988:23). The family that hired Papazov achieved high social status not only for

their monetary expenditure but also for being the guaranteed focus of attention. Whenever Trakiya played at a village event, uninvited people showed up from miles around to dance in the public parts of the event, or merely to crowd outside the tent or banquet hall to listen to the music and catch a glimpse of the stars. In 1980 I attended a wedding in Iskra, a vil-

lage near Haskovo, where about 200 uninvited fans showed up, some from several hundred miles away, to hear Ivo play (photograph 7.6). An added attraction was a simultaneous wedding in the same village, where Nikola Iliev, a renowned clarinetist and leader of the Konushenska Grupa, was hired. People viewed the event as a contest between Ivo and Nikola in terms of stamina, technique, and number of fans. The two wedding bands

set up their sound systems at opposite ends of the village square, and hundreds of people joined the dance line. The music went on continuously for five hours and resumed after dinner for another four hours at indoor locations. Admired for both his technical and his creative talents, Ivo is known for masterful improvisations, creativity, stamina, daringly fast tempi, forays into jazz, numerous compositions, and charisma: “A virtuoso in the instinctive meaning of the word, improviser of the highest class, he quite freely led the horo into jazz, built on a Bulgarian musical foundation— something, which elsewhere we didn’t find done with such mastery and strength. ... He has set the tone for a large musical movement with hundreds of thousands of followers” (N. Kaufman 1987:79). When a journalist asked Yuri Yunakov, the saxophone player in Trakiya, why no one in the orchestra looks at the audience, he replied, “There’s no time. Have you ever seen how a hunted wild rabbit runs? It runs zig-zag, stops, returns, does 8s, 16s... . That's how Ivo plays. And we chase him like hounds with our tongues hanging out” (Strnev 1988:25). In the 1980s, Papasov’s popularity was enormous: “The concert hall literally exploded when Ivo Papazov, the uncontested king, got on stage. It was the apotheosis. I compared it in spirit to Alan Stivell, Joan Baez, ... the modern bards I respect deeply. I thought about Art Pepper’s'? commentary

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alter listening to an Ivo Papasov cassette: ‘A man can't play like that.’ I also thought of the beginning of the century in the slums of New Orleans when

jazz was beginning” (Gadjev 1987). Numerous fans have testified to his superstar status: I have 100 cassettes of Ivo Papazov. When he plays I feel weak in the knees. His compositions are unending. For at least 40-50 years there will be no one who can surpass him. ... He is a magician! A master!

A phenomenon in folk music that we won't see repeated soon... . When Ivo Papazov plays I stop breathing. I can’t explain why. Can you explain love? (Strnev 1988:23).

Legends circulated about Ivo and the early emergence of his talent. His mother, for example, supposedly tied his umbilical cord with a thread from his father's clarinet.'® In truth Ivo comes from several generations of zurna players. Referring to his colleagues from Ktirdzhali, that is, Salif Ali (drummer) and Neshko Neshev (accordion), he remarked that “all our erandfathers were zurna players.” Ivo stated that his elder male relatives were some of the first musicians to switch to clarinet; before World War II one of them “traded a cow for a clarinet on a trip to Greece. That's how the clarinet was introduced to my family.” Clarinets were valued over zurnas because of their newness, versatility, greater range, ease of playing in different keys, and chromatic possibilities. For a period of time, zurnas and clarinets were combined in bands in the Ktrdzhali region; Ivo showed me a photograph of his father performing at a wedding in the 1950s that had a clarinet player, a zurna player, and a tupan player. Ivo played music from a young age; at nine, he switched from accordion to clarinet and was said to “play like a man.” In truth, he was exposed to many fine musicians from the older generation who played the Turkish Romani style of Ktirdzhali, such as Halil Dzhamgyoz (Peycheva 1999:136—137); he also listened widely, especially to jazz, which was prohibited: “In those years we learned the old style from the older performers. But even then we listened to jazz on illegal cassettes of Charlie Parker and Benny Goodman.” One legend relates that when he was in his teens he went to a local restaurant to eat and was invited to play outdoors when the resident orchestra took a break. Even though it was raining, the diners came outside, wrapping themselves in tablecloths, and for a half hour they didn’t budge. Years after that they were still asking “Isn't that boy coming to play again?” (Strnev 1988:23). A second legend tells of Milcho Leviev, a noted Bulgarian-American jazz musician and composer, who was given a tape of Ivo to listen to on his return flight to the United States. He forced the pilot to turn around in midflight because he insisted on meeting the musician. When I spoke with Leviev, he confirmed

that he was very impressed by Ivo’s playing, but the rest of the story is conjecture. Another legend relates that Ivo owns a solid gold clarinet. Perhaps this claim was inspired by the popular exaggerations of his wealth, or by infusing his instrument with magical qualities. Indeed, fans lifted their children to

Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian Socialist State 135

touch Ivo “for good luck.” One story relates how a wedding scheduled in Istanbul was moved to Bulgaria when Ivo couldn't travel to Istanbul. Another tells of five boys who showed up late for their induction into the army but were willing to take the consequences because Ivo had played for their soldier send-off celebration. When asked by the commanding officer why they were negligent, they answered, “You haven't heard how Ivo Papazov plays!” (23).

Ivo claimed, “T can eat the same dish twenty times, but I can’t play the same thing the same way twice’ (25). In 2005 he embellished, “Wedding music existed for many years, but I modernized it with a new style, mod-

ern chords, modern accompaniment, a contemporary musicality with more improvisation. And the young generation liked it; from them we received our popularity.” When a journalist remarked to Ivo that it was hard to figure out what style he plays, he answered: “T play in Papazov style. I play in Balkan style, I play in the style of ethnojazz. I play our jazz. ...I really get angry when people say they can't categorize me... . One time Lyudmil Georgiev said ‘T can’t tell you if Ivo Papazov plays jazz, but he plays incredible music.’ And Georgiev . .. was one of the greatest jazz players.”'’ Ivo narrated: “Neshko and I changed the style. I just can’t stay in one place. I have to develop. The old ways didn’t please us.” Video examples 7.1, 7.3, and 7.4 feature Trakiya’s dazzling improvisa-

tions playing Bulgarian music on television in 1987 (later I discuss the filming of this show). In video example 7.3 Ivo and Yuri improvise in a pravo horo, and in 7.4 Neshko and Ivo improvise in a rtichenitsa. Video examples 7.5, 7.6, and 7.7 were filmed at a Romani wedding banquet in a tent 1994 where Ivo and Neshko performed with Radi Kazakov (guitar), Vasil Denev (keyboard), Salif Ali (drums), and guests Matyo Dobrev (kaval player from Straldzha, Yambol region) and Ahmed Yunakov (Yuri'’s son, on saxophone). Romani kyucheks in 2/4 and 9/8 predominated. In video

example 7.8 Trakiya is featured in on their 2005 American reunion tour (with guitarist Kalin Kirilov) playing pravo horo and improvising. In Chapter 11, I discuss this tour. Besides Ivo, there are also many other fine musicians. I discuss Yuri

Yunakov in Chapter 11 and have mentioned Ktirdzhali accordionist Neshko Neshev and clarinetist Nikola Tliev, from the Plovdiv region. The roster of wedding musicians is too long to list here,'® but some of the most famous veterans of the 1980s who still perform are Romani clarinetists Mladen Malakov and Orlin Pamukov (from Kotel, who performed with Orfei for many years; video example 6.1), Filip Simeonov (see Chapter 13, video example 7.9, rtichenitsa, 1994),'? Boril Iliev (from Lyaskovets, North Bulgaria), Dimittir Paskov (from Sofia), Nesho Neshev (from Ktrdzhali), and Yashko Argirov (from Brestovitsa, Pazardzhik); Turkish clarinetist Osman Zekov (from Kiirdzhali); Bulgarian violinist Georgi Yanev (from Asenoverad, Plovdiv region, founder of the band Orfei); Romani accordi-

onist Traicho Sinapov (from Sofia); and Bulgarian accordionists Pettir Ralchev (from north Bulgaria) and Ivan Milev (from Haskovo, founder of the band Mladost; youth).

136 Music, States, and Markets

This list is not exhaustive, but it illustrates the point that although Roma have had decisive roles in creating wedding music, Bulgarians also mas-

terfully perform it and bands are often mixed. Second, the majority of well-known musicians are from Thrace. And third, virtually all instrumentalists are male. When women perform, they are singers, usually spouses of musicians. Female singers who perform in bands with no male relatives are considered by some to be “loose” because of the late-night work and uncertain lodging arrangements.”° Note too that the musical background of wedding musicians varies considerably, from a few conservatory graduates who can read music (e.g., ethnic Bulgarians Nikola Iliev Pettir Ralchev, and Ivan Milev) to the majority who play by ear. Romani musicians tend to play by ear and acquire skills informally within a family context, the way most ethnic Bulgarians learned before the 1960s. Ethnic Bulgar-

ians are more tied to the ensembles and the folk music schools, which emphasize musical literacy. The wedding music tradition, however, is strictly oral.

Economics: The Free Market and State Control Understanding the economic framework of wedding music helps us in understanding attempts in the 1980s at state intervention. Because of the phenomenal popularity of some bands, the market for them became erossly inflated. When a family hired a famous band, the family not only gained in social status but also displayed financial prosperity to neighbors and kin. At the high end of the scale, Trakiya charged approximately 2,000 leva or $1,000 in 1984, not counting tips, for a two-day wedding.”! This computed to about 300 leva apiece. If we take 200 leva as a good monthly salary for a factory worker in the mid—1980s, it becomes obvious that the

stars earned in two days what most Bulgarians earned in six weeks. Remember, however, that the majority of wedding musicians were not stars”? and that a more typical salary for a two-day event was forty to fifty leva. Though nowhere equivalent to a star’s fee, this sum was still roughly equivalent to a week’s salary in a factory. It is not surprising that in some Romani neighborhoods almost every male played an instrument. In fact, among Roma and non-Roma alike wedding music became a viable economic niche in the 1970s and 1980s. Hiring music was always located in the realm of the free market, even during the socialist period. Someone from the family would approach the band leader, and they would bargain. Musicians waited to be contacted at specific places and times, such as pazari za muzikanti (musicians’ markets;

Bulgarian; Peycheva 1999a:236-237). In Plovdiv, for example, at the chetvirttik pazar (Thursday market; Bulgarian) wedding musicians gathered over lunch and were contacted by clients. In Soha, musicians met Monday through Friday at noon at a restaurant in the center. As Tome Chinciri, a noted Romani singer and son of the venerated violinist Hasan

Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian Socialist State —_137

Chinchiri from Sofia, narrated: “People pick up musicians for their bands—I need a singer, you need a guitar player. You have to be careful to

watch out for musicians who take more than their share. It’s better to work with people you know.” On Fridays the pazar in Sofia was crowded with thirty to forty musicians (see photograph 7.7), the majority Roma. Besides securing work, the pazar also functioned as a place to socialize. Trends in musical style, fees, and sources for buying instruments were all discussed, and albums from Turkey, Yugoslavia, and Greece were traded. When a client approaches a wedding musician (in person or by telephone) the tone of conversation becomes more formal and a bargaining mode ensues. Usually half the money is paid ahead of time (known as kaparo) and the other half is paid at the end of the event. Nothing is written down formally; rather, a handshake or verbal agreement seals the deal. In addition to the fee, the beginning and ending times for playing are fixed. If they are asked to play beyond the fixed time, musicians require additional fees.?3 Another reliable source of income is from tips, that is, from requests for particular songs. This money is called parsa (collection) or bakshish (tips). Patrons often line up at weddings to tell the master of ceremonies

which songs and dances they and their families request. They pay by sticking bills onto a musician’s forehead or in his instrument, by handing them to the singer, or by throwing them onto the stage, sometimes ostentatiously. Tips are also given when a dancer wants a particular piece of music to continue, or when someone is particularly moved by the music.** Tipping is illustrated in the videos of Romani weddings in Chapter 5. Tips can generate up to 100 percent more than the contracted fee, and they too are divided (Peycheva 1999a:238); in fact, their division can generate conflict. Wedding musicians tell many stories about tipping. One famous story tells of a guitar player who used gum on the bottom of his shoe to gather bills for himself! In the 1970s and 1980s, most musicians had state-sponsored jobs in addition to wedding work. Many wedding musicians and singers worked in professional folk music ensembles; to put it conversely, most ensemble musicians played weddings on weekends. Some musicians preferred res-

taurant jobs to ensemble jobs because restaurant work usually took place Monday through Friday evenings, leaving the weekends free for weddings. In Sofia in the mid-1980s, Tome Chinchiri and violinist Ventsislav Takev did restaurant work; Anzhelo Malikov played cimbalom at a Hungarian restaurant on weekdays and played guitar at weddings on weekends (photograph 7.8) In the 1980s, the salary for restaurant and ensemble work was approximately 150-200 leva ($75-100) a month, relatively low compared to wedding work. Having regular state work, however, entitled a musician to a pension, medical benefits, and vacation packages. These amenities were denied to full-time wedding musicians, who were also denied the right to

join the musician’s union (Buchanan 1991:538 and 1996:207; Rice 1994:247-250). Moreover, in ideological terms doing wage labor made you into a “worker,” thereby affirming your place as a productive member of

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society. Still, many wedding musicians, such as Nikola Yankov (founder of the Lenovska Grupa) and Ivo, resisted wage labor and played only at wed-

dings and concerts. They were permitted to do so, but they were very heavily taxed (Rice 1994:247). Bulgarian clarinetist Nikola Iliev, founder of the Konushenska Grupa, explained: “Tt became really bad for musicians. The government started collecting high taxes from us. Because I was [rom a ‘fascist’ family, they targeted me first; I had to pay back taxes and fines for five years. The first time I paid over 2,000 leva, an enormous sum, equivalent to fourteen weddings.” Similarly, in 1985 Nikola Yankov was fined 2,000 leva in back taxes. The state, concerned about “conspicuous consumption,” began more vigorously to regulate the earnings of musicians. In 1985, in a few tar-

geted regions such as Stara Zagora and Sliven, a state commission assigned each band a category (kategoria) that dictated how much it could

charge. The system was administered by the concert division of the Dtirzhavno Obedinenie Muzika (State Music Society), which was responsible for all categories of professional music and dance, including classical, popular, and folk. Before 1984, Balkanturist, the state tourist bureau,

ran a commission to assign categories for its own establishments, but after 1985 the system was applied all over the country. The Diirzhavna Atestatsionna Komisiva (State Certifying Commission), comprising government-decorated musicians and professors, traveled to every regional capitol twice a year to test musicians through a short performance. They assigned a category according to the level of expertise and mastery of “pure” Bulgarian music. Each band also had to submit a repertory list, which was approved or amended by the commission, to ensure that only pure Bulgarian music was played (Rice 1994:249-250; Buchanan 1991:538-539, 1996). Finally the category system also regulated where a band worked. Singer Dinka Ruseva, for example, told me she was singing at a wedding in the Plovdiv district when the police arrived and stopped the music; they said she could sing only in the Stara Zagora district! Wedding musicians were extremely upset over the imposition of the category system, as my journal entry for September 24, 1985, shows: The musicians are all talking about kategorii. Two days ago the commission (headed by Manol Todorov, a professor of music) came to Sliven to assign kategorii. In Sliven alone eighty groups auditioned, attesting to the vitality of the wedding scene here. Each gave a list of

their repertoire to the commission and then played for fifteen minutes. From now on, every group has to receive a kategoria and a musician has to play regularly with the same band in order to be hired for events. The government wants to get rid of free-market bargaining in part because musicians are making too much money. One Romani musician commented: “They want to have a bureau where you would

go to get musicians for your wedding. The pay would be 52 leva a musician for two days of work, very little. I’m very willing to pay taxes,

Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian Socialist State 139

but we need a free market for weddings. They've started fining people

200-300 leva in Stara Zagora for violations, so we came here to Sliven.”

The category system was enforced only selectively. Almost immediately after it was implemented, musicians began to circumvent the system by charging the official fee over the table but requiring more money under the table. During the 1980s wedding music thus stubbornly clung to the free-market domain.

The Official Rhetoric of Purity Despite its popularity, wedding music was excluded from official government-sponsored media channels such as recordings, radio, and television. It was also either neglected by scholars or else condescendingly labeled as “clichéd” or “kitsch.” Manol Todorov, professor at the Music Conservatory in Sofia, wrote: “The harmonic language is modest and when it is complicated it is unconvincing. .. . Often they master clichés that are imitative and chaotic. ... The repertoire Lof the singers] is not carefully chosen, they do not perform the best folk songs. Very often pieces of doubtful Bulgar-

ian ancestry are performed, songs made up ‘especially for weddings. These pieces, devoid of artistic value, are quickly disseminated” (1985:31).

Another scholar referred to wedding music as stateless, impetuous, and out of control, like “cosmopolitan water’ where “Bulgarian music is only a glaze-like covering.” He further laments that no one has told wedding musicians which influences are good and which are bad (K. Georgiev 1986:90). Music professor Nikolai Kaufman wrote: “Recently it has been pointed out that these wedding bands are the illegitimate children of the music profession. The basis of this attitude was that the bands were not successful in performing Bulgarian and foreign music and lacked professional ability in harmony, construction of form, and maintaining pure Bulgarian style” (1987:78-79). The most common criticism leveled against wedding music was that it

incorporated foreign elements and did not retain the “purity” of Bulgarian folk music. It was, ironically, simultaneously too Western (like jazz and rock) and too Eastern (like Romani, Turkish, and Middle Eastern music). Manol Todorov espoused this position to me in 1985: “No one is playing pure folk material. We must keep Bulgarian music Bulgarian. Foreign elements—Spanish, Indian, Turkish—don't belong. You wouldn't throw foreign words in the middle of a sentence. A Spanish motif doesn't belong in Bulgarian folk music.” In print, Todorov reiterated: “We heard harmonic stamps, clichéd in rhythmic treatments, which are foreign to the melodic tenor of Bulgarian folk music. In essence, the basic task should be the war against the foreign and clichéd in melody, harmony, and rhythm, and the search for contemporary musical thought resting on the great richness of Bulgarian national musical folklore” (1985:31).

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This rhetoric about musical purity is directly related to the 1980s’ state policy of monoethnism and concomitant regulation of the display of Muslim ethnicity. Earlier I discussed the forced name changes, banning of zurnas, prohibition against kyucheks, and the mission of scholars to prove

that Bulgarian folk music had no foreign influences. Wedding music became a primary target; its Romani and Turkish manifestations (i.e., kyuchek) were banned entirely, and the jazz, rock, and non-Bulgarian ele-

ments in the Bulgarian repertoire were cleansed. Playing and dancing kyuchek was officially prohibited, and fines and jail sentences were threatened for lack of compliance. In 1985 members of the Lenovska Grupa told me that the punishment was a 200-300 leva fine or a prison sentence. Ivo Papazov remembers these difficult years with bitterness:

We played in spite of the fact that many composers did not like our style. At that time there were people who were in charge of the style, the order, the framework of the music. They didn’t like our style because we crossed the boundaries. We had more freedom, more improvisation. They didn't want us to experiment with authentic music—

my music was prohibited in folk music schools so the students wouldn't forget authentic music. On the contrary, we used the authen-

tic, but combined with the modern. The critics didn’t like us until 1989, when democracy came and our music was no longer illegal. He describes the development of wedding style:

We started to create a new style into which we mixed Romani elements. Even though it was forbidden, we put it in. And for that reason we were not recognized for so many years. We mixed styles and we saw that it enriched Bulgarian folklore. There is nothing at all wrong with mixing two folklore styles into one. And there was an incredible resonance between the styles, Turkish, Romani and Bulgarian. It was very beautiful; there were more possibilities for improvisation. The people loved precisely this, but the government officials in charge of culture started to follow us around, to harass us, to prohibit us from playing. This was the reason they didn't let us appear on radio, even though we really wanted to record our pieces. They chased us; they fined us.

I questioned Ivo further about the relationship between his music and his identity. Growing up, he heard predominantly Turkish and Romani music, but he was also exposed to Bulgarian music because musicians serviced patrons from all ethnic groups. Ivo's Romani consciousness actually emerged later in his life. He narrated: I was raised thinking I was Turkish. To this day, my sister argues with me that we are Turkish even though she is very dark and I am one of the few light-skinned people in my family. But I knew I was Romani

Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian Socialist State _—‘141

deep down inside, we just didn't face it—it was an insult. On our passports, it said “Tsgani” but we said we were Turks. My grandparents were basket makers, sieve makers; they sold these items, they showed

me how to make baskets. I realized I was Romani from language, history, mannerisms, culture. I knew it inside, but to accept it is another thing. Some members of the older generation spoke Romani; in my dialect of Turkish there are Romani words.

In Chapter 11 I chronicle Yuri Yunakov’s identity shifts, but here I note that both Yuri and Ivo were raised as Turks yet later realized they were Roma.

What mattered more than ethnicity was religion: because they were Muslims (though not practicing), the names of Yuri (formerly Husein Husein) and Ivo (formerly Ibryam Hapazov) had to be changed. Yuri's ordeal is described in Chapter 11. Ivo bitterly recalls: “My mother’s mother was Pomak from the Rhodopes so we witnessed their name changes in the

1970s. The police were on my trail for a long time, but I was constantly traveling. Finally they caught up with me and said, “We have orders to take you to headquarters. If you won't go voluntarily, we'll handcuff you.’ So I

had to go and my name was changed.” Similarly, Ivo’s cousin Neshko Neshev, born Nedyatin Ibryamov, had to change his name when he married a Bulgarian woman (Statelova 2005). And Ivo’s drummer Salif Ali became Aleksandutr Mihailov.

By the mid-1980s, wedding musicians faced a coordinated program of prohibition, harassment, fines, and imprisonment. As the top musicians, members of Trakiya were especially targeted by officials to display them as examples for other musicians. Ivo stated: “In sum, they wanted to slap the hand of Romani and Turkish folklore to show that, ‘Look, the greatest artists are in jail—the rest of you, be careful.’ They wanted to warn people not to make weddings like that. It was a horrible time.” Trakiya members’ cars (or license plates) were confiscated, and they were fined, beaten, and jailed; in prison their heads were shaved and they were forced to do menial work such as breaking rock and digging canals. Ivo narrated: Thank God we were saved—we survived—we only served forty-five days.

I had a white uniform and had to break cement. By the fifteenth day everyone was my friend and they all gave me Marlboros to smoke. Some of my friends from the army saved us, otherwise we would have served longer or been sent to a labor camp, and when you are sent to a camp, you never return. A police officer warned me that they would send me to a camp to get rid of me—only me—the others were being released. I got in touch with someone I knew from the army who loved music, and he saved me. Actually he came at 3:00 A.M. the very morning they were supposed to send me to a camp, and he arranged for my release.

Ivo vividly remembered that legal charges of “hooliganism” had to be fabricated because no official law existed about kyucheks: “There was no

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evidence—they had nothing to charge me with! I hadn't broken a law— there was no law about music I had broken! They charged me with polit-

ical propaganda, that I didn't respect their laws, that I was spreading propaganda—as if I were a terrorist! It was humorous!” Also note that regeardless of ethnicity and religion, a musician was guilty by playing wedding music; for example, ethnic Bulgarian accordionist Pettir Ralchev was arrested. Ivo'’s ethnic Bulgarian wife, Maria Karafezieva, was also incarcerated. Ivo narrated: “Maria was inside too—she was arrested but they couldn't charge her because she only sang Bulgarian songs. They had to let her go. She yelled at them: “We get Roma to listen to Bulgarian music—

how many times did I sing about Hadzhi Dimittr [a famous Bulgarian hero ]?”

Ivo explained how musicians tried to avoid the prohibitions but ultimately faced them. If they couldn't play in the official media, they concentrated on weddings:

So we started to play illegally. We played at weddings because these are private and nobody could tell you what to play. People would

record us at weddings and sell these tapes, and we became very famous. We were approached for weddings because people wanted to

hear this music live. We wanted to work in restaurants but they wouldn't let us. We still played Romani weddings even though they prohibited us from playing Romani music. It is absurd not to play kyucheks at a Romani wedding. So they hounded us; they wouldn't let us play that type of music, but it is impossible to omit this type of music. ... And after we were in jail we weren't allowed to play at festivals. They followed us everywhere so we had to stop playing weddings for a while. I didn’t want to be arrested a second time. There were so many weddings that we couldn’t play—we bargained for weddings three years in advance!

Along with musicians, wedding sponsors were also arrested; all were enraged that the government intruded in the domestic sphere to ruin the events for which they had prepared for years. Ivo remembers: “My patrons protested while I was in jail. Our incarcerations ruined their weddings, their celebrations. You know when Bulgarians celebrate how many people gather; the sponsors prepare food and drink. You know how much money they had already spent preparing! People came from Plovdiv to protest because I cancelled so many weddings from the Plovdiv area. It was reported in the Radio Free Europe press, but not in the Bulgarian press.” Musicians and sponsors developed creative tactics for avoiding incarceration; at village events, family members kept watch (often from the roof) for approaching police officers. An obvious tactic was to hide when the police approached, as Yuri Yunakov describes in Chapter 11. Yuri

recalled that Ivo was smart enough to hide his car in private garages during weddings. Yuri admits, “I wasn't so smart; my car was parked next to the stage, so even though I hid, the police confiscated my car.” If it was

Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian Socialist State 143

too late to hide, a common tactic was to morph a kyuchek in progress into

a traditional Bulgarian pravo horo (musicians illustrated this to me by converting a kyuchek to the popular song Kara Kolyo Sedeshe [Dark Kolyo

was sitting down]). Yuri admitted that despite lookouts, running was sometimes the only alternative: “As soon as the police approached, most of us started running. It was humorous to see Ivo, as heavy as he is, running into the forest behind the stage. The worst thing was to run from the police. That was the highest insult. You were supposed to stay and face the consequences.” Here Yuri alludes to the complicated issue of resistance, suggesting that the bravest response would have been to continue playing kyucheks and face the harsh consequences. But resistance is never simple. Musicians, though brave, were survivors; they did not seek to become heroes because of lofty antigovernment principles. They defied the state because of economic rather than moral imperatives. Music was their profession, and they made a living by serving their patrons, who requested kyucheks. At the same time, moral outrage accompanied economic motives. Musicians did not shy away from critiquing the absurdity of the policy and its racist message. Resistance to prohibition was also found among young musician fans. Ripe breeding grounds for wedding musicians were the folk music high schools in Shiroka Ltika and Kotel and the Plovdiv Academy. Although playing wedding music was strictly forbidden at the schools, students would regularly sneak out on weekends to play or listen to famous musicians at weddings. After speaking with students at the Shiroka Lika school in October 1985, I made this journal entry: All the students talk about is wedding music. They are infatuated with it, and they test us to see what we know: “Who is the accordionist with Ivo now?” They live for this music but they are not allowed to listen to it or perform it. Playing weddings is strictly prohibited. The administration recently issued uniforms and confiscated all of their “civilian” clothing so they can't sneak off and pass unrecognized. Some students have no warm clothing now. We met a vocal student from Thrace who does weddings on weekends, but she has to sneak off or take sick leave.

Dragiya Enev (Bulgarian singer Dinka Ruseva’s son) told me that he had to securely hide his accordion in his room because playing it at the Kotel school was forbidden. He wanted to move from the dormitory into an

apartment so it would be easier to play weddings, but school officials locked him in his dormitory and refused to let him move. He managed to sneak out anyway. Nikolai Kolev, a Thracian gtidulka player living in New York, recalled:

We students at Shiroka Lika were forbidden to play wedding music even in our dormitory rooms. We could be dropped from the school if we were found at weddings. In fact, a friend of mine was kicked out of 144. = Music, States, and Markets

the Plovdiv Academy because he went to Varna to play in a restaurant. In spite of this, my friends and I would slip out at night and somehow get to weddings to hear Ivo or Nikola Iliev, and then sneak back in, or sleep on a bench somewhere. We were crazy for the new music. The atmosphere of Shiroka Luka was very enriching—not just the classes, but outside of class. We played and listened to wedding music all the time even though it was prohibited.

Kalin Kirilov described how students struggled in secret to learn wedding

music from cassettes that had been poorly recorded and copied many times. These sentiments were repeated to me by countless other musicians. Many told the legendary story of being threatened about wedding music by their music teachers, of ignoring them, of sneaking out to a wedding, and of seeing their teachers at these weddings! Resistance was located in many sites, even the most official. As described earlier, the teachers at the schools lectured their students about the evils of wedding music but sometimes broke rules to patronize it. Ivo recalls that some of his most ardent fans were police officers, and he even played at their private events. He claims that when he was arrested, the judge loved his music and so he received a soft sentence (Cartwright 2006c). In 1985, I attended the baptism of Romani kaval player Matyo Dobrev’s son at his home in Straldzha, near Yambol, Thrace. One of the guests of honor was a local police officer, who danced kyucheck with abandon. Similarly, when I told folklore scholars that I was studying Roma, they responded with the official line, “They don’t exist,” but there was always an ironic smile. These examples amplify Herzfeld’s point that cultural intimacy with the state is highly nuanced (1997). Herzfeld commented on my last example above by pointing out, “For a brief instant we see the official representatives of state ideology as human beings capable of wincing at the absurdity of what they must nevertheless proclaim” (2000:226). He further explained that despite the external formality of states, they can be viewed in social terms as “intimate apparatuses.” The state embodies “potentially disreputable but familiar cultural matter,” which is “the very substance of what holds people together. ... Some of that substance even includes resistance to the state itself” (224). On both sides, the official and the unofficial, there were cracks in dogma. Police officers arrested musicians but secretly loved kyuchek; wedding musicians not only resisted but also accommodated to the state. In the cracks in official ideology, then, wedding music thrived.

State Ambivalence I have asserted that resistance is neither singular nor pure; as Ortner (1995) points out, it is always paired with collaboration. More precisely, resistance often involves accommodation to the state. Moreover, the state is not monolithic. I now discuss cracks within the official sphere, and its relationship to black and gray musical markets. In the 1980s, life was filled

Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian Socialist State 145

with much ambivalence. Although it was illegal, most Bulgarians procured western currency on the black market, receiving a rate that was four times the official rate of exchange. Although it was illegal, most Bulgarians obtained western goods. Although it was illegal, most Bulgarians listened to kyucheks. Verdery explicates how the socialist state permitted the unofficial sphere to operate, so rebellion would not erupt (1996). The government, then, simultaneously prohibited wedding music, accommodated to it, sold it, and tried to control it from within. In the mid-1980s, for example, the state recording company Balkanton released several official versions of wedding music that were sanitized of foreign melodies, jazz, and kyucheks.*° Manol Todorov wrote for the liner notes of Papazovs Balkanton record (BHA 11330): “All this is based upon the sound instrumental tradition of Bulgarian folklore, without the introduction of foreign elements, motifs, or manner of performance.” Todorov told me that he instructed Ivo not to play anything foreign at the recording session, or else it wouldn't be pressed. On these albums, wedding music

was not only censored of foreign influences but also arranged by state composers. In the process of obrabotka (arrangement), much of the wild, spontaneous, improvisatory style was lost. Furthermore, an ensemble-type orchestra was added as backup to the band, further distancing the music from its typical format. A cassette featuring the winners of the Stambolovo 1986 festival, Trakiya and Mladost (BHMC 7265), credits Dimittr Trifonov and Todor Prashtakov as arrangers and directors. Even the album S Orkestiir Na Kanarite Na Svatba (With the Canaries at a Wedding, BHA 1111, 1982), which is supposed to simulate a real wedding, has orchestral accompaniment. Musicians greatly resented this obrabotka, claiming it detracted from the music and merely filled the pockets of arrangers with money.?’ One musician complained, “We got paid very little for our record. But the composer who did the obrabotka got paid much more. He only added a few violins and contrabass and got his name on the record as ‘arranged by... .”” Neither wedding musicians nor their fans accepted these Balkanton releases as representative.

Audio examples 7.1 and 7.2 contrast the same piece, “Ktirdzhaliisko Horo,” played by Trakiya at a wedding and arranged and sanitized for a Balkanton album. Mark Levy and I recorded audio example 7.1 in 1980 at a wedding in the village of Iskra (described earlier). There is a wild, edgy, improvisatory quality, and the energy is visceral. On the other hand, audio example 7.2 from Balkanton BHA 11330 (1983) adds a string orchestra arranged and led by Dimittir Trifonov. Musical phrases are squared off and

harmonic chord progressions typical of the socialist era are introduced. Instead of improvisations, there are composed solo phrases with little energy; changes in timbre have also been eliminated; finally, electric bass and guitar and drum set have been replaced by acoustic bass and guitar and no drums. Like Balkanton, the other official media channels of radio and television permitted only censored versions of wedding music to air. The few times in the late 1980s when famous wedding bands were allowed to play on 146 = Music, States, and Markets

television without backup orchestras, the viewer turnout was enormous. Fans were glued to their home television set, or they crowded around televisions in hotel lobbies. One such event was the 1987 televised performance of a concert of the winners of the 1986 Stambolovo festival (more discussion on this in a moment). Video examples 7.3 and 7.4 show Trakiya performing a pravo horo and a rtichenitsa in this show. I viewed this video with Ivo, Neshko, Yuri, and Salif in 2005 and asked them if someone in the

government spoke to them beforehand about omitting kyucheks. Ivo answered: “They didn't need to speak to me. I had just been in jail for playing kyucheks. A few years earlier they made me change my name. It was absurd to think of playing kyucheks. They would have hung me.” This brings up the issue of self-censorship. Wedding musicians devel-

oped the ability to sense when they could push the limits of the state and when they had to toe the party line. This may help to explain the apparent puzzle of why musicians recorded these censored versions. Economics, not lofty moral principles, was the main motive guiding musicians. They reasoned that official versions would increase circulation of their music and even enhance the value of their live performances. In addition, they did not want to incite the government against them by refusing to cooperate. James Scott’s work on “everyday protest” (1985, 1990) suggests that analyzing resistance always requires analyzing power and its effects on the

weak. The hegemony of the state depends not on brainwashing but on how public discourse triggers shifts in consciousness. Both wedding musicians and the state may have perceived “the advantage of avoiding open confrontation” (Sivaramakrishnan 2005:350). In addition, we can’t assume that musicians had full agency; nor can we assume the state had total hegemony: “On the contrary, at times social structures, roles, statuses .. . modify agency and its consequences. ... Actors may engage in everyday acts of resistance or desist from them under structural pressures’ (351). Wedding musicians, then, strategically alternated between accommodation and resistance to the state. In addition, the state itself was not monolithic, and indeed “different levels of the state may work at cross-purposes” (2005:351). Aretxaga reminds us that we need to “rethink the notion of the state in a new light as a contradictory ensemble of practices and processes” (2003:395). The state was ambivalent about a phenomenon that was fast becoming a mass movement. Policy was contradictory, and at times the state even cashed in

on the popularity of wedding music, again illustrating Herzfeld’s point about cultural intimacy and Verdery’s point about gray markets. In the early 1970s, when wedding music was first becoming popular,

fans would record at events and then copy the tapes for friends or sell them at exorbitant rates on the black market; young people prized these unofficial recordings. In the 1980s, in an effort to undercut the black mar-

ket in wedding tapes, the state established studios for selling wedding music and other cassette recordings made outside the auspices of Balkanton. At a stereo zapis studio (literally a tape recording studio),”° one found

Dilemmas of Heritage and the Bulgarian Socialist State —_147

for sale a selection of rock, funk, disco, “authentic” folk music, and wedding music. The largest seller was wedding music. The studios were, in effect, sites where popular taste was paramount and where official prohibitions were relaxed. When kyucheks were banned from records, they could still be found at studios; in fact, they were the best sellers among Roma. Similarly, when zurna music was banned it could still be found at studios. Although a printed notice posted in one studio read, “This studio is for copying tapes of Bulgarian music and music from other socialist countries, I regularly saw tapes of groups from Italy, Greece, and Serbia. With the studios, the state simultaneously maintained its official folk music policy and also catered to public taste. More important, the studios were a means for the government to gain access to the inflated market of wedding music. The price of a studio cassette was high, 15 leva for a sixtyminute tape. Although this was equivalent to more than a day's wages, the demand was very high. Fans were willing to pay dearly for the music they loved but couldn't find on official Balkanton recordings, which cost a fraction of the studio tapes (about 2.5 leva).?° Given the popularity of wedding music, it was perhaps inevitable that the state would take a more direct hand. The form of state participation, the Sambolovo festivals (1985-1988), involved both promotion and regulation. Within a few years, scholars began lauding the talent of wedding musicians while policies dictated what could be played at the festival. Note the panoramic view of the huge 1988 Stambolovo audience, which appeared on the cover of the scholarly journal Biilgarska Muzika (photoeraph 7.9). See text supplement 7.2 for a discussion of this festival. In sum, wedding music erupted as a mass youth phenomenon that eventually caused a fundamental shift in the official rhetoric of the state during

late socialism; this resonated with cracks in socialist doctrine in other arenas of life, such as the emergence of limited private enterprise. The significant role of Roma in contesting the state via wedding music cannot be ignored, but we must also remember that non-Roma were jailed as well for playing wedding music. The next chapter continues my analysis of the role of the state, moving into the postsocialist period where the capitalist market dominates.

148 = Music, States, and Markets

8 Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals

j fam. to the postsocialist period, thisand chapter the challenges Bulgarian wedding musicians other examines Balkan Romani performers face vis-a-vis capitalism, changing state policies, and polarizing world politics. As the state becomes weaker, private forces take its place. For Roma, professional music has always been about business, but now it is about big business, often with structural exclusions. How do Romani musicians negotiate this complicated terrain between state and commercial forces? Music may have touristic value as UNESCO-sponsored “world

heritage,” or musicians may be ignored by states. On the other hand, music idol contests and Romani music festivals have emerged as sites of negotiating national and transnational identity politics.

Bulgarian Wedding Music in the 1990s Ironically, in the 1990s wedding music garnered effusive praise internationally while at home in Bulgaria it faced severe economic woes. It was “discovered” in the west by British impresario Joe Boyd of Hannibal records, who visited Bulgaria in 1987. Asking his guide, the music producer Rumyana Tsintsarska, to show him some contemporary folk music, he recalled: “I was taken to hear the Plovdiv Folk Jazz Band,' which I found dull, except for a brilliant guest solo by Papazov. I took Ivo aside and asked him if he had his own band. Ivo answered, “Of course!’ and invited me to a Romani wedding.” Boyd was so taken with Trakiya that he planned an album and a tour. The tour fell through when the government withheld the visas. Boyd arranged a tour of the village music group Balkana instead, and the government sent Trakiya to Moscow to perform. Boyd recalled, “The visas for Trakiya were never denied, but they weren't granted. The officers kept asking for more documents.” Papazov bitterly remembers: 149

My career in music changed in 1987 when Joe Boyd came to Bulgaria.

He had heard of us. He was Pink Floyd's first manager. He went around with us for a whole week to Romani weddings. He listened to our music. Then he proposed a tour to us. The government hassled him for a year with contract problems but he made a CD of us in Bulearia. He was ready, the contract was sent to us, but the government wouldn't let us go, and they dragged it out for a year. It was a huge mockery in 1988 when I was supposed to leave the country. I had to eo from bureau to bureau, to Todor Zhivkov’s adviser, and in Stara Zagora to the administrative division for minorities. Three times a day I had to go for interviews. I said, “T want to travel, I don’t want to emigrate.” They said “You are this, you are that—a Turkish Rom— America will easily assimilate you.” Joe Boyd had the tickets and everything ready but at the last moment they wouldn't let us go. Actually I had the right to apply for political asylum because of mistreatment. If it hadn't been for my two kids I might have thought about emigrating. I can live anywhere. ... How many years did those guys from Internal Security follow me around? Now they all emigrated to America and I still live in Bulgaria! It is clear that the state did not want Roma representing Bulgaria abroad. Indeed, many Bulgarians agreed with the sentiment that “we can't have a Gypsy or a Turk represent us internationally.”? Most Bulgarians felt more comfortable with the international success of groups like Balkana and Le Mystére des Voix Bulgares, which played clearly sanctioned “folk music,” even if it was highly arranged (Buchanan 1996:220-226).

Boyd persisted in his advocacy of Trakiya; as described earlier, he released the album Orpheus Ascending (HNCD 1346, 1989) to international acclaim (see publicity shot, photograph 8.1). But he was already planning the next album. In 1988, in a taxi in New York City on the way to hear Balkana, Boyd and I discussed whether including kyucheks on a second album, Balkanology, would hurt Trakiya’s chances of receiving visas. I stressed how important kyucheks were in its repertoire, and to omit them would misrepresent its artistry. Boyd excluded Romani and Turkish music on Orpheus Ascending because he was guided by state representatives; he was reluctant to alienate the socialist authorities who were his co-producers. His liner notes are vague about ethnicity: “Bulgaria is sensitive to questions of racial or national origin, so accurate information is hard to come by, but Ivo and his group seem to be at least partly gypsy and much of their music is related as much to gypsy styles as to Bulgarian traditions” (1989). Boyd decided to include Romani, Greek, Romanian, Macedonian, and Turkish repertoire on Balkanology, and he asked me to write the liner notes. They emphasize the Romani/Turkish ethnic dimension of Trakiya’s music, but Boyd refused to label any tracks kyucheks and he did not want me to write about politics. Despite my protests, Boyd insisted on employing euphemistic names that the Bulgarian state had used in the 1970s, e.g. 150 Music, States, and Markets

Mladeshki Tants (young person's dance) for kyuchek. In fact, the marketing for Boyd's three American tours of Trakiya in 1989, 1990, and 1992 did not

emphasize a Romani connection. Remember, this occurred before the craze for “Gypsy music” was initiated by the documentary film Latcho Drom (see Chapter 13); however, it was precisely at the time when “world music’ became a viable marketing category, and in fact Joe Boyd was one of the key people in Britain who coined the term. Balkanology appeared in 1991 (HNCD 1363) to rave international reviews.

Trakiya members were successful in receiving their visas in autumn 1989, right before the fall of the Berlin Wall, November 9. The musicians

heard about the fall of Bulgarian communism on November 10 from abroad, where they were awash in media adoration. Ivo recalled: “We started our tour in September 1989 in London at Ronnie's Club, where the Beatles started. The first shock was the opulence of London and the second was New York—because at the time there was nothing in the stores in

Bulgaria.” In September 1989 Bulgarian Radio broadcast an interview with Papazov from the United States in which he described the outpouring of praise that wedding music was receiving (Buchanan 1991:554). Ironically, wedding musicians received the recognition they craved from the West, not from their own government. From 1989 to 1994, Trakiya toured frequently in Europe and also traveled to America and Australia. The musicians made their mark on the international folk and jazz scenes; on the one hand, this increased their stature in Bulgaria, but on the other hand it made them less available for local weddings and concerts. The transition to capitalism in postsocialist Bulgaria affected wedding

musicians in contradictory ways: there were new freedoms, but the economy suffered greatly. Socialist restrictions related to purity were totally removed, allowing performance of kyucheks along with jazz, rock, and foreign musics. In spring 1990, for example, I attended the first postsocialist state-sponsored concert of Romani music, held in a Sofia theater (photograph 8.2). The audience was 99 percent Roma, and the excitement was palpable. Organized by Anzhelo Malikov, the musicians included Sofla-based Romani wedding musicians and dancers, and the master of ceremonies spoke both Romani and Bulgarian. The program, however, featured orientalized versions of kyuchek with half-naked women in synchronized choreographies, unlike what happened at Romani events, and instead appropriating Turkish belly dance (see Chapter 6). The Bulgarian public, meanwhile, enthusiastically embraced Serbian, Macedonian, and Greek musics and pop/folk fusions, which became the rage in restaurants and taverns. Wedding bands broadened their repertoire to include these musics. The opening of the borders permitted musicians to travel, and the best wedding bands went to Yugoslavia, Greece, and Western Europe. Unfortunately, the euphoria of transition was short-lived and the reality

of unfettered capitalism soon soured the populace. Economic crisis eripped Bulgaria in the early 1990s, negatively affecting work, health care, education, and sociability (Engelbrecht 1993). State enterprises closed and private companies struggled to operate, but they were poorly managed and

Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals —151

heavily taxed. There were shortages of goods; thousands of people tried to emigrate. Corruption flourished in everyday transactions and also in the process of legal restitution of land and property. A tiny class of “new rich”

emerged, flaunting their cars and jewelry, while the middle class sank closer to poverty and the rate of unemployment rose. Discrimination against Roma increased, violent crimes against them rose, and their unemployment reached 90 percent. At first, wedding musicians embraced capitalism boldly, as most of them had experience in the free-market realm and had never relied on the state for security. Many bands released cassettes on newly formed private labels (none run by musicians) such as Payner, Lazarov, and Unison Stars (Peycheva and Dimov 1994). Folk ensemble musicians, on the other hand, suf-

fered as bread-and-butter government support for the arts diminished (Buchanan 2006:426-478). Stereo zapis studios closed and Balkanton curtailed most of its production. Everyone, including state ensembles, looked for private sponsorship, either local or foreign. The Stambolovo festivals of wedding music in 1990, 1992, 1994, and

1996 were financed mostly by private sponsors. Attendance dwindled because people had less disposable cash.* Wedding musicians, however, remember Stambolovo with fondness, and they regret its cessation. When a journalist asked Ivo Papazov in 2004 what bothered him most about the current state of wedding music, he answered: “That there are no longer gatherings of folk bands in Stambolovo. ... Although abroad this is the most venerated festival, they cant find the finances. New talent was discovered there. People felt at ease there. Even now foreigners ask me about it” (Filipova 2004:17). Papazov stressed that it was a place for wedding musicians to socialize. The sponsors treated musicians well, not only offering prizes but hosting them with food and drink. In 1996 Ivo, cognizant of the financial woes of the festival, refused to accept any money for his

performance. Despite the introduction of democracy, only Bulgarian music was permitted at the festival, illustrating the lasting power of socialist categories. Nevertheless, Ivo premiered his kyuchek composition “Celeste” at the 1996 festival. Although the jury frowned on it, Ivo’s fans went wild. In April 1994, Payner sponsored a twelve-hour “megaconcert” in Sofia

with thirty soloists and nine bands, but it was very poorly attended. In September 1994 Payner sponsored the first Trakiya Folk, a juried festival of wedding music with huge prizes. Payner invited bands to compete in

two mutually exclusive categories: Thracian and Balkan, the latter meaning Romani, Turkish, Greek, and Serbian (Buchanan 2007:235). Payner produced cassettes and videotapes of the festival (video examples 7.2 and 7.9), and attendance was good. But the populace was too worried about their declining incomes to be active wedding music fans. In addition, new musical genres such as chalga (pop/folk) and new events such as the Stara Zagora Romfest were competing for listeners. In fact, in 1999 Payner changed the direction of Trakiya Folk toward chalga (see Chapter 9).°

152. Music, States, and Markets

Two magazines, Folk Panair (Folk Gathering) and Folk Kalendar, in the 1990s reported on folk music, wedding music, and Romani music. Contributors were well-respected academics and journalists; advertising and subscriptions supported the publications, but they faltered and folded. New radio programs debuted, including Radio Signal Plyus and Radio Veselina (founded by Veselina Kanaleva), offering a mixture of Bulgarian village music; wedding music; and Romani, Greek, Serbian, Turkish, and Macedonian music, funded by advertising and listeners greetings and requests. These programs still exist today. A few television shows attempted to present wedding music in the 1990s, but they failed. In the 1990s, weddings were a far cry from the three-day events of the 1980s. The economic crisis meant that Bulgarians could no longer afford lavish affairs with live music. True, there was freedom of repertoire, but few felt economically secure. A typical wedding lasted one afternoon or one evening, often with a DJ rather than live music. Weddings were bargained by the hour rather than the day. Moreover, rarely were musicians hired for transporting the bride from her home to the groom's home, which used to be an important musical moment; if instrumentalists were hired for this ritual, they tended to be lower-quality local musicians. All of this is still true today.

In 1994, Ivo remarked: “Now the businessmen rule Bulgaria, then [before 1989] the communists ruled. ... Now there is no work for musicians in Bulgaria” (Dimitrova, Panayotova, and Dimov 1994:23). When a journalist asked him, “Has the great boom of wedding music passed?” he answered:

Of course, such are the times. In the old days when I would play, twenty to thirty sheep would be slaughtered, 1,000—-1,500 people invited under three to four huge tents... . Another 1,000 came to listen. But today times are such that a person can't relax. To make a wedding you need at least 50,000-60,000 leva, plus money for music. Look at the times—gasoline is 15-20 leva [per liter]. Sofia residents come and beg me [to play for weddings] but I can't take the soul of a person— tomorrow he won't have anything to eat. Categorically, I refuse them | Dimitrova et al. 1994:26].

In the 1990s, the families who put on relatively large weddings tended to be Roma and Turks, not because they were wealthier but because for these groups live music and dance were a necessary part of celebratory life (see Chapter 5). In 1994, an industrious Rom in the city of Septemvri told me: “We find a way to earn money, we manage. Bulgarians sit and complain. We still have big weddings, circumcisions, soldier send-off cel-

ebrations. Bulgarians don't do this any more—they invite just a few friends and family and use a disc jockey—that’s it. Only Roma are having big events. We work and spend. Bulgarians are stingy. We spend money on our families.”

Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals —-153

In 1994 I attended a Turkish Romani wedding in the village of Tsaratsovo, Plovdiv district, as a guest of Trakiya, which at that time included Yuri Yunakovs son Ahmed on saxophone (at that time, Yuri was in the United States). There were about 200 guests and the repertoire included Bulgarian, Romani, and Turkish music; as dawn approached, kyucheks dominated (video examples 7.5, 7.6, and 7.7). Trakiya played from about 9:00 P.M. to 3:00 A.M. and, in addition to Maria Karafezieva, who sang

Bulgarian songs, a Turkish singer was hired. Afterward the assembled teenagers set up a disco and danced to rock music until dawn. Interestingly, their rock dancing incorporated stylistic moves from kyucheks. In terms of compensation, Trakiya bargained for 8,000 leva (1,000 leva per hour) plus 8,000 leva in tips. Thus each performer received about $35, at a time when the average monthly salary for a factory worker was $80. Trakiya was therefore well paid; Ivo claimed he received 40,000 leva ($750)

for one concert (Dimitrova et al., 1994:22). Other wedding musicians earned less and tried to supplement wedding work with additional jobs. Bulgarian singer Dinka Ruseva from Radnevo, Stara Zagora district, for example, explained that a well-paid five-to-six-hour wedding would generate 6,000 leva plus 5,000 leva in tips, which came to $24 a person. Dinka also had a job singing in concerts for the House of Culture in Radnevo that paid $35 a month. Other wedding musicians had to take nonmusical work: they opened stores for car parts (Pettir Ralchev), became administrators (Yuri Yunakovss brother was briefly a deputy major of Haskovo), or worked in sales. In 1994 I attended the blessing of a new Romani house in a Sofia neighborhood (Hristo Botev district) as a guest of violinist Georgi Yanev; it was a one-evening event (see video excerpt 6.1 for solo kyuchek dancing at this event). Yanev's band Orfei includes both Romani and Bulgarian members;

at this event the Romani members included Orlin Pamukov on clarinet and Paicho on drums, and the Bulgarian members included Yanev and his

wife Pepa, accordionist Pettir Ralchev, and guitarist Nikolai Georgiev. Orfei is well liked among Roma, and their kyuchek repertoire is quite varied. Several famous ensemble musicians came to hear the music, but the crowd was significantly smaller than at events in the 1980s.

Yanev described Orfei’s typical weekly summer schedule in 1994: Thursday, drive from Plovdiv to Sofia (two hours each way) to play for six hours; Friday, drive to Vratsa (five hours each way) to play for seven hours; Saturday, drive to Stara Zagora (ninety minutes each way) to play for six hours; Sunday, drive to Dimitrovgrad (ninety minutes each way) to play for seven hours; Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, no work. Note that in comparison to the 1980, musicians played for shorter gigs, drove more, and suffered from more unengaged days. Because weddings were only one evening long, musicians had to play more weddings per week to make a decent income. This was more stressful and involved more driving and higher expenses. Even famous musicians could no longer earn enough to support their families. Many secured other jobs; Yanev struggled to create his own music studio. Yet, comparatively speaking, wedding musicians 154. = Music, States, and Markets

were lucky because at least they had some work, clustered in the summer months. Many Bulgarians and most Roma had no work at all. A new genre of personal experience narrative arose in the 1990s among wedding musicians, illustrating the insecure times: the crime story. Georgi Janev and Orfei members, for example, were driving home from a large Romani wedding. A car passed them, swerving close to make them stop. Men emerged with guns and stockings over their heads and took all of their money. Dinka Ruseva’s musician husband had a similar experience. He bluffed the thieves by pretending he was reaching for a gun; another time Dinka’s son pretended his clarinet was a gun. Obviously, thieves were

targeting wedding musicians. Also in the 1990s, Ivo Papazov and his family were robbed at gunpoint inside their own home in the village of Bogomilovo, Stara Zagora region. This happened in spite of his numerous guard dogs and watchmen. Other singers were tied up by mafia bosses and forced to perform in the back room of clubs. Indeed, the mafia emerged as

a force in Bulgaria in the 1990s and had its finger in music, especially chalga (see Chapter 9). An important concern of musicians during postsocialism became copyright and exploitation by record companies. For example, at the 1994 Tra-

kiya Folk festival Payner required participating bands to be taped for a cassette release. Orfei refused to sign because they wanted to produce their own cassette. According to Pettir Ralchev, “weaker groups were glad

for the exposure.” Producing an independent cassette required Orfei to overcome huge obstacles in financing, marketing, and distribution. Orfei’s leader, Yanev, struggled to set up his own high-quality recording studio in Plovdiv and was eventually successful. For years he produced his band’s recordings, but in 2006 Orfei signed up with Payner. Musicians were especially worried about the widespread practice of pirating. Theoretically, a company like Payner would pay a royalty fee for every album it sold; musicians, however, complained that companies deliberately underreported the number. Pettir Ralchev asserted: “The companies lie and say they sold 50,000 when they really sold 300,000. It’s a big

business.” In addition, in the 1990s every city boasted a huge open-air market for pirated copies of albums, and Bulgaria was cited as one of the worst-offending countries (Kurkela 1997; Buchanan 2007:245). Recently,

the situation has improved in terms of copyright laws; however, many problems remain.

Bulgarian Wedding Music in the Twenty-First Century The current situation is challenging for wedding musicians, and some are nostalgic for the socialist period. According to Ivo Papazov, “I had more work back then. People were happier and had a lot of money. I don't think anything good has come of the new democratic Bulgaria. Now it is a place

Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals — 155

of corruption and everyone is fighting to get into the ruling party” (Cartwright 2006c:38). Nostalgia, however, should be seen not only as longing for socialism but also as a critique of capitalism and a desire for order and security.® It turns out that the free market is not so “free” after all; whatever sells receives the most media playtime, and in 2000 pop/folk was the best selling genre, not wedding music (see Chapter 9).

Moreover, wedding musicians now configure themselves as champions of Bulgarian folk music (of course, they mean the Bulgarian genres of wedding music). In some senses they are correct, if we conceive of folk music outside the narrow authentic socialist box, and if we see wedding music as opposed to chalga. When I asked Papazov what is Bulgarian about his style, he answered, “The foundation of wedding music is Bulgarian.” He remarked that today, when few people are interested in Bulgarian music, “we wedding musicians play it. Ironically, I have preserved Bulgarian music. ... We played pure Bulgarian folklore in spite of the fact that is wasn’t really pure, but it was Bulgarian and it was beautifully embellished!” Papazov complained that ethnic Bulgarian patrons request mostly kyucheks: “Recently I've played for several Bulgarian weddings, on purpose... they pay well. I opened with a Bulgarian horo and from then on it was all kyucheks” (Dimitrova et al. 1994:26). He and Yunakov have both

proclaimed on television that Bulgarians should be ashamed that Roma are preserving their heritage: “Now we Roma are touring around playing

Bulgarian music, while in Bulgaria, Bulgarians are playing Romani music.” Here Ivo and Yuri are alluding to the popularity of chalga among

Bulgarians, and the fact that wedding singers are collaborating with Romani bands. For example, ethnic Bulgarian vocalist Radostina Ktineva appears on albums with the Romani band Kristal. Wedding musicians blame chalga for the decline in popularity of wedding music; they assert that chalga is more pop than folk and that it is technically inferior to wedding music. Ivo exclaimed proudly: “Our music is not pop!” But aside from stylistic differences between wedding music and chalga, their respective positions vis-a-vis the state and capitalism need to be examined. In the socialist period the competitors of wedding

music were the ensembles that were the purveyors of “authentic folk music’; the latter were supported by the state but, for the most part, rejected by the populace. Wedding music received some of its cachet by being countercultural, that is, oppositional to the state. More specifically, it represented capitalism in the midst of socialism. Now the competitor to wedding music is chalga, supported by unbridled capitalism. The state has

withered and wedding music has lost its antistate oppositional positioning; it is emerging, however, as a force of nationalism (more on this later). Today, however, wedding musicians are not totally negative. Although Ivo claimed that “it is sad to me that no one pays attention to wedding music,” he also pointed out that wedding music still has many fans in Bulgaria:

156 Music, States, and Markets

In 2004 in Plovdiv we celebrated the [thirtieth] anniversary of Nikola

Iliev and the Konushenska band. There was an audience of 6,000 people. ... Wedding bands continue to exist and to have their fans. ... Twenty-eight bands appeared. . .. The audience booed the lip-synched performers but the viewers stood up when we played live. That made Professor Radev [classical clarinetist] repeat with teary eyes: “We won't perish, we won't perish. If, from time to time, we, the elite of wedding music don't gather to play some kind of concert, the young generation will forget us. And for the rich music companies, it is unpleasant for us

to appear in public because the people will realize they are being cheated with these lip-synchings” [Filipova 2004:17].

Similarly, in 2005 hundreds of wedding musicians attended the commemoration of Bulgarian wedding singer Dinka Ruseva’s thirty-year career. Wedding musicians have had to make compromises in the postsocialist period; one is strategically incorporating chalga singers, and another involves forgiving (but not forgetting) past detractors. Papazov recalled the past criticism of Nikolai Kaufman but admitted, “Now I’m going to play for his gala eightieth birthday. We will play some pieces he wrote

for Maria and me!” In 1994 he elaborated: “I make compromises. . . . The other night .. . we were at Manol Todorov’s sixtieth birthday celebration. Isn't that a gesture? For when one makes gestures, one makes money. After all, I have two children” (Dimitrova et al. 1994:26). Pettir Ralchev bitterly criticized a televised birthday interview with Manol Todorov where the latter claimed he was glad he had the opportunity to

help establish a place for wedding music. To the contrary, Ralchev remembered all the times Todorov called wedding music kitsch and impure. Surveying the landscape of wedding music in 2010, immediately one

notices that many of the hundreds of groups that existed in the late 1980s and early 1990s have simply disbanded, but several new ones have emerged. A solid group of bands have survived, including Vievska

Grupa, Trtistenik, Kanarite, Orfei, Konushenska Grupa, and Brestovica.’ Vievska Grupa owes its popularity to its Rhodope regional focus and its backing by Payner. Yet the Vievska Grupa has also incorporated chalga and Macedonian and Serbian music to cater to current tastes. The success of the Konushenska Grupa derives from its legendary clarinetist, Nikola Iliev, one of the founders of Bulgarian wedding style. Excel-

ling in the Bulgarian repertoire and not emphasizing Romani and jazz elements, he has a regular following in the Plovdiv region, especially among the older generation. Orfei, with mastery of both Romani and Bulgarian repertoires, also has a steady output of albums and constant wedding work. In 1994 Orfei’s singer Pepa Yaneva told me she would never sing chalga, but a year later Orfei albums included chalga; obviously, the market required it, and in 2006 Orfei signed with Payner, a company as-

sociated with chalga. In fact, Georgi and Pepa Yanev groomed their Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals 157

daughter Tsvetelina to be a chalga star; in 2009 she made a successful debut as the youngest singer with the Payner company. Under the direction of ethnic Bulgarian Atanas Stoev, who arranges much of their material, Kanarite has emerged as perhaps the most prolific wedding band, producing an album every year with Payner. Their arrangements are sweet-sounding and pleasant, and their instrumental improvisations are short and do not veer toward jazz. Their sound is thus tamer and less aggressive than other bands, and this has struck a chord with a wide fan base; their 2003 album proclaims that it is “the tenth album ina

row with typical Kanarite sound—composed music and texts distinguished by tradition and new authorship.” Furthermore, they target a Bulgarian audience rather than Roma and Turks. Although they established their reputation in the 1980s with well-known Romani clarinetists Nesho Neshev and Delcho Mitev, now they underplay Romani associations and emphasize their Bulgarian affiliations.° The trajectory of the Kanarite repertoire of the last fifteen years shows that they have moved away from kyucheks and chalga toward Bulgarian folk music. The Kanarite '98 album, for example, contains several 2/4 and 9/8 kyuchek songs. “Biznesmen” (Businessman) has a typical chalga text (and Romani-style kaval solo): “T want to become a businessman, to drop a million every day, to buy a villa and two cars... . Bars, taverns, modern girlfriends.” By 2000, however, the band was releasing fewer kyucheks and

had veered away from texts about materialism, sex, and capitalism— instead embracing texts about love, family, friends, and village life. As early as 2000, they also cleverly converted chalga to something more eth-

nically Bulgarian and less Romani by inviting chalga singers to record Bulgarian folk songs with them as guests. Stoev could accomplish this because he is a good businessman; in addition, many chalga singers are also folk singers who were pleased with the exposure. The video Nie Biilgarite, Kanarite 25 Godini (We Bulgarians, the Canaries, 25 years; 2000) illustrates this trend (video examples 8.1 and 8.2). The show begins with the announcement, “On this album, the beauty of Bulgaria has been collected.” Staged in the Plovdiv amphitheater (which dates from Roman times), the video provides a visual spectacle that links the band to antiquity (and also to high-placed officials who authorized use

of the site). Throughout the concert, the Smolyan Dance Ensemble, dressed in folk costume, performs choreographies and comic skits of village life. The dancers start the show with the propitious ritual of offering bread and wine. These visuals emplace the band in the realm of village and folklore. The regular band is augmented by guest brass and string sections, but the most important instrumental guest is Petko Radev, beloved by many Bulgarians because, as a classical clarinetist with La Scala in Italy, he championed Bulgarian folk music. Note that in addition to Kanarite’s standard instruments, the gaida and kaval link the band to tradition. The vocal guests on the video include eight chalga stars: Nelina, Gloria (video example 8.2°), Ekstra Nina, Toni Dacheva, Tsvetelina, Vesela, Desi Slava, 158 = Music, States, and Markets

and Slavka Kalcheva (who started as a wedding singer but crossed over to

chalga), who all sing Thracian wedding songs. The crass sexuality of chalga has been tamed; the outfits are subdued (gowns are cut low but tasteful). In short, on this album Kanarite has assimilated chalga into their more wholesome folk aesthetic. The band Kanarite continued to develop its Bulgarian profile in the last decade. Their standard formula includes songs (mostly sung in thirds) and instrumentals in folk style Gmajor keys predominate) with shorter improvisations, more Macedonian/Pirin songs in 7/8, more city songs, and fewer and tamer kyucheks. Their 2001 album Ne Godini, A Dirva (Not Just Years, But a Path), has one 9/8 kyuchek and one 2/4 kyuchek (a duet with Stoev

and chalga star Ivana); it also features the Eva Quartet in polyphonic a cappella arrangements reminiscent of the socialist era. The 2003 album Na Praznik iv Delnik (On Holiday and Weekday) has no 2/4 kyucheks and only one 9/8 song, with no instrumental improvisation. The video visuals feature a costumed folk ensemble in a village setting, and the singers wear large Eastern Orthodox crosses on their necks.

The 2003-04 album S Rittima Na Vremeto (With the Rhythm of the Times) epitomizes the band’s evocation of national pride, with emerging themes of church, family, and patriotism. The religious theme surfaces in the first piece, where the band is filmed playing in a monastery in front of Byzantine icons. The title of the tune captures the theme: “Pravoslavno Horo” (Eastern Orthodox dance). The song “Bulgarski Cheda” (Bulgarian

children) develops the themes of patriotism and family in a 7/8 Pirin rhythm that evokes nostalgia by poignantly narrating the sacrifices of Bulgarian soldiers and the suffering of the populace. Filmed in a church, with band members in black clothing lighting candles in memory of Bulgarian soldiers killed in Irag, the somber atmosphere is interspersed with footage of military training. This song links past sacrifices to contemporary Bulgarian politics.'® Chalga singers (Emilia, Daniela, Gloria, and Ivana) are guests on this video, and again they sing Bulgarian songs (all composed by Stoev). Ivana’s 7/8 Macedonian song, “Ah Lyubov, Lyubov,” (Oh love, love) narrates a

story about the pain of love that ends with separation and the birth of a child.'' The accompanying visuals are close-ups of historical Bulgarian paintings depicting peasant mothers holding and nursing children, and Ivana relaxing with Stoev. Ivana’s chalga glitziness is thus assimilated into the safe framework of the Bulgarian family and home. These Kanarite albums position the band in opposition to the values of chalga (money, alcohol, and sex), but they manage to recuperate the association of chalga with success, modernity, and technology. In recent per-

formances Atanas and his wife Nadya are featured together more prominently (singing, and even touching), as a symbol of stable marriage. On their 2005 video Traditsiva, Stil, Nastroenive (Tradition, Style, and Spirit), the opening song, “Nie Sme Kanarite” (We are the Canaries), in-

troduces them as successful and happy, content with their families and friends; it implores the audience to “forget your woes.” The band has come

Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals —_159

to stand for the Eastern Orthodox religion, family values, optimism, and the nation (i.e., the Slavic majority). The band’s 2009 album Muzika s Lyubov (Music with Love) featured neither kyucheks nor chalga guests; in general, they have distanced themselves from Romani and Turkish musical motifs and cultural symbols. I do not think this is accidental. Especially at a time when anti-Romani and anti-Muslim sentiments are being openly expressed by various political parties, Kanarite have tapped into a nationalistic musical vein. The musical trajectory of Trakiya, on the other hand, is starkly different from Kanarite. Trakiya is perhaps the least recorded band, which is not only surprising but also quite a loss, considering its quality and fame. After Balkanology was released in 1991, the band did not make another

recording until 2003. Papazov claims he was waiting and hoping that Boyd would record another project, but he never did (Cartwright 2006c:37). Perhaps Papazov was also suspicious of the reputations of the new Bulgarian companies, some of which allegedly had mafia ties. As mentioned earlier, in the 1990s Trakiya found most of its work abroad. Their older guitar

and bass players were replaced by keyboardist Vasil Denev, adding the possibility of varied textures. Some Trakiya members developed their own paths; for example, Ivo collaborated with Hungarian Romani cimbalomist Kalman Balogh on a pan-Romani project, accordionist Neshko Neshev released an album with his own band, Yuri Yunakov emigrated to New York in 1994 and formed his own wedding band (see Chapter 11), and kaval player Matyo Dobrev often joined the band. For the most part, however, in Bulgaria Trakiya was ignored by the media. All this changed in 2003 with the release of Fairground/Panair (Kuker Music KM/R 07), produced in Bulgaria but distributed in Germany. The album is a tour-de-force of Papazov’s newer style, which is more arranged, more polished, more textured, more technically ambitious, and more varied than his music of the 1990s. Because Fairground was made for West-

ern audiences, it features concertized versions of wedding compositions that are not danceable. Added to Trakiya’s regular line-up are Bulgarian Turkish musician Ateshhan Yuseinov on guitar, Stoyan Yankulov on tupan and percussion, jazz pianist Vasil Parmakov, and two bass players. The repertoire includes the standard Bulgarian slow songs and dance songs,

beautifully performed by Maria Karafezieva; and instrumental horos, ruchenitsas, and kyucheks. The solo improvisations by Ivo and Neshko are longer, wilder, and much more inflected with a jazz sensibility than earlier recordings. This album is clearly intended to present Trakiya to Western jazz audiences. The album’s visuals solidly evoke Bulgarian folklore by displaying band members in folk clothing with folk motifs (men in red vests), Karafezieva in a Stara Zagora costume (which she rarely wears in a live performance), and six dancers in full village costume. I believe this image reflects the general repositioning of wedding music during postsocialism as closer to folk, in opposition to chalga. It also reflects Papazov's genuine attachment to folklore. Although the visuals eschew anything Romani or Muslim, the

160 Music, States, and Markets

repertoire includes a Turkish slow melody and three kyucheks, one of which is titled “Gypsy Heart.”

The album received triumphant reviews and in 2005 Papazov won the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Radio 3 audience award in the category of World Music. Ivo was especially pleased because he was competing with international stars and because this award is determined by the BBC public, composed of 150 million listeners, not by a jury: “Other prizes are decided by two or three people ... but my prize depended on the entire nation—on the voice of the audience, whether it is Bulgarian or English. For me that is a real prize!” In an emotional ceremony, Joe Boyd delivered the statue to his old friend. According to Boyd, although the BBC

did not let Trakiya perform at the actual ceremony Papazov sneaked his instrument on stage and “brought down the house with a clarinet solo.” As a result of the BBC award, Trakiya received dozens of invitations to perform around the world, and the musicians captured the limelight once again. Trakiya now has a busy European touring schedule, and magazine articles have appeared about Ivo with titles such as “The King Returns” (Cartwright 2006c). American audiences warmly received members of Trakiya during their 2003 and 2005 reunion tours with Yuri Yunakov, and Traditional Crossroads produced a reunion album, Together Again: Legends of Bulgarian Wedding Music (2005). This album, unlike Panair, contains primarily dance music. In 2008 the British label World Village released Dance of the Falcon, featuring Ivo accompanied by several jazz and classical musicians. What is perhaps most striking about the last few years is the official attention and adoration Ivo is finally receiving in Bulgaria. Special concerts have been organized for Trakiya in Sofia; Ivo was made an honorary citizen of Stara Zagora in fall 2005; and he now appears in the “Alley of the Stars” in Sofia. In 2004 Trakiya played for NATO leaders and in 2005 they played for a meeting of the presidents of Balkan nations. Ivo narrated that this concert brought up unpleasant memories:

It was very prestigious but I couldn't perform in front of a row of officers guarding the room. To this day I am afraid of the police, of guards. I remember in the old days in Ktrdzhali the whole neighborhood would clear out as soon as the police arrived. We were all scared.

Everyone would go inside and wait. The police would let their dogs run and those dogs could kill you. My heart starts beating fast when I see those uniforms. So at the meeting, I took Georgi Ptrvanov [the Bulgarian president] aside and asked him if he could dispense with the officers. So he asked them to wait outside. The fear of communist police is inside me—I can't get rid of it. Ivo cannot help but notice the irony of receiving all these government accolades after years of being harassed followed by years of being ignored. He emphatically stated: “Only in 2005 did I start playing for large audiences again in Bulgaria. At one of these concerts, I told them bitterly,

Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals _—_ 161

‘Now? Now you give me these honors? Now—when I'm getting old? Why not in my younger years when I was at the top of my fame?” Similarly, Yuri Yunakov answered a Chicago reporter's question: “How do we feel about the press attention? Where was the press in the 1980s and 1990s? Not one Bulgarian paper wrote about us even though we were household names. Where was the press then?” Recently, there are indications that wedding music is making a significant comeback; it is attracting larger audiences in Bulgaria and it is being marketed as a nationalistic genre. Payner has signed several wedding bands such as Kanarite and Orfei, and in March 2007 it launched a new twentyfour-hour television cable channel, Planeta Folk; cable channels Folklore TV (2006) and Tyankov TV (2007) also feature wedding music. According to Payner, Planeta Folk features “traditional and modern folklore, films about notable events in Bulgaria and historical and cultural achievements.” It is aimed at “Bulgarian viewers at home and in Europe .. . who love Bul-

garia and want to learn more about their natal culture and traditions” (http://planetafolk.tv). For example, to coincide with the holiday St. George's Day, on May 6, 2007, the channel sponsored an inaugural concert in London featuring Kanarite and Ivana (the combination I analyzed earlier), and a week later it sponsored a gala concert in Sofia with Kanarite, Vievska Grupa, and Orfei, as well as folk dance ensembles. Payner now regularly sponsors concerts at home and in the Bulgarian diaspora featuring a combination of chalga and wedding performers.

A typical day on the Planeta Folk cable channel includes not only Payner-sponsored wedding bands but also programs on the history and folklore of various regions and a bit of Eastern Orthodox liturgical music. Songs predominate in wedding music clips while instrumental improvisations are rather short and tame; again, it is locating wedding music in the

realm of folk, rather than chalga or Romani music. No instrumental kyucheks are played, but songs in kyuchek rhythms are performed, e.g., chalga star Poli Paskova’s Bulgarian language song “Moiite Pesni’” (My songs). Unlike in chalga videos, Poli is dressed demurely and does not dance; rather, a folk dance ensemble wearing stylized costumes does line choreographies to kyuchek in an outdoor village setting. This staging plus

the text (which extols how her songs express wholesome emotions) distance it from Roma and chalga. The 7/8 Macedonian/Pirin rhythm is very common on Planeta Folk; this rhythm has a nostalgic symbolism for many Bulgarians, referencing a cross-border sentimental remembrance of family and folklore. Virtually all wedding music is depicted with a folk dance ensemble in costume performing choreographed dances, often staged outdoors in a village. These visual cues squarely define wedding music as rural and folk. Recently Payner has recruited many of its chalga stars into wedding band performances; for example, Nelina issued an entire folkloren album (folklore album) in 2008, including several of Nedyalka Keranova’s signature songs. In wedding music clips chalga singers wear revealing but not overtly sexual clothing and sway to the music rather than dancing in sexually explicit

162. Music, States, and Markets

ways, as they do in chalga videos. This illustrates the trend of assimilating the allure of chalga into a wholesome folk image of wedding music, and simultaneously accomplishes the ideological work of nationalism. The creation of Planeta Folk by Payner, a company that had previously promoted chalga almost exclusively, is a clear sign that wedding music audiences are growing. The Bulgarian public is starting to become fatigued

by the superficial glitz and the artificial formulas of chalga. Simultaneously, wedding music is becoming an ideological symbol of patriotism in a period where the definition of Bulgarian identity seems precarious. Chalga is criticized as too Romani, too eastern, but simultaneously too western, too much like Europop. Ironically, wedding music received the very same criticism in the socialist period, but now it is hailed as quintessential folk music. Nationalist parties such as Attack rail against chalga as corrupting the historical core values of Bulgaria; they encourage patriotic Bulgarians to support folk music, and for Payner, folk music means wedding music. Thus the popularity of wedding music today, just as in socialist times, is informed by a highly politicized environment where the meaning of Bulgarian identity is debated. The genre remains vital but must be seen in relationship to competing genres such as chalga and to developments in Bulgaria regarding Romani music, such as festivals and contests (discussed below).

Stara Zagora Romfest Since 1993 the Natsionalen Festival Za Romska Muzika, Pesni i Tantsi (National Festival of Romani Music, Songs, and Dances, known as Romfest) has been held almost annually in Stara Zagora, Thrace, with growing crowds and growing media attention. Awards are given in several categories, and many musicians start their careers as a result of exposure at this festival (Peycheva and Dimov 2005). Playing a strong role in Romani

identity politics, the Romfest can be compared with other European Romani festivals that are run by Roma, such as the Khamoro festival in the Czech Republic (www.khamoro.cz), the Amala Festival in Ukraine (Helbig 2007, 2008), and Sutkafest in Macedonia (see below); it can also be distinguished from the more numerous festivals and tours that are run by non-Roma, such as the American Gypsy Caravan tour and the New York Gypsy Festival (see Chapter 12)." According to festival director Aleksandtr Karcholov, the motivation was

“to preserve the authentic and develop the music written [composed] by different Gypsy authors [composers], which has to represent the image of Bulgaria and with this music to reach Europe” (N. Georgieva 2006:13). The festival program asserts that the aims are “to retrieve, get acquainted with, proliferate and enrich Bulgarian Romani music and song; to elevate [it] to a higher level. . . .; to turn it into a ‘bridge’ for reviving the self-confidence of the Romani community. . . .” (Georgieva 2006:14; Peycheva and Dimov 2005:18). Note that these aims echo the rhetoric of the socialist period,

Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals —- 163

namely themes of authenticity and the elevation of art. Ironically, during socialism the state used this ideology to exclude Romani music from the rubric authentic, but now Romani leaders are using the same ideology to shape Romani music in official settings. These goals also resonate with the emerging nationalist ideology of Roma to declare themselves a distinct and legitimate nation (see Chapter 3). Anzhelo Malikov, who was a composer, arranger, cimbalom player, and eraduate of the Sofia Academy, regularly served as president of the jury for

the festival and was one of the founders. Before his death in 2009, he strongly defended purification of Romani music: “Foreign elements should be cleansed from Gypsy music, including the texts. Let’s create one style called Bulgarian Romani music” (Peycheva and Dimov 2005:18).

Aside from the problem of what his uniform style would sound like, Malikov’s statement comes dangerously close to advocating the same sort of official control that the socialist state imposed on Muslims. What Malikov and the festival directorship mean by purification is removing Turkish and Bulgarian elements from Romani music. Songs in

Turkish and Bulgarian, for example, are prohibited; only songs in Romani can compete, despite the fact that many Bulgarian Roma speak only Turkish or Bulgarian. Purification of dance is also attempted. M. Angelov states: “it is not correct to say Romani dance is kyuchek, because it is a Turkism, imported into the country. Kyuchek is a type of Turkish dance. In Romani dance there is more lyricism . . . and temperament” (Peycheva 1999a:248).'? When I interviewed him in 1994, Malikov emphatically explained to me that Ivo Papazov plays not Gypsy music but Turkish music. Sometimes Malikov uses Thracian as a euphemism for Turkish, as in this statement: “Take Ivo Papazov, he plays, let’s say Gypsy or Turkish music but it all is in Thracian style. ... But it should not be that way, however, it is loved by the wider public. Wherever you go in the

rural areas Gypsy music is played in a Thracian manner’ (Peycheva 1994a:17).

These leaders are trying to privilege a supposedly “unique” Romani music style with no neighboring influences. Malikov thinks that only in the Balkans does pure Gypsy music exist; everywhere else Roma merely play regional musics: “T believe in Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Greece, Gypsy

music is the best preserved, as it was. No matter that in the west people think that Gypsy music is Hungarian or Russian. That music is Russian and Hungarian played in a Gypsy manner. The real Gypsy music is in the Balkans. There is no influence” from Bulgarian folk music (17). Here he falls prey to ethnocentrism, thinking his brand of Romani music is more pure than other brands. Festival leaders are vague as to what constitutes pure Romani style, and when asked how they judge pure Romani music (e.g., for prizes) they employ general terms such as lyricism and beauty (N. Georgieva 2006).'* They seem to devalue the hybrid quality of Bulgarian Romani music. In spite of this official stance, audience members and Romani musicians in general value Turkish influences, Bulgarian influences, and the concepts of innovation and hybridity.

164 Music, States, and Markets

One important aim of the festival is to mainstream Romani culture “into Bulgarian national culture” (Peycheva and Dimov 2005:18). In speeches at the 2007 festival, for example, audience members were constantly reminded that Romani culture is part of Bulgarian culture. The 2007 festival also included a performance of a fourteen-year-old Romani boy singing a Bulgarian folk song with accordion accompaniment; he was introduced with the statement that Roma such as Boris Karlov and Ibro Lolov have expertly played Bulgarian music. This performance may have made a political point, but the audience was not appreciative. Integration of Bulgarian music may be an admirable goal if it leads to acceptance of Roma, but unfortunately the festival is sometimes used by Bulgarian politicians for their own agendas. Indeed, politicians have regularly appeared at the festival to offer approval and recruit votes. One such agenda was Bulgarian accession to the European Union in 2007. An

important criterion of membership in the EU was treatment of Roma, who were identified as a vulnerable group. The EU closely watched not only Romani unemployment statistics but also the visibility of Romani culture. In spite of the fact that Bulgarian government has only irregularly supported Romfest (through the Ministry of Culture and the National Advisor for Ethnic and Demographic Questions), it has become an ideal site for politicians to publicly affirm their commitment to Roma. In 2004, for example, Bulgarian President Georgi Ptirvanov attended the festival and delivered this message: “Now, when Bulgaria is more intensively tying

itself to Europe, we can proudly show that one of our strong points is peace and understanding between ethnic groups. Especially important here is the role of art. It doesn’t know borders and restrictions” (Peycheva and Dimov 2005:19). Aside from the obvious romanticization of art, what is also glossed over is the real tension between ethnic groups in Bulgaria. Unfortunately, photo opportunities and speeches do not readily translate

into tangible help for Roma. As I will discuss later in reference to pop music contests, that the state recognizes Romani art does not automatically mean progress in human rights; the state often recognizes a few talented Romani artists as tokens while ignoring the rest. In addition to Bulgarian politicians, Romani activists also use the festival for educational purposes in the service of building Romani nationalism (N. Georgieva 2006). I have already mentioned promotion of the Romani language. For a few years, musical groups from India were in-

vited, enacting the “homeland” idea. Although audience members appeared uninterested in the Indian groups, they serve as a visual and aural symbol of legitimate origins (2006:26-27). Other international Romani groups have been invited, and in 2005 the festival declared itself to be officially international. The act of gathering Romani musicians from disparate places gives legitimacy to the idea of a diasporic nation, with the message: we are a real people and we exist in many states (see Chapter 3). Related to the nationalistic theme of the festival organizers is rejection of commercialism. According to Malikov, “As long as I have the strength, I will try to preserve pure Gypsy texts and music. But now many people are

Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals —- 165

interested in Gypsy music for commercial reasons. It is very sad because they only want to profit” (Peycheva 1994a:16). Malikov implies that the profit motive of fusions taints them. On the other hand, virtually all Bul-

garian Romani music is and historically has been in the commercial realm. However, Malikov is correct that not all commercial relations are equivalent. Privatization has indeed led to appropriation of Romani music into the pop/folk realm, with little financial benefit to most Roma. The few Romani chalga stars who have benefited financially, such as Azis (who got his start at the 1999 Romfest; see Chapter 9), do not compete in the official part of the festival. In 2004 he performed as “a guest” in a gala concert that was better attended than the official competition. Several Turkish groups that also performed “as guests” were very well received (Peycheva and Dimov 2005:20). And in 2007 the band Kristali, the Romani singer Sasho

Roman, and the keyboardist Amza from Macedonia all performed as euests, to huge acclaim. In more recent years, other stars, such as clarinetist Sali Okka, have performed as guests.

The festival hopes to capture the attention of the Bulgarian state in order to interest it in cultural projects, and in some ways it is succeeding. On the other hand, state funding has declined, prize amounts have recently decreased, and Lozanka Peycheva and Ventsislav Dimov (Bulgarian ethnomusicologists) have not taken their honoraria. In 2010 Romfest was canceled because of insufficient funds. According to Malikov, the problem “boils down to the fact that the state does not pay attention to Gypsy culture....It is necessary to have very strong state interference for the preservation and development of Romani culture” (N. Georgieva 2006:20). Malikov favored creation of state-supported Romani theaters and dance ensembles; this may be a nostalgic view of the socialist welfare state as paternalistic provider. Yet he is correct in that a crop of dance ensembles composed of Romani youth has emerged since 2005, and these ensembles are fostering pride (see Chapter 6). For example, in Sofia the Elit Center for Romani Culture has successfully sponsored many programs.'° However, I do not foresee the state fully embracing Romani music in its official categorization of folk music. Yes, Romani music may be embraced at Romani festivals for the audience of the EU, but little has changed in the realm of official folklore. Moreover, Romfest illustrates the problematic relationship of Roma to the state. As Imre suggests, Roma occupy a delicate position where they are suspect both because they can never be true representatives of the nation and because they are too closely allied to forces of commercialism and consumption (2006). For example, in 2008, a controversy erupted about the party atmosphere at the festival. Eran Livni reported that although the mayor of Stara Zagora opened the festival with a laudatory speech and the Open Society Institute funded a prefestival conference, the national government reduced funding. The head of the National Committee on Ethnic and Demographic Affairs announced she would not support a celebration of “kyuchetsi and kebap” (minced meat balls), symbolic of “boorish Gypsy music.” Some Romani activists

agreed with this sentiment, agreeing that it is shameful that the only 166 Music, States, and Markets

public event in which Roma participate involves “boorish” music, eating kebap, and dancing kyuchetsi. Livni perceptively noted that the “stigmatic

image of Roma as self-indulgent creators and consumers of ‘boorish’ music is so powerful (among both Roma and non-Roma) that any event that advances Roma recognition through music ends up marginalizing the music, the performers, as well as the audience” (Livni, personal communication; also see Livni 2011).

Official Postsocialist Bulgarian Views of Romani Music Given the fundamental questioning of the past that has occurred in Bulgaria, the postsocialist period might be expected to reveal a grand shift in state folklore policy. Quite the opposite; little has changed.'® Neither Romani music nor the music of other minorities is integrated into the curricula of folk music schools at the high school and college level.'!? No zurla or ttiipan is taught, no kyucheks are included, and few Romani children study at folk music schools. In fact no “modern” instruments (clarinet, saxophone, accordion) are taught. Despite its current association of wedding music with folk music, it is often ignored in the folk music high schools and the Plovdiv Academy.'"* Only a few wedding musicians (including ethnic Bulgarians singer Ivan Handzhiev, gaida player Maria Stoyanova, and a few kaval players) have taught at the folk music high schools or the Plovdiv Academy. In the 1990s, Stoyanova invited Romani kaval player Matyo Dobrev to be a cuest teacher. Students reported that he seemed nervous and out of place, and he was never invited back. Similarly, at folk festivals such as Koprivsh-

titsa, Pirin Pee, and Rozhen, wedding music and Romani music are not found in the official program. As during socialism, Roma do participate as individuals providing music for Bulgarian dance groups; zurna and tupan players perform for Pirin village dancers and gaida players perform for village dance groups. However, no Romani groups perform specifically Romani music.'? Note that in the unofficial sphere of festivals, Roma are very visible. Just as during socialism, Roma zurna and ttipan players and wedding musicians show up at folk festivals to play offstage for tips from Bulgarians of various ethnicities. The repertoire in these

unofficial contexts includes wedding music, songs in the Romani language, and kyucheks, all of which fall outside the categories of official folk music.

Ditchev calls the Bulgarian situation “monoculturalism as prevailing culture.” He points out that although there are numerous ethnographic villages devoted to Bulgarian folklore, there are none devoted to Romani, Pomak, and Turkish culture: “When travelling around the country, one discovers that what is thought and presented as folklore is without exception ethnically Bulgarian” (2004). Multicultural support comes only from NGOs, labeled “project culture” by Ditchev; “Any time you hear that a

Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals 167

minority culture is being supported here or there, it means that there is project money behind it, with the backing of a Western donor. Take the initiative to write an all-Balkan history textbook, take trans-border cooperation, take the deliberate enrolling of Bulgarian and Roma kids together in school” (2004).?°

Although the plight of Roma has received much attention from international organizations, in the realm of culture Roma receive little support from Bulgarian NGOs and even less support from the Bulgarian government. Most NGO aid is funneled to projects to build civil society, train leaders, and assist in social welfare. I am not criticizing these initiatives, but I note that music is assumed to be an area where Roma excel and thus need no help. For example, in the 1990s the Open Society Institute gave large grants that supported Romani “high culture,” which they defined as “history, art, oral or written literature, cultural anthropology, and musicology.” Specifically excluded were proposals for “pop music or folkloric music festivals.” Recently, however, the Open Society Institute (now Open Society Foundation) began offering grants for East European Romani arts and culture, including CD production and festivals (see http:/Awww.soros. org/initiatives/arts). Since 1989 there have been several efforts by Bulgarian NGOs to introduce Romani culture to school-age children. The Interethnic Initiative for

Human Rights Foundation (with money from the European Union) funded publication of several supplemental textbooks on Romani music, history, and folktales. The Romani history book for grades nine through eleven, for example, is an introduction to basic folklore genres. The song and folktale books feature collections illustrated with colorful designs and photographs, and the music book for grades five through eight presents

contextual, regional, and historical material (Peycheva, Dimov, and Krtisteva 1996 and 1997). All of these books were prepared by scholars and funded by NGOs. In addition, a few music textbooks issued for grades one to nine feature ethnic groups other than Bulgarians. In 2005, however, a scandal erupted regarding inclusion of Romani music in elementary school curricula. A team of ethnomusicologists led by Gencho Gaytandzhiev prepared an educational music text, Sharena Muzika (Colorful music; Bulgarian), for preschool children in the town of Stara Zagora that included one children’s song (among thirty-six songs) sung half in Romani and half in Bulgarian by Romani vocalist Sofi Marinova (discussed shortly; also see Chapter 9) and three photographs of Romani performers. The anti-Roma public outcry against this textbook was ferocious. Media headlines included “People... revolt against Roma textbooks; parents ... sent a petition to the Ministry of Education,” “What are our children exposed to? A wave of protest” and “Who must be inteerated—us or them?” In addition, mothers from Stara Zagora were invited to appear on a prominent national television show where they declared “that they would never let their children listen to even a single Roma song” (Gaytandzhiev 2008:206). It is clear that racism surfaces in debates about music.

168 = Music, States, and Markets

On the other hand, a successful project focusing on Romani folklore was initiated by the NGO Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance Amalipe (Friendship), based in Veliko Turnovo, jointly funded by the Open Society Institute and the Bulgarian Ministry of Education. Begun in 2002

in thirteen schools with a group of 500 students, by 2007 the program attracted more than 5,500 children (53 percent of whom are Romani) in 230 schools, who were enrolled in classes on Romani folklore taught by Bulgarian teachers who took a training course and received an honorarium (http://amalipe.com).”' In 2003 the “Open Heart” children’s festival was organized by Amalipe for the children enrolled in the school culture program; and it has been held annually in Veliko Turnovo and includes stories, music, and dance. In 2007 it received patronage from the city of Veliko Ttirnovo, but no national funding. Ironically, this was the same year that Bulgaria became the leading nation in the Decade of Roma Inclusion. By 2009 the festival included 1,000 children and received some EU funding (http://amalipe.com/index.php?nav=news&id=332&lang=2); in 2010 it attracted 700 children and received funding from the America for Bulgaria Foundation.

Sutkafest In postsocialist Macedonia, there are mixed signs of the legacy of Tito. Macedonia still prides itself on its multicultural fabric; Roma are now a “nationality” (Petrovski 2009). The Macedonian music school curriculum tends to omit Romani music, as in Bulgaria; however, there is a great deal of visibility of Romani music in the marketplace, and Romani political events often feature music. The situation of Roma is becoming more public as Macedonia lines up for European accession. Against this backeround, the first Macedonian Romani music festival that took place in Skopje in 1993 held great cultural and political importance. Sutkafest (named after the municipality of Suto Orizari, outside Skopje) was sponsored by the NGO Union for Romani Culture, Macedonian National Radio and Television, Aura (a tourist agency), and Esma RedZepova and Stevo Teodosievski (see Chapter 10). It was a large event with several competitions and a jury composed of Macedonian performers and composers plus Romani clarinetist Medo Cun (see Chapter 2). Video example 3.2 features Esma RedZepova at the gala concert singing “DZelem DZelem,” known as the Romani anthem (see Chapter 3 for analysis and lyrics); this song expresses the historical suffering of Roma (especially during the Holocaust) and their desire to rise up and unite.

Video example 6.7 features the festival’s opening music and dance sequence; note that the festival concert featured a full classical orchestra (whose members used music stands and printed notation) with strings and woodwinds (including Ferus Mustafov on clarinet; see Chapter 2), plus a separate brass orchestra led by Stevo Teodosievski. The classical orchestra served as a symbol of elite “high art,” which boldly legitimized

Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals —_ 169

Romani culture. The dancers performed line and solo versions of the characteristic Romani dance Coéek (the line dance pattern is Bitolska gaida) and were costumed with tasteful versions of Salvari. Note the omission of

exposed skin as in belly dancing. The men wore identical red or white shirts, reminiscent of the Yugoslav KUDs that required folk costume. Several generations were represented. Esma and Stevo delivered opening speeches that emphasized the theme of patriotism, lauding the fact that as far back as 1957 Esma sang publicly

in the Romani language (see Chapter 10), and that the country was peaceful (this festival took place at the time of the Yugoslav wars). This rhetoric positioned Roma as true defenders of the country. Several young journalists spoke in Macedonian and Romani (symbolically equalizing the two languages in public space), and Faik Abdi, the leader of the Party for the Full Emancipation of Roma and the president of the festival organizing committee, greeted the European guests. The audience included numerous Macedonian politicians. Like the Bulgarian Romfest, Sutkafest featured Romani groups from other countries (Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Albania), legitimating the pan-Balkan public face of Roma. Sutkafest continued successfully in 1994 and 1995 under the direction of Esma and Stevo, but then their sponsorship ended; funds eventually dried up and the last festival was held in 1999, when KUD Phralipe celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Two commercial albums and a videotape were made of the 1993 festival. In addition to Sutkafest, other platforms and events in Macedonia have served as vehicles for Romani cultural visibility. They include the newspaper Romano Summnal, several television sta-

tions, commemoration of International Romani April 8, beauty contests (see Chapter 6), and the very successful Golden Wheel Film Festival, held annually since 2002 for documentaries, fictional films, and radio proerams. The latter is sponsored by the Romani television station BTR, which also sponsors the annual Miss Roma International contest. All these events serve the functions of both political and cultural mobilization and often feature Romani music.

Macedonia, World Heritage and UNESCO The postsocialist state dramatically interacted with Romani music in the context of Macedonia’s 2002 application to UNESCO to have a wedding from the village of Gali¢nik declared a “Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”?? This UNESCO competition responds to the

1989 initiative titled Recommendations on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture, which advocates “preserving cultural heritage which is in danger of disappearing due to cultural standardization, armed conflicts, tourism, industrialization, the rural exodus, migrations, and the degradation of the environment” (UNESCO 2001:3). Although I do not have the space here to interrogate all the problematic notions underpinning this UNESCO project and similar proclamations by the World Intellectual 170 Music, States, and Markets

Property Organization, I wish to point out that heritage is assumed to be coterminous with bounded territorial groups, so-called communities, and rural culture (see Chapter 7). Cultural heritage comes from “living communities with a sense of continuity” (5). These agencies have resurrected narratives of the impending loss or survival of selected items of authentic folklore (M. Brown 2004; Kurin 2004; Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 2004) that have rejected “unwanted hybridization” and “alien cultural forms.” Note that only nation/states can submit applications in the competition for Masterpieces. Thus the “humanity” designation elides into the nation/ state, which chooses selected aspects of its culture to be masterpieces. Needless to say, minority cultures can be problematic. On the other hand, UNESCO specifically advocates “the preservation of cultural diversity” and “the tolerance and harmonious interaction between cultures,” so one might expect cultural communication between ethnic groups to surface in applications. Not so for Macedonia’s application for the Gali¢nik Wedding. Although the entire wedding is too complicated to describe here, at the turn of the twentieth century up to fifty weddings took place simultaneously on Petrovden, July 12, among the families of returning migrants. What is relevant here is the fact that whereas Galicnik is an exclusively ethnic Macedonian village with no Roma, all the musicians who provide music for the weeklong ritual are Muslim Roma from the nearest city, Debar.?? These zurla and tapan players (all from the Majovci clan based in Debar) know the Slavic wedding rituals and dance repertoire intimately, and they signal every important ritual moment with appropriate music. There is even a proverb that says “no wedding will take place in Galicnik unless the Majovtsi family plays” (Kli¢kova and Georgieva 1951/1996). Thus not only are Roma integrated into the Galicnik wedding, but the villagers are dependent on them for their ritual, dance, and processional music.

Despite these facts, the UNESCO application from Macedonia hardly mentions Roma and omits them in relation to the goals of affirming cultural identity and preserving traditions. Roma are merely described in a few sentences as musicians.”4 The great potential in this project for recognizing and promoting cultural exchange between Roma and Macedonians is ignored.” Similarly, Roma are omitted from the section on training the next generation in folk practices. For example, one tangible way Roma could benefit is by UNESCO facilitating the learning of the ritual repertoire by young Romani zurla and tapan players, many of whom have few professional opportunities. For the past few years the zurla and tapan players at the Galicnik wedding have not been from the Majovci clan but rather have been Roma from the capital city of Skopje who are employed by national dance ensembles. Furthermore, since the village of Gali¢nik was depopulated in the 1970s (for economic reasons), the ritual has been enacted in a two-day condensed version by summer returnees to the village and by members of the Skopje-based Koéo Racin dance ensemble in a specially built amphitheater. Thus the wedding is a revival staged by ensemble members.” The UNESCO application

Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals —171

was submitted by the Union of Macedonian Folklore Ensembles, whose stated aim is “to preserve, protect, support and present Macedonian folklore which reflect [sic]... the heritage and traditions of the Macedonian people and the nationalities who live in the Republic of Macedonia.” The submitted list of “custodians of the know how,” however, omits Roma and is dominated by ensemble leaders and folklorists. The UNESCO application consists of florid language lauding the Gali¢nik wedding as “a masterpiece of human creative genius” embodying authentic folklore and national heritage. Referencing the organic tropes of romantic nationalism, the application implies that the wedding embodies the soul of the nation that finds expression in rural folklore. All this is quite paradoxical considering that the wedding is a re-creation. Ironically, Romani living traditions are excluded or minimized by the state, but the folklore of the majority ethnic Macedonians is coded as authentic even though it is staged. Finally, the UNESCO application needs to be seen in the context of the postsocialist economic crisis, with the possible motivation of increased tourism.

Popular Music Contests: Can Roma Represent the Nation? In the last decade, several controversies have arisen around “music idol” contests in Eastern Europe over the role of Romani contestants; these controversies have exposed discriminatory tendencies that underlie the reluctance of states and majority citizens to accept Roma as representatives of the nation/state. Soh Marinova, one of the few female Romani stars in

mainstream Bulgarian pop/folk (see Chapter 9), was thrown into the middle of a huge scandal regarding the finals for the Eurovision (European

popular music) contest in 2005 when Bulgaria participated for the first time. Singer Slavi Trifonov, the host of the most popular Bulgarian television show, produced a vocal duet, “Edinstveni” (The unique ones; Bulgarian), for Marinova and himself, which became a hit. It is no accident that Trifonov invited Marinova to collaborate with him. Trifonov was a seminal figure in the mainstreaming of Romani music in the 1990s; with his Ku-Ku (cuckoo) band he released an album of his show, Roma TV, that featured Romani music and comedy skits. Trifonov is also an intensely political figure who embraces biting political satire, often framed in music. For over a decade he has produced “The Slavi Show,” broadcast on the BTV cable channel every evening Monday through Friday and watched by more than a million Bulgarians, combining live music, political comedy, and interviews with a variety of guests from Bulgaria and all over the world.”’ Why did Slavi write a song for Sofi? Perhaps he wanted to highlight her talents (he called the song “a present for Sofi”), or perhaps he was motivated by politics. Remember that European Union conditions for Bulgarian accession required visible efforts at Romani visibility and integration. In any case, as soon as the song was nominated for Eurovision, immediately a virulent anti-Romani backlash was unleashed via the print media

172 Music, States, and Markets

and the internet. Many Bulgarians were outraged that a Gypsy would be allowed to represent Bulgaria at Eurovision. Not referring to Sofi by name, critics called her “the dark girl” or “the Gypsy” and brought up the issue of the lower level of civilization of Roma.”®

The song did not win in the audience voter call-in, and Slavi claimed that the votes were fixed.”’ In protest, the duo refused to sing in the final performance and instead Slavi read a speech denouncing the “fixed victory.” He stated that it wasn’t fair to any of the contestants, and especially to “the Gypsy woman Sofi Marinova” and to the country: “This is the selling of the country. ...The country is not for sale, even for $50,000 leva. Bulgaria ... is unique.” During this speech, the atmosphere was very serious; Slavi wore a black suit and Sofi wore a black formal gown, and an instrumental version of the song played quietly behind them; she held his arm while he spoke.*® Instead of singing, they broadcast a video of the national anthem, a symbol of their alignment with patriotism rather than corruption. Slavi sometimes reenacts this incident of betrayal in his concerts (almost like a memorial). Thus a song that could have been a national symbol of Romani integration turned into an example of the failure of multiculturalism. Similar incidents with Roma in music contests have occurred in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Turkey, and Serbia. In 2004 in the Czech Republic, a Romani singer, Magda Balgova, was expected to win the national Cesko Hleda Superstar (Pop Idol) vocal competition; when she was suddenly voted out in the final rounds, critics claimed it was due to racism. One newspaper wrote: "Did anyone . . . actually believe that the Superstar contest would be won by a girl who, without a shadow of a doubt, most deserved to win, but who is Romani?” Another Romani contestant was

attacked in her local newspaper, which labeled her “the shame of the town” and claimed “people were surprised she reached the final forty because she was a Gypsy.” In 2005, a male Romani singer fairly won the same contest, but activists said that this did not signal real acceptance of Roma in everyday life. The Romani organization DZeno pointed out that “a Romani man who can sing beautifully fails to challenge stereotypes

[and]... actually reinforces the idea that Roma can do little else with success.” This resonates with activist lan Hancock’s comment that success in music may actually harm the Romani rights movement by upholding

stereotypes (see Chapter 12). At the same time that the singer won the Czech contest, a poll revealed that only 13 percent of Czechs consider Roma capable of being good neighbors. DZeno’s web headline at the time read “Czech Superstar Can Sing But Not Move In” (DZeno 2005; also see Imre 2006:663). A similar situation took place in Turkey in December 2006 regarding

the Popstar Alaturka contest that is broadcast on national television. A Romani singer, Erkan, captured much of the audience vote, but one of the members of the jury seemed to be prejudiced against him.*! In Ser-

bias first Pop Idol competition, in 2004, a similar pattern emerged. Romani singer Tanja Savié was defeated by two Serbian male singers Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals —-173

despite her being by far the most talented artist. She told the Serbian media it was obvious that she didn’t win the competition because she was Romani.*”

On the other hand, there are several signs that Romani artists are becoming more acceptable in mainstream media. In 2007, a Romani singer was chosen to represent the Czech Republic in a project called the European Year of Equal Opportunities,*? and in 2009 the Romani rap group Gipsy.cz was chosen to represent the Czech Republic at Eurovision. Most notably, Marija Serifovié, a Romani singer, won the 2007 Eurovision contest for Serbia. Similarly, in Hungary, the first two seasons of Megasztar

(Hungarian Idol) in 2004 and 2005 featured Romani winners and runners-up. Romani singer Ibolya Olah, who won second place in 2004, was chosen to represent Hungary in her performance for the European Union Parliament. In 2005, many political leaders attended the Megasztar finals, when the Romani singer Caramel won, and three Romani finalists received Roma Civil Rights Foundation Awards for their outstanding service to the cause of Roma rights (Imre 2006:663). As Roma begin to win a rightful place in pop music contests, it is ques-

tionable “whether the rise of Roma stars will elevate the status of the entire minority’ (Imre 2008:333). Imre notes that “embracing selected Roma musicians has long been a strategy employed by the state .. . to handpick and isolate from their communities ‘model’ representatives of the minority, most of whom remain all the more excluded from the national community’ (334). She reminds us that singers themselves are not anxious to be seen as Romani activists; they are “eager to shed the burden of representation” (333). For example, Hungarian Romani winners Olah and Caramel reveal nothing of their ethnicity; in the eyes of the global media world they are Hungarian. According to Imre, their images have been “whitewashed and nationalized’ by their association with patriotic

songs and stagings (334). Romani performers are, then, sometimes recruited for nationalistic projects of the state; Marija Serifovié has been involved in nationalistic projects; and the Romani festivals discussed earlier show this tendency. In Hungary, for example, Olah’s performance of a patriotic song was used as a backdrop for fireworks on a national holiday. On the other hand, Olah has simultaneously been used “to exemplify the

state's programmatic multicultural outreach and Europe's generosity towards minorities” (334). Thus Romani stars can fulfill contradictory ideological discursive functions for the state: they can reinforce nationalism, or they can display the nation’s commitment to diversity. But on the ground, they may do little to solve the problems of Roma. Imre argues that pop contests offer “rich case studies of the ambivalent relationship between Roma musicians and their nation states. ... They provide the best illustration of the minefields that Roma entertainers have to negotiate, easily exploited as they are by both

commercial media and state politicians for the economic and political capital they represent” (333). I further explore the relationship between Romani artists and anti-Romani sentiment in the next chapter. 174 = Music, States, and Markets

These examples, including Bulgarian wedding music, Romani festivals, pop music contests, and the Gali¢nik wedding, all illustrate the dilemmas of Roma in the postsocialist period. Balkan Roma are squeezed between a weakening state and an expanding exploitative market. The state is not tangibly interested in Romani culture or the well-being of Roma except insofar as the state might reap certain rewards such as European Union

membership, acknowledgment of supposed multicultural goals, or the stamp of UNESCO approval. Roma are disadvantaged in the realm of the free market in that they are poor, are despised, and lack start-up resources and connections to officials in high places. Commercial interests appropriate their music and their images, repackage them, and reap financial gain. In spite of this bleak picture, Roma are managing to survive as musicians; they are finding limited government support and some recognition for their talents at Romani festivals and in pop music contests, and

outside of the Balkans in world music contexts, which I explore in the chapters ahead.

Cultural Politics of Postsocialist Markets and Festivals —175

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y ae . In fact, Asphalt Tango deftly coordinates collaboration among its Romani artists and facilitates their recording together. Similarly, Piranha facilitates collaborations between its artists: the Serbian brass band of Boban Markovié has collaborated with Frank London’s Klezmer Brass All-Stars.

Reflecting on Fanfare’s collaboration with Jony Iliev on the song “Godzila” on the album Gili Garabdi (audio example 13.1 with text supplement), Henry Ernst explained: “The band met Jony at a festival years ago.

They started to have a good relationship, and I proposed that they play together. During the arrangement stage for their album I proposed to invite Jony to join them and the band loved this idea.” The song, however,

270 Musicians in Transit

has a more complicated history. Most non-Romani fans in the west associate “Godzila” with Iliev from his own album (Cartwright 2005b:258; audio example 13.2 with text supplement) or from the Fanfare remake, both widely available in the west from Asphalt Tango. More recently, however, wider audiences know the song from its reissue on DJ Shantel’s album Bucovina Club 2 (Essay, 2006), discussed later in this chapter. Bulgarian and Macedonian Roma, on the other hand, including those in the diaspora, associate “Godzila” with the band Kristali, from the Bulgarian city of Montana (several parties claim copyright). One of the premier Romani bands in the diaspora with a steady output of albums through the Payner label, Kristali is led by bassist Kiril Dimitrov and featured the masterful vocals and clarinet of Aleksei Atanasov Stefanov (Alyosha), who now performs with Orkesttir Universal. Although it doesn’t have the media visibility of “mainstream chalga” (see Chapter 9), Kristali’s albums sell well, especially among Roma. Its performances feature songs in Bulgarian, Romani, and Turkish languages, but it is especially prolific in Romani songs. Kristali's version of “Godzila” (video example 13.1 with text supplement)

shows a clever combination of migration themes and popular culture images. The text is a love song from the point of view of a man who is lamenting the emigration of his girlfriend. The song also turns on the double meaning of Godzila: it is the girlfriend’s name and also equates with the name of the movie monster. The video depicts the band entering a movie house in Bulgaria, watching the film Godzilla, and eating popcorn. Amidst gory scenes of the monster, Alyosha mounts the movie stage and, as his shadow overlays the film, sings about his girlfriend. Audio example 13.3 features a live recording of “Godzila” by Kristali

with guest vocalist Dzansever (see Chapter 2) singing harmony at a Romani wedding in Bujanovac, in southern Serbia, near the border with Macedonia and Kosovo; you can hear shouts of jaSa ... (long live... and then names of musicians and wedding guests are inserted). This recording illustrates the transnational reputation of Kristali; the band is regularly hired for Romani events not only in Bulgaria but also in Macedonia, Serbia, and the Romani diaspora in Western Europe (this example features a Romani wedding in Serbia with a Bulgarian band and a guest vocalist from Macedonia). Many videos of Kristali and Alyosha performing at private Romani parties in Western Europe as well as concert videos from Bulgarian and Macedonia can be found on YouTube.® In addition, Macedonian Roma in New York regularly listen to Kristali. These versions of “Godzila” illustrate the collaborations among Roma that are regularly occurring outside the recording industry. Famous artists such as Dzansever, Kristali, Husnu Senlendirici, Amza, Cita, Erdzan, Sevéet, and many others are hired in various combinations for family events in the Romani diaspora, where they are exposed to one another's repertoire and styles. It is a very rich context for fertilization, but the musical products are rarely on commercial albums; on YouTube, however, they receive thousands of hits. Parallel but rarely intersecting with this

Collaboration, Appropriation, and Transnational Flows —.271

in-group Romani universe is the universe of non-Romani fans and commercial products. Non-Roma know “Godzila” from Jony Iliev on Western labels; Roma, on the other hand, dont buy Western labels because they

can't afford them and seek alternative sources. Thus Jony, although famous in his hometown region of Sofia and Kyustendil (Cartwright 2003b, 2005b), is hardly known among Roma in Macedonia and in the diaspora. Roma know “Godzila” from Alyosha and Kristali, not from Jony;

they rely on duplicated recordings obtained from relatives and friends. More young Roma are trading digital recordings and videos via the internet; as I mentioned, some young Macedonian Roma have thousands of songs on their computers and iPods. To further illustrate the issue of collaboration, I turn to the popular Romanian band Taraf de Haidouks,’ that invited the Bulgarian wedding clarinetist/saxophonist Filip Simeonov to perform and record on their albums Band of Gypsies and The Continuing Adventures of Taraf de Haidouks. Taraf and Simeonov share the manele/kyuchek genre; in addition, because he is from north Bulgaria, Simeonov was familiar with Romanian village folk music, and he could learn tunes by ear very quickly. Conversely, Taraf members kept abreast of Bulgarian trends and followed respected performers such as Ivo Papazov, Yuri Yunakov, Neshko Neshev,’ and Filip

Simeonov. Yet collaboration is very delicate. In 2005, Simeonov complained about how little he played in a Taraf concert (in one ninety-minute

concert he was featured in two numbers), and about how little he was paid; he also complained about lack of communication (he spoke Bulgarian and Turkish, and Taraf members spoke Romanian and Romani; he has

since learned some Romanian); on the other hand, he was immensely erateful because of the economic crisis in Bulgaria.’ Like the Asphalt Tango managers/producers, Belgian managers Michel Winter and Stephane Karo of Divano Productions (together with the label Crammed Discs) arranged the terms of Taraf's collaborations.'® For example, one reason they invited guest musicians Simeonov, Turkish darabuka player Tayik Tuysuzoglu, and the Macedonian Koéani brass band to

perform in Taraf's 2000 Bucharest concert and for the subsequent recording Band of Gypsies was to draw the attention of the press. Indeed, before 2000 Taraf had been ignored in Romania despite their international success. In a wise marketing maneuver, Karo “decided to invite foreign journalists to Bucharest, to the village to see the reactions of the Romanians. ... We would give them the works” (DVD No Man Is a Prophet in His Own Land). They also invited a European film crew to document the whole event, as described in the liner notes to the CD and on the DVD. Through collaboration, Taraf’s managers also wanted to show musical connections across borders. Winter explained: “It’s all regional music. All

these elements have always intermingled between Turkey, the south of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece. These types of musics all have common elements, so this combination is in no way artificial... . They have a lot in common in terms of music, languages. The music of Taraf has a very Turkish sound to it” (No Man Is a Prophet in His Own

pA Musicians in Transit

Land liner notes). Although Winter’s comments emphasize unity, scholarly work shows that before the 1980s Taraf’s music had little in common with Turkish music and the Romani musics of Bulgaria, Turkey, and Macedo-

nia. Archival recordings, Speranta Radulescu’s recordings of the early 1990s (released in 1996), and conversations with older Taraf members all reveal that before 1989 Taraf played mostly regional Romanian music and

some Romani songs. Romanian manele in its current form is a recent phenomenon." But as I discussed in Chapter 12, both audiences and the media want to see connections, not diversity; they then assume all connections are deeply historical when in fact some are quite recent. Reinforcing the theme of unity, Cartwright’s liner notes for Fanfare Ciocarlia’s album Queens and Kings read in part: Casual observers may wonder how Fanfare Ciocarlia’s roaring Balkan funk could possibly fuse with the flamenco guitars of French Gitans Kaloome or Macedonian legend Esma RedZepova’s accordion driven

music? Zece Prajini’s musical magicians shrug off such concerns, noting that they share elements of language, experience, and an almost indescribable yet very Gypsy musical synergy with their guests.

Hungarian music has permeated northern Romania for centuries, while Yugoslav and Bulgarian music came from encounters with trav-

elling Gypsy communities or on pirate cassettes. Spain and France existed in pre-war memories, lost yet not forgotten Latin connections;

as did jazz and pop flavours long filtered through closed borders. From these sources and their own ancient Gypsy roots, Zece Prajini's musicians built Fanfare Ciocarlia. Here, accompanied by some of Europe's finest singers, Romania’s brass dervishes share tales of life, love and loss. “Queens and Kings” celebrates unity in diversity. .. .

Note that the terms “unity in diversity,” “ancient Gypsy roots,” and “Gypsy musical synergy” allude to a timeless mystical connection that these groups somehow magically possess (see Chapter 12). In actuality, the Balkan performers on the album currently share the Romani language and the new manele/kyuchek genre; even Kaloome’s song “Que Dolor” works well as a kyuchek because its melody is so similar to Fanfare’s and Dan Armeanca’s song “Jag Bari’; in fact, the band uses the exact same instrumental break.

Appropriation Collaboration is a concept used by many non-Romani musicians and producers when describing their relationship to Romani musicians, as if the term itself guarantees equal participation and equal benefits. Most nonRomani musicians subscribe to the belief that hybridity and fusions are inherently liberating (see Chapter 3), and some Roma would agree. Other Roma, by contrast, are aware of the slippery slope from collaboration to

Collaboration, Appropriation, and Transnational Flows =. 273

appropriation to exploitation. By appropriation I mean taking music from one group and using it in other musical projects, usually for profit.'? Iam

aware of the underlying essentialism in the concept of appropriation; music cannot be ultimately assigned to unitary “sources.” Postmodernists would argue that neither music nor any other part of culture is owned by individuals or groups, and I would agree that music cannot be ultimately owned; intermingling has always occurred.'? Notwithstanding this observation, certain musics are associated with certain groups or individuals and do get used in new contexts outside the group. Drawing from Murray Schafer, Steven Feld uses the term “schizophonia” to mean a split between source and use: “By ‘schizophonic mimesis’ I want to question how sonic copies, echoes, resonances, traces, memories, resemblances, imitations, duplications, all proliferate histories and possi-

bilities. This is to ask how sound recordings, split from their source through the chain of audio production, circulation and consumption, stimulate and license renegotiations of identity” (2000a:263, 1994:258). Although Feld seems to presume one source, I would prefer avoiding the terms source and origin since for Roma they are often irrelevant. Rather, I focus on the process of transmission, that is, giving and taking, and ask who orchestrates and who benefits from these exchanges?

Historically, Roma have been characterized as the ultimate music appropriators. They have been accused of neither having nor creating music and merely appropriating the music of other ethnicities.'* Although

it remains true that Roma have taken numerous musical elements from co-territorial peoples (as well as from India and Western classical and pop music), it must also be remembered that they do not take indiscriminately

but instead borrow selectively and then creatively rework what they take.'> Throughout this book I have stressed that Roma contributed to many musical styles and genres in the Balkans: ¢oéek/kyuchek, Bulgarian wedding music, and chalga. When Roma appropriate, however, their class

relationship is rarely altered; no matter how powerful their music, they do not become powerful politically. They may supply a desirable commodity, but they have not lost their stigma. Furthermore, they still need patrons; even the most famous performers are managed by non-Romani producers. Appropriations by the powerful are different from appropriations by the marginal; when the powerful appropriate, the marginal often lose in the process because they can’t ight back in terms of ownership or copyright. Musical appropriations by non-Roma from Roma thus need to be investigated in terms of motivation, profit, and artistry. In the category of appro-

priators, we can find a diverse group: nonprofessional performers of Romani music, belly dancers who liberally use the term Gypsy, composers and arrangers who produce Romani music under their own name, Gypsy Punk musicians, DJs who remix Romani music, and celebrities such as Madonna. I will briefly discuss these groups in turn (but will leave Madonna and DJs for my next research project). Note that access to money and resources is not uniform in this group of appropriators.

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Non-Roma who play Romani music as amateurs typically do not earn much money and are not internationally known. Balkan Roma tend to applaud these groups, have trained some of them, and sometimes collaborate with them.'® The same benign attitude is often found toward nonRomani belly dancers forwhom Romani musicians provideaccompaniment. The term Gypsy has been widely appropriated into tribal belly dance, an

American genre that features group choreographies (unlike Oriental or Egyptian belly dance), hand-made costumes (usually of natural fibers) reminiscent of Central and South Asia, a discourse about empowerment of women, and a focus on the tribe (group cohesion) that is imputed to be a Gypsy trait. The troupe name Gypsy Caravan is used in many locales, including Portland, Oregon (www.gypsycaravan.us); New Jersey (www. eypsycaravanenterprises.com); and Chicago; other popular names are Ultra Gypsy and Romani (Sellers-Young 2006:296). A founder of the genre describes Tribal as an “American fusion of elements from many countries

along the Romani trial” (Sellers-Young 2006:285). In addition, tribal dancers often reproduce images from the film Latcho Drom as a source of inspiration (292). Some belly dancers have a superficial stereotypical grasp of Romani arts; others have adopted an educational and even activist role in relation to Romani dance."’

Goran Bregovic Whereas belly dancers are not routinely criticized by Balkan Roma, Goran Bregovié is an object of wrath and is even labeled by some Roma as a thief and robber. At the same time, he is perhaps the most widely known performer/arranger of Gypsy music in the world, getting top billing at Gypsy and world music festivals (Markovié 2008 and 2009). Why do Roma speak

of him in these condemning terms, whereas they speak more kindly of other “collaborators”? How has Bregovicé’s history pulled him squarely out

of the category of collaborator and into the category of appropriator? Born in Bosnia of mixed Serbian and Croatian heritage, he was a rock guitarist in the 1970s band Bijelo Dugme (White Button; Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian), which pioneered in performing rock-folk fusions of all the ethnic groups in Yugoslavia. In the 1980s and 1990s, he became internationally famous for his musical scores for Bosnian film director Emir Kusturica, whose films deal with Romani themes and employ Romani actors.'® The movie Underground (1995), for example, prominently features the Boban Markovié Serbian brass band. Although Underground helped launch Markovié’s career, he was critical of Bregovié for not giving him proper credit. Indeed, according to the 1995 Polygram CD all the music in Underground is composed, directed, produced, and copyrighted by Bregovié. This includes an instrumental version of “Chaje Sukarije,” Esma RedZepova’s hit, which he rerecorded with Polish vocalist Kayah in 2000 with the credit line “Gypsy folklore.” Esma commented: “His music is not original. Those records he makes, they use

Collaboration, Appropriation, and Transnational Flows = 275

alot of my songs.... Iam not happy about this” (Cartwright 2003:98). She expanded: “Goran Bregovié . . . took something from everybody. . . . He took 30% of my music and then some of Saban Bajramovié and other Roma musicians. So he made music for business. There's no quality in it” (Cartwright 2005b:109).

Markovié claims that many tunes from Underground are his; other Roma say they are “traditional.” According to Markovié: “Bregovic . . . well, we worked together and the music is my idea. One part is from a Saban song and the other part is mine. I took the winning tune from that years Guéa [Serbian brass band festival] and played it and Bregovié added

his things and when the soundtrack came out he did not credit me for writing the music. This made me very angry. Bregovié has asked me to do more work with him, but I’ve established myself and don't need to work

[with him]. If we do work [together] in the future it'll be on my conditions” (2005b:76-77). One Underground hit song can be traced directly to Saban Bajramovié,

one of the greatest Serbian Romani singers (Cahn 2001b; Cartwright 2005b:52-67). “Mesecina” (Moon; Serbian) is based on Saban’s song “Djeli Mara” (Mara left); Bregovié transforms it from a soulful ballad with piano accompaniment into a brisk brass arrangement. Saban had an ambivalent

attitude; he has been quoted as saying that Bregovié and Kusturica stole his songs, but when French Romani activist Cahn asked him whether he signed away his rights, he said he didn’t remember (Cahn 2001b). “They

took my song. .. . I probably signed things away. I was going to sue Bregovié but taking him to court in Serbia—what a mess. So I don’t bother, I forgive him” (Cartwright 2005b:62). He went on to work with Bregovié in 2002 when he contributed three songs to his album Tales and Songs from Weddings and Funerals. This illustrates my point that Romani artists who

don't have stable Western management have few options for egalitarian collaboration; they usually take whatever is offered to them because the market is so uncertain. The case of Bregovicé’s dubious ethics can be compared to other cases of world music collaboration/appropriations such as Graceland (Feld 1988; Meintjes 1990)'? and Deep Forest (Feld 2000b). Feld discusses how Deep Forest producers sampled a Solomon Islands lullaby and used it in a series

of musical moves involving questionable ethics.”® Feld asks, “Is world music a form of artistic humiliation, the price primitives pay for attracting the attention of moderns .. .?” (166). Similarly, do Roma need appropriators like Bregovié to achieve popularity in the modern world? Feld points out that collaborations with famous artists such as Paul Simon, Sting, and Peter Gabriel are often presented as part of “a politically progressive and artistically avant-garde movement. ... This process has the positive effect of validating musicians and musics that have been historically marginalized, but it simultaneously reproduces the institutions of patronage” (Feld 2000a:270).?'

The issue is how music moves between multiple contexts and levels of commercial power. For many non-Roma, Bregovié has come to stand for

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all Balkan Romani music; for example, the program notes for his 2006 Lincoln Center concert state he has developed “a reputation as an eloquent spokesperson for Gypsy culture in eastern Europe.” Furthermore, at the 2000 British Barbican Gypsy Music Festival, Bregovié received top billing; he was featured in a prime Saturday night slot, while such artists as Koéani Orkestar and Fanfare Ciocarlia appeared in small print on advertisements and played at odd times on the free stage. He also had the prime slot at the 2010 Guéa Serbian brass band festival and was received

like a God. He is actually taken to be Romani by many fans; indeed, founder of the Serbian band Kal activist Dusan Ristié cynically called him part of the “Gypsy music industry.” Bregovicés “reworked” Romani materials are sometimes reintegrated into the world of Romani musicians; the song “Erdelezi” moved from oral circulation to Bregovié copyright and then out to oral circulation again. It was first released by Bijelo Dugme in 1986 in Serbian as “Djurdjevdan,” but its fame was secured by its prominent place in Kusturica’s film Time

of the Gypsies (1989). The title refers to the spring holiday (known as Erdelezi/Herdelezi/Herdeljezi among Muslims and Djurdjevdan/Gjurgjovden among Eastern Orthodox) when families slaughter sheep (decorated with greenery to ensure fertility), clean their homes, and gather to dance and feast; there are many examples on YouTube (see text supplement 13.1). Many Roma in Suto Orizari, Macedonia (where the film was shot),

claim that they composed the song, but it was probably in oral circulation. Thanks to the popularity of the film and the haunting quality of the song, it has been reclaimed by Roma back into oral circulation, regardless of copyright. It has also been recorded by numerous Romani and non-Romani artists, most of the time with credit to Bregovié.”? A version in Hungarian and Serbian was entered by Hungary into the 2006 Eurovi-

sion contest, performed by Ruzsa Magdolna (a winner of the national Megasztar contest).”* Certainly Bregovié deserves credit for a signature style of arrangement that makes Balkan Romani music more palatable to non-Roma. Time considered him “a pioneer in the gypsy music revival” (Purvis 2002:70), and the German Financial Times claims that he “found a way to shape Balkan

music appealingly for a global audience.”** Jane Sugarman points out: “He's making a whole career now of slightly arranged music of the former Yugoslavia, most of it heavily in Rom style, all of which gets packaged in his name. The arrangements do make a difference. Folks in Balkan countries who wouldn't be caught dead listening to a Rom band nevertheless love Bregoviés music” (East European Folklife Center listserv posting, May 27, 1998). Thus he has widened the audience for Romani music, but he has clearly profited at the expense of others in the process.

Bregovicé positions himself as an antinationalist hybrid musician, mining the ethnicities of the Balkans as his repository; he implies that he can't be accused of taking other people’s music since he is of mixed ethnic heritage himself. His concert projects have featured more than a hundred performers from various Balkan ethnicities, and his press reports often

Collaboration, Appropriation, and Transnational Flows — 277

note his masterful “synthesis of the Balkans” (Alvaro Feto, El Mundo, April 23, 2001, www.goranbregovic.co.yu). One “composition” is “Kustino

Oro,” performed by the Athens Symphony Orchestra; this is a Romani coéek in hicaz embellished with West African “talking drums.” His touring eroup, the Wedding and Funeral Orchestra, includes a symphony orches-

tra, a male choir, several Bulgarian and Serbian female vocalists, and a Gypsy brass band.*° Recently he presented Karmen with a Happy Ending, an opera about Gypsies and sex trafficking. It is clear that generic, ethnic, and national border crossings are his forte. In this chapter, however, I focus on Bregovic's specific affinity for Roma. Indeed, the biography on his official website ends with the phase “Gypsy

life full to the brim continues for this eclectic composer figure” (www. georanbregovic.rs). He seems to allude to the perceived hybridity, wildness,

and unruly quality of Gypsies that he seeks to embrace. In a 2005 interview”® he said:

The Roma are those who are the first to suffer in any group, their life is difficult and tragic. Living such a life according to the principle of the wide smile, the gold tooth—isn't easy. But it’s really true that the Roma are the cowboys of Europe; it’s difficult to adapt to modern times and world views; it’s hard to reach a compromise with the ac-

coutrements of modern civilization and that’s why I like them... . We'd all like to be Roma at least for one day just so that the rules of eravity don't apply to us, so that our system of values is a little different, a little old-fashioned, not of this world. Those are the Roma! [ Jovanovié 2005:44].

Bregovicé sees Gypsies as a different kind of human: a fun-loving, gold-

toothed, music making tribe that has forsaken the modern world. His desire “to be Roma at least for one day” centers on their supposed freedom. Even though he mentions Romani poverty, it seems to melt into joy. His stereotypes and fantasies extend to Romani music:

And as a composer I've always been impressed by the fact that the Roma treat music the same way as they treat nature. They don't understand music as something made up, but rather as something given by God, held in common. With unbelievable ease they take a Spanish harmony and lay a Turkish rhythm and an Arabic melody over it. This is the old, ancient way of making music. That’s why the music of the Roma is so fascinating on all levels. Honestly, when I feel like drinking, I grab a bottle and go to some hotel, but when I want to

write music I go to a Gypsy café. I’m telling you this in all honesty [44].

Bregovicé asserts Roma mix styles because they don't recognize belonging; perhaps this belief gives him license to appropriate from Roma— they wouldn't mind anyway. He ignores, however, their professional history

278 Musicians in Transit

of astutely serving patrons and instead imputes to them a childlike, ancient, static, romantic worldview. Van de Port writes of similar stereotypical sce-

narios involving sex, nature, violence, and music that Serbian patrons in Gypsy bars in Vojvodina impute to Romani musicians (1998). Noting that his birth language no longer exists, Bregovié turns to the Romani language as salvation: “These days I write in Romani and ina made-up language. In the place where I grew up only the Roma speak the same language they always spoke” (44). “T don’t feel comfortable anymore

writing in Serbo-Croatian. . . . Not long ago I discovered the Gypsy language, which I’m comfortable with. This is a language with very few words and it is simply swimming in rhymes. . . . The Gypsy language

serves aS a means of communication between the East and West” (Beckovié 2002). I doubt if Bregovié actually composes in Romani because he doesn’t speak it; perhaps he collaborates with Roma to write lyrics for him or, more likely he takes existing lyrics. Furthermore, linguists would disagree that it has very few words. Bregovié posits the Romani language,

and by extension Roma themselves, as an unchanging phenomenon amidst the pernicious conflicts of the Balkans. This fossilizes Roma as premodern relics. We may clearly place Bregovié in the “celebratory camp” of fusion

artists. Feld and others have noted the divide between “anxious” and “celebratory” narratives of world music appropriation. Celebratory narratives valorize hybridity, feature hopeful scenarios about economic fairness, and “even have romantic equations of hybridity with overt resistance” (Feld 2000b:152).”7 Anxious narratives fret over purity and underline the economics of exploitation. I believe that we need to interrogate both narratives. Celebratory scholars and musicians eschew ownership and valorize the fertile artistic exchange of musical styles. Lipsitz, for example, shows that appropriations create cultural zones of contact where intercultural dialogue between ethnic groups can happen; he says hybridity “produces an immanent critique of contemporary social relations” (1994). On the other hand, Lipsitz may “overstate the relative cultural power of these musics” (Born and Hesmondhalgh 2000:27) to effect change.’® Celebratory tales tend to naturalize globalization, emphasizing its inevitability (Feld 2000b:152). They espouse a “democratic vision for world music,”

which then becomes part of the marketing scheme. When audiences observe the incredible diversity of music available, they see it “as some kind of sign that democracy prevails, that every voice can be heard, every style can be purchased, everything will be available to everybody” (167). But in celebrating diversity, we shouldn't confuse the flow of musical contents with the flow of power relations (Feld 1994:263). Often too much attention is paid to the sound aspect of hybrid musics and not enough to the social, political, and economic relationships that produce them. Anxious narratives often focus on the pitfalls of recorded music vs. live music?’ or claim that capitalism produces diluted, more commercial forms, less pure forms: “This fuels a kind of policing of ... authenticity” (Feld 2000b:152).

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Anxious accounts fear that world music erases musical diversity and focus on what is lost musically. Anxious scholars “want to calculate the kinds of loss and diminution of musical heterogeneity’ (153).°° Regarding Roma, I am not concerned about authenticity; the music that

is produced by Roma is not becoming more homogeneous. The fear of “damaging Western influence” belongs to purists; it does not illuminate the Romani case, historically or currently. As I have shown, Balkan Romani music has always been open to innovation. In addition, there is vital music making and dancing in the Balkan and diaspora Romani communities, tied to identity issues. I would locate myself in the celebratory camp in relation to artistic creativity and in the anxious camp in relation to political economy. Anxious narratives, however, need to focus less on the aesthetics of music and more on its production and consumption. A narrow aesthetic analysis ignores “who is doing the hybridity, from which

position and with what intention and result” (Born and Hesmondhalgh 2000:19). Thus we need to focus more on questions of agency, profits, control, and the range of options available to performers. Along these lines I turn to Gypsy Punk and DJ remixes of Romani music.

Gypsy Punk and DJ Remixes In Chapter 12, I discussed the New York Gypsy Festivals and the emergence of Gypsy Punk via the band Gogol Bordello. Here I update this thread to examine what some have labeled the “Gypsy rock movement” (http:/Awww.crammed.be/index.php?id=34&art_id=10); I cover only a few

key bands because my research is in progress. A number of bands draw from Balkan Gypsy materials but do not have Romani members: Kultur Shock (Seattle), Beirut (New Mexico), Balkan Beat Box (New York), A Hawk and a Hacksaw (New Mexico), and Basement Jaxx (England). Although Beirut prides itself on its naive, fresh sound inspired by Gypsy brass filtered through Kusturica’s films (Lynskey 2006), Kultur Shock and Gogol Bordello are distinguished by their overloaded punk sound and edgy circuslike shows. Balkan Beat Box overlaps with Gogol Bordello in its expression of the immigrant experience but has a more hip hop and electronic texture. Gogol Bordello consists of mostly East European immigrants (Eugene Hutz and Sergey Rjabtzev claim to be part Romani); the core of Balkan Beat Box are Israeli immigrants.*! Some bands use electronic as well as live music, and several band members notably Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello and Ori Kaplan of Balkan Beat Box, are DJs as well as live performers. In 2007, before Balkan Beat Box became internationally known, Kaplan served as DJ for a monthly party in Brooklyn in a loft where on another floor a live band such as Slavic Soul Party played. These dance parties were unadvertised; part of their cachet came from their underground, word-of-mouth feeling. Typically more than a hundred dancers, mostly under thirty years of age, gathered until dawn. Kaplan used the word “jump” to characterize the dancing

280 Musicians in Transit

of clubbers—and I would agree. He means literally jumping up and down rather than line dancing; there is some solo belly dancing, but most people “jump.”

These bands overlap with the expanding world of DJs who remix Gypsy music in dance clubs to crowds of non-Roma in cities all over Western

Europe and the United States (Szeman 2009). The online magazine Exclaim hailed “the rise of Balkan beats—Gypsy and other eastern Euro-

pean musics updated to a clubbing environment. ... The anarchic and romantic sounds of Gypsy and Balkan music allow people of all ages to stomp to a different drummer’ (Dacks 2005). And on the BBC website, Robert Jackman wrote: “It’s impossible to ignore the soaring resurgence of Balkan music. Only a dwindling few could turn their backs on a move-

ment which has persuaded European DJs—a breed famed for their unshakable faith in the synthesizer and the mullet—to swap their techno vinyls for fresh, gypsy-influenced flavours” (2007). A cursory glance at the

touring schedules of DJs such as Shantel and Gaetano Fabri (from Belgium) reveals steady work in Western Europe and Turkey. Hutz used to DJ at Mehanata in New York on Thursdays, sometimes adding videos to his shows. At a 2006 show at Midway in New York (at the New York Gypsy

Festival), he worked with videographer Al Jerrari (founder of the New York Gypsy Film Festival) to combine visuals from Kusturica’s and Gatlif’s

films about Roma. DJs elicit an emotional response by employing these images of Gypsies; perhaps deliberately, they don’t match specific Romani music to specific Romani communities in their video shows.

Shantel (Stefan Hantel) is perhaps the most famous Gypsy remix DJ/ producer in Europe, having won the 2006 BBC Planet Club Global Award and produced four Balkan albums, Bucovina Club 1 and 2 (Essay Recordings 2004 and 2005), Disko Partizani and Planet Paprika (Crammed Discs 2007, 2009); he has also started to perform live.*? He launched the Bucovina Club in Frankfurt in 2001 after discovering his roots in this Ukrai-

nian/Romanian/Moldavian borderland area, although some peg his Eastern European connection to media hype. According to music writer Garth Cartwright, Shantel was part of the enormous techno scene in Germany in the 1990s, and as it faded he picked up on the popularity of “Balkan Beats” nights in Berlin, popularized by Bosnian refugee DJ Robert Soko.*? A press releases states that the Bucovina Club is “a madhouse with scenes of drunkenness and fraternization, of anarchy and good vibrations that sometimes resemble the films of Emir Kusturica” (www.essayrecordings.com/press.htm). Shantel “describes his Bucovina Club nights as wild

parties which absolutely destroy any sense of reserve amongst patrons” (Dacks 2005). He explains:

You can play a party rocker, a wild Romanian belly dance tune, and the next one is a ballad, a very sad song, and there is no irritation. It’s very tense these nights, people screaming and dancing. The audience is very diverse. We have young generation clubbers and then second, third generation immigrants from Yugoslavia, born in Germany with

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parents from Serbia, Romania and they are exploring their own music traditions. Then there’s the elder generation; its not a problem when you come with your parents to Bucovina Club (Dacks 2005).

Whereas New York Gypsy remix clubs attract Eastern European immierants, clubs in Western European attract mostly non-Romani Europeans. Hutz’ song texts reflect the alienation of being an “other,” whether it is Gypsy, immigrant, or political refugee: “East European immigrants often reconstruct their ‘home culture’ by reaching out for their ‘other —Roma— identifying as ‘nomads within the United States” (Budur 2007). Similarly, Ori Kaplan of Balkan Beat Box asserts: “We play an extension of Romani music. We are all immigrants; we are united in our fascination with immierant cultures.” And his colleague Tamir Muskat concurs: “Gypsy is the definition of a soul, not a color or place. It’s a take on life” (http://www. myspace.com/balkanbeatbox, from an interview in SPIN, January 2007). The Romani material that DJs use is markedly Balkan, mostly brass bands; Fanfare Ciocarlia, Ko¢ani, Boban Markovi¢, and Mahala Rai Banda are regularly sampled. In fact, brass bands have recently come to stand for all Balkan Gypsy music; for example, this is what appears on the website www.cocek.com: “There isn’t an English word for Coéek although some refer to it as Gypsy brass.” Of course, this frame obscures a great majority of Romani bands. As Feld says, “A region of musical variation gets reduced to one genre, a ‘caricatured image” (2000a:276). One of the first remix albums, Electric Gypsyland was released in 2004 to rave reviews in the rock and electronic music world and was followed by a European tour featuring many of the DJs on the album. It was produced by Crammed Discs and sampled tracks from bands produced by that label: Fanfare Ciocarlia, Koéani, and Mahala Rai Banda, plus Taraf de Haidouks. Thus the worlds of production and DJ remixes are tightly intertwined. Electric Gypsyland 2 (2006) built on this roster of groups, and Gypsy Beats and Balkan Bangers (Atlantic Jaxx 2006, UK) reissued many remix hits. The list of DJs who are interested in Gypsy music is growing, and they come from and perform all over the world, including Mexico. According to the liners notes of Electric Gypsyland 2: “While some of these pieces stay close enough to the originals and can be described as remixes, most are poetic re-inventions, works of pure imagination.” Indeed, one wonders what is Gypsy about some of the cuts. The producers of Gypsy remixes appeal to the wider audience of rock fans rather than the smaller audience of ethnic music fans. Dacks’s interview with Shantel asserts: “The sentiment of ‘this is not world music’ arises frequently. His aim is to portray this music as upfront, direct party music, as opposed to some half-baked fusion or the object of ethnomusicological study. . . . Essay Recordings’ bio states ‘it’s not happy clappy multi-culti music” (Dacks 2005). Mare Hollander, president of Crammed Discs and project director for Electric Gypsyland, said he welcomed the potential to “extend the fusion of Balkan energy with electronics under the banner of world music.” He remarked that he was “pleasantly surprised

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that Gypsy music is gaining an unforeseen audience. ... I never thought it would be a phenomenon. I was pretty much against the idea of remixing for a long time. But three years ago we got these requests from electronic music producers saying ‘Please can we remix . . . Taraf de Haidouks?’ That's when we decided to do the Electric Gypsyland album. . . . It’s a welcome change... for dance music” (Dacks 2005). One song, “Red Bula,” has taken a winding path to its remix by Balkan Beat Box on Electric Gypsyland 2. Although its origin is uncertain, by 2000 it was widely performed in Macedonia and Bulgaria. The title is a pun on the energy drink Red Bull; bul in Romani means “ass.” Audio example 13.4 with text supplement features Ajgara, a band from Sutka, Macedonia, also known for comedy. It begins with an off-color parody of family greetings that are typically aired on Romani radio stations. Its refrain, “Red Bul, sexy bul, apogei” (Red Bull, sexy ass, the epitome) has migrated into many other songs.** Audio example 13.5 features a version by Kristali with Macedonian singer Dzansever at a wedding in Bujanovac, Serbia; they sing nonsensical Bulgarian lyrics such as mambo le, dupka do dupka (hole to hole) and adresa veche znai se, na Vitosha shestnaiset (you already know my address: Vitosha 16). Finally, video examples 5.52 and 5.60 feature performances of Balkan Roma in America (see Chapters 5 and 11). The “Red Bul,” however, that is known by most non-Roma is the Balkan Beat Box remix of the Romanian band Mahala Rai Banda’s 2004 version, mixed by Shantel, and produced by Michel Winter and Stephane Karo on Crammed Discs. “Red Bula” is listed in the public domain. Mahala Rai Banda’s version is enhanced with a solo by Bulgarian saxophonist Filip Simeonov (audio example 13.6). Balkan Beat Box’s remix separates several tracks and adds electronic beats (audio example 13.7). Ori Kaplan explained the process to me: “Marc Hollander offered us a few tracks. Red Bula had potential. We liked it—it has a dixieland vibe, and we thought we could give it a different kind of pulse. We separated out the tracks, took out the drums and repeated the vocals. We chopped it up and changed the structure. On a dead track hidden inside we found an accordion solo; like a phoenix we revived it from the dead! Tamir added keyboards, but there was no need to add much.” Kaplan said that he realized what the song meant only after the remix was made. Remixes raise questions of ownership and artistry; one journalist aptly asked: “Is this just another fad, or is it a sign of the times in New Europe. . . .

And will Gypsies and the other disadvantaged citizens of Eastern Europe

benefit from this attention?” (Dacks 2005). On the one hand, praise abounds; the online magazine Know the Ledge wrote: “DJ Shantel’s Bucovina Club project is probably the most effective portrayal of the wildness and sheer ecstasy of traditional-modernized Gypsy party music” (Armstrong 2005). Similarly, music journalist Robert Christgau asserted that Gogol Bordello is “the most exciting new alt-rock band in the world” (2006). On the other hand, critics claim DJs like Shantel are opportunists; they similarly lament the fact that Gogol Bordello is now seen as the future of Gypsy music. German Popov, the founder of the band OMFO (Our Man

Collaboration, Appropriation, and Transnational Flows —_283

from Odessa), which released Trans Balkan Express (Essay 2004), deliberately distances himself from “gypsyronica” (Dacks 2005). The British music magazine fRoots published a scathing review of Electric Gypsyland 2: “The Balkans and ‘gypsies’ have become the new Cuba, and we're now drowning in opportunist ‘Club Global’ Romaxploitation compilations. Same bands, same tracks, different order. Buyer guide is to avoid anything .. . containing Gogol Bordello. Enough, already!” (f{Roots 2006). Cartwright also weighed in against DJs: “T loathe remix albums. . . . The European remix album was a bad 90s phenomenon .. . and Electric Gypsyland’s no exception. The Balkan grooves have been filtered out until all that’s left is the drudgery of the EU dance floor. In Serbia, Vanjus of Modern Quartet (who remixed Koéani Orkestar), informed me ‘T fucking hate folk music so I stripped everything but the clarinet’ of MQ’s effort. His comment provides a succinct review of the CD” (Cartwright 2005b:209210). Cartwright also wrote: “Shantel bears obvious comparison with Bos-

nias Goran Bregovic—both are non-Romas who have imaginatively plundered Balkan Gypsy music to create a sound with popular appeal” (2006a).

But many other writers defend Shantel: “For the moment the modest and ebullient performer has managed to avoid the traps fallen into by the likes of Goran Bregovié and Emir Kusturica. His plundering of Balkan Roma music to create popular dance music has been done with deep respect for the complex music forms” (D. Brown 2006). On the other hand, Cartwright puts Shantel and Gogol Bordello in the same category as Kusturica: all are appropriators who “skim the surface of Gypsy culture without dealing with the deeper artistry of the Romani people. Gogol Bordello are, then, a brown and white minstrel show” (Cartwright 2005a).*° Respect is something given freely by virtually all appropriators. Many DJs are effusive in their adoration of their “heroes,” the Romani musicians

from whom they draw: “Everyone, no matter how exoticizing, how patronizing ... in their rhetoric . . ., declares their respect for the original music and its makers” (Feld 2000a:273). On several remix albums, bonus tracks are devoted to the unmixed sources, as homage or as a mark of “authenticity.” DJ Russ Jones asserts: Alongside the young turks with their twisted interpretations the older euns still know how to rock it. Included here are some killer tracks from Fanfare Ciocarlia and Koéani Orchestra [sic]. See the guys live and it will be as riotous as any gig by Gogol or Shantel. The finest of musicians, ... you... realize they could sit alongside the hottest Brazilian samba sound band or the most swinging jazz outfits and give

them a good run for their money at any party or festival settings [2006].

For Jones, the mark of a good Balkan Romani band is how close it sounds to Gogol Bordello or Shantel. Ironically, the appropriators now set the standards, and it is their sources who must measure up to them. Furthermore,

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according to Jones, good Romani musicians must be fusionists according to the fashions of world music; they should be able to sit in with a Brazilian band or jazz band.*°

Hutz claims a special relationship to Roma because of his Romani Ukrainian heritage (chronicled in the documentary The Pied Piper of Hutzovina): “Some have said we bastardized the culture. The thing is that we have roots in this culture. These are our personal heroes. This is the roots of my family—this is where we come from” (Budur 2007).*’ Reflecting on the 2006 New York Gypsy Festival, he asserted: “It’s important to me that Roma came, not that the magazines thought it was happening. It would perhaps be the worst closure for me if Roma would give me the anathema” (2007). Some non-Romani musicians, including Bregovié, legitimate their

ties to Romani music through their regional roots.** Other musicians make a virtue of their naiveté; they admit they know little about Balkan Roma, but their genuine interest and admiration is enough. For example, Zach Condon of Beirut “makes a principle of naivety. His music may not be authentic—he never pretended it was—but it is never less than sincere.” He said “I’m willing to take the music at face value. .. . I don’t have to tie in historical and racial and political elements to make it mean anything more to me. Isn’t melody enough?”*? (Lynskey 2006). For Condon, then, any music is “up for grabs.” Critics might call him a “sonic scavenger. *? Like Condon, Hutz “has no desire for border control.

‘Gogol Bordello is about embracing other cultures because the more sources of joy you have, the better you are. There is no yes or no, no black and white here. I guess it all goes back to not where you came from but

how deep in your bones does the music really reach. Does it reach that level of madness or not?” (2006). Similarly, Hollander advocates “transculturalism—a genuine mash-up of cultures as opposed to multiculturalism where groups retreat into and protect their own enclaves.” Hollander

points out that Gypsy music has never been pure and is “by no means traditional music. They borrow bits and pieces of music right and left” (Dacks 2005). These musicians disavow ownership theories of music; they believe that all music is available to everyone to use as they wish. They celebrate creativity and reject any hint that artistic or economic exploitation could exist.

The opposite of this camp is the UNESCO and WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) approach, which sees discrete arts belonging to discrete cultural groups who should have control over them (see Chapter 8). In this model, it is supposedly clear who is taking from whom because ultimate sources can be identified. Historically, Roma test and ultimately refute the applicability of both of these two extremes. Their appropriations are from a marginal position; they have never officially had “rights” to any genre because they have never been in charge of institutions. Now

that non-Roma are appropriating from them, they can’t (and many wouldn't want to) fight back.

One strand in the celebratory camp asserts that appropriation is not problematic because there is no such thing as authentic Gypsy music. Collaboration, Appropriation, and Transnational Flows = 285

Robert Christgau, for example, writes: “Purity is always a misleading ideal. With the gypsies, or Roma .. . it’s an impossible chimera . . . real Gypsy music is a myth” (2006). Similarly, “There is no such thing as Gypsy

music insists DJ Shantel ... you can only talk about traditional music from different regions in southeastern Europe” (2006). Like Bregovié¢, these artists claim that because Roma have appropriated, then appropria-

tions from Roma are unproblematic. They confuse artistry with economics. As Lynskey writes: “There is no such thing as Gypsy music. From Basement Jaxx to Beirut to Gogol Bordello, bands are looking to the Bal-

kans for inspiration, but... is this a genuine new musical hybrid or just cultural tourism? ... Gypsy music has always been a hybrid, but for centuries the underdogs assimilated the music of the dominant society. Now they are the ones being assimilated” (2006). Are DJs and Gypsy Punk bands putting Romani musicians out of work? Are they being hired instead of Romani musicians? It is certainly cheaper to hire one DJ ora local punk band than to bring a band from the Balkans.

But DJs have argued with me on this very point. A few do invite guest Romani musicians. When I asked Ori Kaplan of Balkan Beat Box if he thought that remixes would take work away from Roma, he answered: Not at all. We are not competing in any way—we are augmenting the scene. Audiences have grown. The whole scene is expanding. Would a Swedish hip hop band take work away from Eminem? Not at all! We

in BBB are a completely different animal—we are Middle Eastern musicians. Would another band playing new Mediterranean music take work away from us? No, these bands would play an opening set for us—they help spread the word. We all spread the word, we tell audiences what albums to buy—Taraf, Ivo. I don't see the relevance of your question.

Kaplan views the market for Gypsy music as continuously growing, so everyone benefits. Similarly, Hutz says, “Does the bad reggae that’s out there prevent the good reggae from existing?” Shantel goes even further, suggesting that the current wave is helping Balkan musicians: “In southeastern Europe these bands are totally vanishing away. The success of this sound helps the younger generation of musicians in the Balkans to continue the tradition” (Lynskey 2006). Postulating that Romani music is dying, he claims that he is inspiring a new generation in the Balkans. I would counter that not only is Balkan Romani music alive, but its vitality doesn't depend on him! How do Roma feel about remixes? It is hard to ascertain their honest opinions because most are extremely practical and do not want to alienate possible “collaborators” from whom they may derive future revenues.*! Also note that artistic opinions may diverge from economic decisions. Feld similarly observes that third-world musicians want more exposure, sales, and “a greater cut of the action. If their perception is that the same process that is screwing them over is the process that is eventually going

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to give them a larger cut, then how do you tell them to take a smaller cut?” (1994:315). In New York, for example, Yuri Yunakov is on excellent terms with Ori Kaplan (his former student) and Eugene Hutz.” Eugene Hutz is sucha polarizing figure in the United States that Romani activists find him hard to dismiss, even while they criticize his stereotyp-

ical displays. They hope that perhaps his fame can be recruited for activism. His biography from the website of the New York Gypsy Festival asserts:

Eugene comes from mixed Russian-Ukrainian-Romany family, but it

is the Romany side that became his biggest inspiration. Love for Romany people and music also lead [sic] him to become a Romany rights activist. Hutz constantly works with his native Ukrainian organization Romany Jag (Gypsy fire) and is currently translating works of his friend Gypsy writer and philosopher Vladimir Bambula. “Only through exploring my relationship with Gypsy culture I understood my place in the world,” Hutz says. When Hutz expressed his desire to become more involved in activism to Sani Rifati of the NGO Voice of Roma, Rifati invited him to perform at the 2008 Romani Herdeljezi festival in California. Several members of VOR’s board of directors (especially the Romani members) were wary of this invitation, as they were of his biography. But Rifati paired him with Russian Romani guitarist Vadim Kolpakov rather than let him do his usual Gypsy Punk show. The event drew Gogol fans who would have never attended a Romani music festival; even so, Hutz’s antics were offensive to many VOR volunteers and audience members.” Cartwright “dismissed Gogol Bordello as a ‘fiddle-driven Sham 69,” and he reported that Fanfare Ciocarlia described Shantel’s remixes as “dogshit” (Lynskey 2006).** Cartwright wrote that several Bucharest Romani musicians shrug off remixes as “for the west” (2005b:210). He also wrote

that Henry Ernst (from Asphalt Tango) is “distrustful of most remix albums—Electric Gypsyland being an example of a less than satisfying attempt to turn Taraf de Haidouks and Koéani Orkestar into café muzak” Cartwright 2004:31). In 2007 Ernst told me: “Tn the last ten years Gypsies built up a lobby through their artistic merits . .. and the next logical step is that non-Gypsy musicians start to pay attention. ... Remixes are part of this observation and a result of the hungry music industry.” Remember that music is produced and copyrighted by a label, which decides whether to issue permission for remixing. The revenues go to the label, which may or may not have a revenue-sharing agreement with its artists. Asphalt Tango has clearly funneled profits to the musicians of Fanfare, but this is not the norm in the recording industry. As Feld writes, the music business is supported by three pillars: record companies, major contract artists who have control over their art, and musicians who “are laborers who sell their services for a direct fee and take the risk (with little expectation) that royalty percentages, spin off jobs, tours, and recording

Collaboration, Appropriation, and Transnational Flows —.287

contracts might follow from the exposure and success of records with enormous sales” (2000a:245). Another strand in the celebratory discourse of appropriators is the feelgood, peace-making “transcultural” aspect of the music. Bregovié, for example, sees himself as transcending the conflicts of the Balkans through Gypsy music. Shantel similarly views his dance club experience as bringing people together: “It’s only music, you know. It’s to make people happy, not to fight against each other” (Lynskey 2006). The liner notes to Bucovina Club 2 expound this ideal:

The incomparable atmosphere and energy is tangible when people who have never set eyes on each other before end up dancing the Hora together, when they crash the stage to dance the Cocek alongside the musicians or to get a shot of vodka from the DJ. The Bucovina Club transforms every venue into an extraterritorial zone creating

a dazzling euphoric event that transcends all generational and national boundaries. Ageism? No sign of it. Racism? No way. On the contrary: where else can you hear so many Gypsy sounds? How come Gypsy music is so popular with Shantel and his audience? The answer is simple: because it combines joy and sorrow so compellingly that only the most superficial or cold-hearted would fail to be swept along by it... . Tribes of émigré kids, Romanians, Serbians, Croats, Albanians, Ukrainians, and all those who know there is musical life beyond the increasingly cut-throat mainstream, gather here to celebrate their occasionally surrealistic boundary-crossing rituals, living out a sense

of togetherness. .. . Forget the pain, forget the misery; celebrate this day as though it were your last [Trouillet 2006].

I applaud how music and dance can bridge ethnicities, but I wonder how Trouillet (who heads Essay records) can think that racism has disappeared in Western Europe. Perhaps inside some of these clubs Western

Europeans and Eastern European immigrants dance together. But throughout Western Europe, there are other clubs where only émigrés gather. Furthermore, there are rarely any Romani patrons in remix clubs; not only can’t they afford them, but also they can't relate to the scene.* Many Roma in Western Europe have a precarious legal, political, economic, and social status as refugees or underemployed workers. As dis-

cussed in Chapter 1, Roma face racism and deportation in Western Europe, and I doubt that the popularity of Gypsy remixes affects this fact. A romantic fantasy of harmony, however, overlays the club scene. Among Americans, the fantasy element is especially prominent: Gypsies are associated with wildness and sexuality, and facts are scarce. Several

years ago, when Alex Dimitrov moved his legendary New York club Mehanata (the tavern), he proposed renaming it House of Gypsy; this title was accompanied by a website photograph of a non-Romani woman ina seductive pose on the stoop of the building. When he contacted me about writing a letter to support a liquor license for the new location, I told him

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that I was offended at his use of a sexual stereotype. Perhaps he dropped the name and image when I said that the community board might think the bar was a brothel. His request to me to write about the beneficial multicultural musical exchanges among immigrants that happen at the club put me in an awkward position. On the one hand, I objected to the stereo-

types, but on the other hand I knew the club provided employment to Roma, including Yuri Yunakov, Sal Mamudoski, and Seido Salifoski. After

talking with these musicians, I told Dimitrov about my objections and wrote the letter. In the end, the stereotypes bothered me more than they bothered the Roma musicians, a point I have analyzed throughout this book.

Borat and Beyond A huge public audience was exposed to Romani music via the recordbreaking movie Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glo-

rious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006; www.borat.com). Its soundtrack overwhelmingly features Balkan Romani music, with cuts from Esma RedZepova, Jony Iliev, Koéani Orkestar, Mahala Rai Banda, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Goran Bregovi¢é, and Ivo Papazov (with Maria Karafezieva). The

Atlantic soundtrack album and Borat songs on iTunes are selling quite well; and DJ Shantel created a Borat tour and promoted the movie in a video clip (www.essayrecordings.com/vid_mtvtrailer.htm). Why would Romani music appear in this film, and what effect has this exposure had on Romani musicians? The creation of British comedian Sasha Baron Cohen, Borat is a “mockumentary” about a Kazakh journalist documenting American life for the people in his Kazakh village. The film is a biting satire about Eastern Europe and the United States: both groups are portrayed as racists. But whereas Borat may be an equal opportunity offender, denigrating gays, Blacks, and Uzbeks, his specific targets are women, Jews, and Gypsies. Is

Borat defending these views? I would contend that he is not defending them but rather attributing them to most East Europeans and some Americans. Many Western audience members have found the sexist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic remarks offensive, but at least they have a counter

discourse readily available via vocal lobbies. On the other hand, most American audience members are ignorant about Roma; they have at best a vague sense of who Gypsies are, and that sense is shrouded in fantasy. Note that references to Gypsies in the film center around theft (Borat assumes that a woman running a garage sale is a Gypsy who stole all the items), magic (he seeks a “jar of Gypsy tears” for protection against AIDS, and he assumes a garage sale proprietor can cast spells and shrink Barbie dolls), and violence against Gypsies that seems like fun (he seeks a car that goes fast enough to kill them). These are stock stereotypes, and because there is little counter-information available it is possible audience members might believe them as well as laugh at them.

Collaboration, Appropriation, and Transnational Flows 289

One thing audiences won't notice is that, ironically, the Kazakh village depicted in the film is Glod, a Romani village in southern Romania. The primitiveness was staged (e.g., animals, such as cows, were brought inside homes), but the poverty and marginality were all too real. In fact, the villagers were outraged when they found out how the footage was used.*° Although this backstage controversy is invisible to audiences, the soundtrack attracted global and sustained attention. All the reviewers on Amazon, for example, comment that the tunes are East European Gypsy, and one states: “The Borat soundtrack sounds just as you'd expect—imagine Beirut, Balkan Beat Box and a bit of Gogol Bordello, all with Sacha Baron Cohen as the frontman. God help us” (ea_solinas January 31, 2007, www. amazon.com). Actually none of these artists are featured, but this comment shows that virtually all Gypsy music is now associated with those groups. The BBC reported:

The music from the film includes some of the most rollicking Balkan and gypsy music ever presented on such a wide scale to the American public. ... For those who don’t know much about Balkan or gypsy music, the soundtrack is an ideal tasting menu [Werman 2006].

Note that in the film, Gypsy music tends to be played when the scenes depict Kazakhstan, hence backwardness, illustrating the trope of Gypsy music as symbolic of the exotic other or the primitive marginal.*’ For example, the film opens with Esma RedZepova singing her signature song “Chaje Sukarije” (see Chapter 10), while the viewer absorbs scenes of the muddy “Kazakh” village. Esma was upset at this use of her song and was seriously considering suing Cohen. She claimed her recording label did not know about the intended use of the song when it gave permission. However, the film properly credits Esma and the label, Times Square Records/World Connection (2000). In fact, Esma’s album now proudly features an advertising sticker proclaiming “In Borat!” The problem for artists is the way the music industry structures permissions. Cohen needed to ask the label, not Esma, for permission. The label

may or may not inform the artist and may or may not pay her or him, depending on recording contracts; most do not give rights of distribution to artists. According to Esma, her Dutch managers negotiated the use of her song, and she was not consulted. She said she was angry, but royalties were paid. She decided not to sue perhaps because she did not have a case, but she received considerable compensation from World Connection. Contrary to Esma, however, Ivo Papazov did not complain about the use of his music, and Fanfare Ciocarlia’s members were paid extremely well, according to their managers/producers. Villagers from Glod attempted to sue Cohen but failed (see the documentary film Carmen Meets Borat). Fanfare’s role in the film was unusual in that the band was commissioned to perform a piece new to them. “Born to Be Wild,” whose chorus is sung in English, is a cover of the classic hit; it was hailed by the BBC as the “one standout number” (Werman 2006). According to the Asphalt Tango website: “Three months ago Hollywood knocked on our door and

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asked for an unmistakable Gypsy version of the Steppenwolf hit ‘Born To Be Wild’ to get the pictures of the film ‘Borat’ moving. So Fanfare Ciocarlia rushed into a studio and pepped up this ageless bikers’ hymne [sic] from the 70's in their very own style” (June 2006, www.asphalt-tango.de/news. html). Henry Ernst explained the process: “The band created their own adaption of Born To Be Wild after listening for two hours to the original

version. After two days rehearsal and final arrangements we went to a Berlin studio and we recorded the song. Afterwards we did some additional overdubs on tour (mostly in hotel rooms).” Fanfare was invited to perform at the film’s premiere in London, but the trip was cancelled.

According to Ernst, Fanfare members “were compensated on a high level.” In fact, a BBC report on the film’s music assumes that “with this soundtrack, the royalties will now flow in for these Romanian gypsy musicians. They'll have Borat to thank, even though the ethno-musical con-

nection between Romania and Kazakhstan is thin at best” (Werman 2006). Asphalt Tango had already funneled money into Fanfare’s small village. According to the documentary film Jag Bari: Brass on Fire (2001), the first Romani church in Romania was built with this money. Fanfare’s founder Ioan Ivancea readily admitted that “Henry Ernst’s arrival had...

saved Zeci Prajini and encouraged the younger generation to keep learning music” (Cartwright 2006b and 2005b:222). As opposed to Shantel’s inflated claims about saving Gypsy music (discussed earlier), Alphalt Tango is an example of non-Romani producers investing in the music and the musicians.

Concluding Remarks This book endeavors to combine several strands of inquiry: it analyzes the relationship of Balkan Romani music to Romani communities, to states,

and to capitalist markets. Transnationalism ties together these three strands: Romani communities are mobile, music is part of a pan-Romani political articulation of identity, and Romani music has entered world

music circuits. I have endeavored to confound the linear path that assumes music begins in bounded communities and is then changed by its use in state and market contexts. For Roma, the community is no longer,

and never was, a bounded site; there are no original singular Romani homelands, neither in India nor in the Balkans. Rather, Romani communities are open-ended, transnational, and diasporic, with nodes in multiple sites such as New York and Dusseldorf, as well as Sutka. Music in Sutka or Belmont, then, may be as transnational as Shantel’s remixes or even more so. Rather than looking at Romani communities as authentic

cites of original music, I show how they are the sites of negotiation between economic and artistic diasporic forces.

Romani communities in the Balkans and the diaspora are dynamic centers of musical creativity where multiple generations of musicians interact for a knowledgeable patron base. But we need to be careful not Collaboration, Appropriation, and Transnational Flows 291

to romanticize life in these communities. True, new waves of talent are developing, but the economic conditions are so dire that most musicians simply cannot make a living. Furthermore, the majority of Roma are not musicians, and their employment and life trajectories are even more precarious. When we hear of large weddings, we need to remember that families have saved for years for these events and they will sacrifice in the future because of their financial outlay. We should not judge the majority by the minority of famous artists who have steady incomes. Emerging styles and genres also need to be seen in the political context of the growing pan-Romani human rights movement, which addresses past forms of injustice as well as new ones. Most Roma in Europe today lead a precarious existence thanks to widespread discrimination in all walks of life and threats of violence, but a select few have become musical stars. The rising tide of xenophobia in both Eastern and Western Europe exists side by side with the craze for Gypsy music among non-Roma. How do these spheres affect each other? Whereas most activists are not directly involved with music, and most musicians are not directly involved in activism, more Roma are mediating the gap. In the Balkans and the diaspora, they include Dugan and Dragan Risti¢ of Kal, Sani Rifati of Voice of Roma, Esma RedZepova, Yuri Yunakov, and the organizers of Romani music festivals. Music has always been an area of pride, but it is now tied to identity politics and festivals. It is not surprising that musicians avoid the topics of history and discrimination; most non-Roma are fascinated by Gypsies precisely as “timeless”

performers. They want to see Gypsies sing and dance, period; and some think that music is the totality of their lives. Many admirers presume that poverty doesn't bother Gypsies because they have music; as KirshenblattGimblett points out, “Spectacle suppresses conflict” (1998:72; see Chapter 12). For centuries, the marketing discourse of Romani music has promised exoticism, sexuality, passion, wildness, and abandonment; and precisely because Roma are in a marginal position, they have often promoted these stereotypes. Roma construct themselves in response to how non-Roma have constructed Gypsiness. Roma have never been in charge of their own representational discourse and imagery, and as a result they use the discourse available: the stereotypes that sell.*° Thus sometimes they are mar-

keted as authentic, sometimes as hybrid, and sometimes as authentic hybrids.

Historically, hybridity has been used by nation/states to discredit Romani music; official institutions claimed that Romani music was not pure enough to enter the national canon. But in the contemporary fusion music market, Romani hybridity is lauded. For hundreds of years, Roma have trafficked in border styles; long before the emigrant waves of postsocialism, Balkan Romani music was hybrid. But the new musical developments since the 1990s cannot merely be subsumed under old paradigms. When the Bulgarian socialist state banned kyuchek in the 1980s, something novel happened: Romani music was reconfigured as an antisocialist countercultural phenomenon, playing and dancing kyuchek

292 Musicians in Transit

became political, and resistance emerged. After 1989, Bulgarian Romani music was reconfigured in relation to more commercial media ventures such as chalga. So what exactly is new since the 1990s? The rise in popularity of “world music” has opened up new possibilities for artists from every corner of the globe. Although this may sound like an inherently democratic move, in reality only a tiny fraction of Romani musicians benefit directly from the world music scene; most are ignored and the few that are picked up by Western production companies benefit less than their producers. Further-

more, their cultural capital may no longer be under their control. As I discussed in Chapter 3, world music thrives on marketing ethic and racial difference. Imre writes: “Global popular culture voraciously incorporates ethnic differences in the pursuit of selling and consuming non-stop entertainment. This process has two sides: it can be seen as liberating and democratic, empowering minorities whose voices would otherwise be missing

or stereotyped. At the same time, it implies the appropriation of such voices and images by corporate multiculturalism and its cultures of simu-

lation which re-trivializes racial difference on a commercial basis” (2006:661).

The transition from socialism to capitalism has opened up new arenas for expression and allowed the flowering of previously prohibited genres. At the same time, it has introduced contested forms of global appropriations. Whereas forty years ago, Hungarian Gypsy string bands stood for “Gypsy music in the minds of many Americans and Western Europeans, today Balkan brass has taken its place. Are Gypsies merely a prop in the global vocabulary of sound, or are they active players? Ironically, the more popular Gypsy music becomes, the more non-Roma become involved in it, with both positive and negative consequences. With remixes, Gypsy music has become a set of sounds remote from Roma and available to all for appropriation and sampling.*” Roma still operate primarily as musical providers to non-Romani patrons. The terms of commerce are very often out of their hands, and sometimes even artistic decisions are out of their hands. The global market is mediated by record companies, managers, festi-

vals, and clubs; these institutions and sites are all controlled by nonRoma.*? Only a handful of artists have achieved world acclaim, while equally talented performers languish for lack of international ties. The famous bands support whole villages or extended families back home, but their managers and producers inevitably profit. The majority of Romani performers have little chance for international fame, but this situation is

somewhat mitigated by a flourishing demand for quality musics in the Romani diaspora for in-group celebrations. In the parallel world of weddings, circumcisions, and baptisms, good musicians are in demand. The work is much harder, it may pay less, and is less stable. Some performers (Kristali, Cita, Amza) are very well paid; some are not. The contrast between these worlds is striking. In the international market, Roma perform for two hours at concerts, festivals, or clubs. Every detail, all the logistics (hotels, meals, transportation) are arranged by non-Romani Collaboration, Appropriation, and Transnational Flows 293

managers. All this may be coordinated with a recording contract (meaning loyalty to one label), a steady stream of new albums, media events, and classy websites. Tours are arranged many months in advance. The chance of becoming passé and out of fashion, however, is very real. In this category, musicians do give up some autonomy for steady income. But few see it as a burden. For the most part, they are extremely grateful to non-Romani entrepreneurs for rescuing them from poverty.

By contrast, in the Romani world performers act as their own agents and have artistic independence but no financial stability. And because Romani audiences value novelty and are so discerning, there is herce competition, which keeps the quality extremely high. Famous artists get hired,

but for every famous artist there are hundreds of struggling musicians. Some performers, such as Yuri Yunakov, straddle these two worlds: they play Romani weddings and also have international reputations among non-Roma. There are also artists who no longer perform for the in-group world of weddings but rather rely on international work, such as Taraf de Haidouks; however, a few artists in this category, such as Ivo Papazov and

Esma Redzepova, have sometimes lacked stable Western management and recording contacts. It is clear that the contemporary Balkan Romani music scene should not be judged only by the international stars and their appearances of success. Neither should we ignore the tremendous impact the stars are making. The life histories of the mature stars remind us that they all emerged from communities (whether in Macedonia, New York, or Western Europe) where music is a vibrant part of life; furthermore, emerging new stars must pass the test of rigorous community standards. But these communities are not just places of ecstatic music making; in Europe they are sites of critical neglect and targets of discrimination, and in the United States they are the sites of social challenges. The arena of “world music” is not particularly relevant for many Roma, but for the successful musicians

it is quite pertinent. The future could open up more possibilities for Romani musicians, or else Gypsy music could go out of style in dance clubs. Regarding the craze for remixes, Lynskey states: “Anyway, in the long history of Gypsy music this is just a blip. The music is strong enough to survive any number of reinterpretations” (2006). I hope and believe he is correct. Although Roma have sometimes been pictured as traditional, conservative, backward, and generally outside the framework of the modern, they are quintessentially cosmopolitan. Romani musicians embrace hybridity and eclecticism as a cultural resource, and thus they reveal to us a great deal about survival and cultural negotiation.

294 Musicians in Transit

Notes

Chapter I 1. In this book, I use Gypsy as an outsider term, although I acknowledge that it is sometimes used as an insider term. Along with its cognates Gitan (French), Gitano (Spanish), Yiftos (Greek), and Gjupci (Macedonian, plural), Gypsy connotes faulty history, i.e., Egyptian origins, and usually has strong negative connotations. Some groups, however, willingly embrace the term, e.g., the Gitanos in Spain (Gay y Blasco 2002:174—-175) and the Egjupkjani in Macedonia and Kosovo (Marushiakova et al. 2001; V. Friedman 2005). Another common outsider term, Tsigan (and its cognates such as the German Zigeuner, Italian Zingaro, Turkish Cingene), derives from the Greek atsingani, a heretical sect in the Byzantine period (Soulis 1961:145). I use Roma as an umbrella ethnonym (singular Rom, adjective Romani) because it emerged as a unifying term in the last two decades, as political consciousness has been mobilized through political parties, conferences, and congresses (Petrova 2003:111-112). Note, however, that some groups, such as the Sinti in Germany, the Rudari and Beyashi in Hungary, the Ashkalia and Egjupkjani of Kosovo, and the Gypsies and Travelers of England and Scotland, distinguish themselves from Roma (Petrova 2003:111-112; Hancock 2002:34; Marushiakova 1992; Marushiakova et al. 2001). See Chapter 3 for a discussion of identity issues. 2. For example, see recent articles in Time and Newsweek magazines (Purvis 2002; Brownell and Hag 2007; Bax 2007). 3. The literature on folklore and performance is vast; overviews include

Bauman and Briggs 1990; Fine 1984; Kapchan 1996a and b and 2007, Bendix 1997. Performance has also been discussed from the point of view of theater; see Schechner 2006 and Diamond 1996. Anthropologists Victor

Turner (Turner and Bruner 1986) and Clifford Geertz (1973 and 1983) highlight the dramatic, performative quality of ritual. 4. Kapchan writes: “It has been the task of performance studies to understand what constitutes the differences between habitual practices and heightened performance, and how and why these differences function in society’ (1996a:279).

5. Butler’s notion of citationality derives from Derrida. Butler underscores the subversive potential that questions original identities: “The notion of gender parody... does not assume that there is an original which such parodic identities imitate. Indeed the parody is of the very notion of an original” (1990:138). See Chapter 9 for discussion of Bulgarian pop/ folk star Azis’s use of gender transgression in relation to Butler's theories.

295

6. The literature on blackface and minstrelsy is useful here (see Lott 1993).

7. Kapchan, for example, chronicles the transformation of Moroccan sacred Gnawa in world music markets, noting “how these changes spiral back to the local context and affect transformation there” (2007:235). 8. Herzfeld points out that the state is a prime reference point in postsocialist ethnography (2000). His work on “cultural intimacy” shows the subtle ways in which the state achieves rapport with citizens despite authoritarian regulations (1997). 9. For reportage on anti-Muslim, anti-immigration, anti-Semitic, and anti-Romani sentiments Europe, see Stracansky 2009; BBC 2008; Moore 2008; Donadio 2008; Kimmelman 2008a and b; Kulish 2007 and 2008; Sciolino 2007a and b; Sciolino and Bernard 2007; Erlanger 2008; Minchik 2007, Castle-Kanerova 2001; McCann 2007; Waringo 2004; Ghodsee 2008; on French deportations, see www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=3619; on Danish deportations, www.errc.org/cikk.php?cikk=3603; and on German deportations, http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,6197201,00.html. 10. Because of space limitations, I do not focus on Serbia, Greece, and Albania. My specific focus on Macedonia and Bulgaria is a result of my historical and practical choices in fieldwork; see Silverman 2000c. The literature includes documentation of South Serbian Romani brass bands (Lovas 2003; Babié 2003 and 2004; Hedges 1996), Serbian Romani music from Vojvodina (Van de Port 1998 and 1999), Kosovo Romani music (Pettan 1996a, 1996b, and 1996c, 2001, 2002, 2003), Greek Romani music (Blau, Keil, Keil, and Feld 2002; Brand! 1996; Theodosiou 2003), and Romanian Romani music (Radulescu 2004; Beissinger 1991, 2001, 2005, and 2007; Malvinni 2003 and 2004; Marian-Balasa 2002 and 2004; Szeman 2009). See Cartwright 2005b for a personal journalistic portrait of Balkan Romani musicians. 11. See Saul and Tebutt 2004. The cultural studies journal Third Text devoted a recent issue to interdisciplinary approaches to representations of Roma; see Imre 2008; Gay y Blasco 2008; Iordanova 2008; Hasdeu 2008. 12. There is an emerging field of genetic studies of Romani origins; see Kalaydjieva, Gresham, and Calafell 2005; Iovita and Schurr 2004.

13. The four major Romani dialects are Vlax, Balkan, Central, and Northern (Matras 2005:8); the word Vlach refers to Roma who lived in the southern Romanian principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia during the period of slavery (1300s to 1860s); see Fraser 1992 and Hancock 2002. 14. According to Fraser (1992) and Hancock (2002), nomadism was more prevalent in Western Europe than in Eastern Europe owing to regulations preventing settlement in the west. The binary division between nomadic Roma and settled Roma is somewhat artificial and is in fact partially an artifact of the scholarly disciplines that have studied Roma (Van de Port 1998). Whereas much of the literature contrasts nomadic

eroups, such as the Olah in Hungary, with sedentary groups such as Romungre, the on-the-ground situation was and is more fluid (Stewart 1997). The Roma discussed in this book from Macedonia and Bulgaria are all sedentary.

15. For similar reasons, other Balkan peoples such as Bulgarian Pomaks, Macedonian TorbeSi, and a significant number of Albanians and Bosnians converted to Islam; see Hupchik 1994.

16. Pentecostalism among Roma has been documented by several scholars, including Gay y Blasco 1999 and Lange 2003.

296 _— Notes to pages 5—9

17. For example, one Romani man born in 1930 in Skopje, Macedonia, spoke Turkish, Romani, Macedonian, Serbian, and Albanian (also see Lindemyer and Ramadonov 2004 for linguistic profiles of Bitola Roma). See Ellis 2003 for the fluidity of languages and identities of Skopje urban Muslims. See Victor Friedman's work (1995, 1999, 2005) for a thorough analysis of Balkan language interaction. 18. Todorova, discussing whether the Balkans are orientalized in ref-

erence to the rest of Europe, points out that we are not dealing with a colonial situation (1997); nevertheless, the Balkans are posed as “other” to Europe, and Roma are posed as “other” to the Balkans (also see Neuburger 2004). Ken Lee specifically extends Said’s argument to Gypsies:

“Whilst Orientalism is the discursive construction of the exotic Other outside Europe, Gypsylorism is the construction of the exotic Other within Europe—Romanies are the Orientals within” (2000:132). 19. The term narodi (nations) applied to the constituent peoples of Yueoslavia, those who were not a majority anywhere outside Yugoslavia: Serbs, Croats, Slovenians, Montenegrins, Bosnians (Muslims), and Mace-

donians. Nardonosti (nationalities) applied to those who were national minorities, i.e., they were majority populations outside Yugoslavia: Albanians, Turks, Hungarians, and others. Etniéeski grupi (ethnic groups) were eroups of distinctive people who had no nation/state outside of Yugoslavia, such as Roma. Privileges differed by category; for example, all of the narodnosti but not the etniéeski grupi had the right to education in their

native language; funding for the arts was also better for narodnosti (K. Brown 2000:137). Despite this schema, separatist ethnic ideologies were not tolerated in Yugoslavia; to the contrary, they were severely punished.

20. Petrovski, an Eastern Orthodox Rom from Skopje, received his Ph.D. in folklore in Belgrade and is employed by the Folklore Institute in Skopje. He has a number of publications (mostly collections) on Macedonian Romani customs and songs (1982, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2009) and has also been active in NGOs. Because money for publishing is so scarce Petrovski has secured funding for his books through Romani NGOs. 21. For detailed information on these topics, see Silverman 1995a, the World Bank Reports by Ringold 2000; Ringold, Orenstein, and Wilkins 2004; and Revenga, Ringold and Tracy 2002; and various issues of Roma Rights, the journal of the European Roma Rights Centre (www.errc.org). The center submitted this statement to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: “Roma remain to date the most persecuted people of Europe. Almost everywhere, their fundamental human rights are threatened. Disturbing cases of racist violence targeting Roma have occurred in recent years. Discrimination against Roma in employment, education, health care, and administrative and other services is common in many societies. Hate speech against Roma, also prevalent, deepens the negative stereotypes which pervade European public opinion” (ERRC 2002:5).

22. The twelve signatories are Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Albania, Bosnia and Hercegovina, and Spain; see www.romadecade.org. 23. The Macedonian census of 2002 listed 52,000 Roma, but scholars agree the actual number is much higher (Plaut and Memedova 2005:16; Petrovski 2009). Almost all Macedonian Roma are currently sedentary. See Chapter 8 for an overview of the legal and cultural status of Roma in Yugoslavia.

Notes to pages 9-1] 297

24. The oldest Romani party, the Party for the Complete Emancipation of Roma of Macedonia (PCER), led by Faik Abdi, was represented in parliament from 1990 to 1998; the Union of Roma, led by Amdi Bajram, was represented in parliament from 1998 to 2000; the Democratic Progressive

Party of Roma is led by Bekir Arif; and the fourth is the United Party of Roma in Macedonia (see Plaut and Memedova 2005; and V. Friedman 1999). These Romani parties and NGOs have little effect on the larger political landscape. Strategically, they are neutral with regard to the main conflict of the nation: the ethnic tension between Macedonians and Albanians. An important Romani leader is Nezdet Mustafa; in 1992 he helped establish Bijandipe (News), the Romani television program on the Macedonian national channel. He was the first general secretary of PCER and the leader of the United Party of Roma; he served in parliament 2006-2008, was elected mayor of Sutka in 1996 (when it became a municipality), and now serves in the national government as minister without portfolio for the Decade of Romani Inclusion. 25. The 2001 Bulgarian census officially listed only 371,000 (Rechel 2008:79 and 82; Pamporovo 2009). Roma affiliate with several major parties, including the Bulgarian Socialist Party, the United Democratic Front, and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF, the so-called Turkish party), which was already in existence at the time the ban was enacted; there have been only a few Romani representatives in government since 1989. 26. See Monitoring the EU Accession Process 2002. See also European Union 2003. 27. See http://www.sofhlaecho.com/2009/02/25/681499_us-report-high

lights-human-rights-problems-in-bulgaria, accessed June 19, 2011. 28. See http://bsanna-news.ukrinform.ua/newsitem.php?id=12811&;lang= en, accessed June 19, 2011.

29. See http:/Awww.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=109779, accessed June 19, 2011

30. When Bulgaria joined the European Union in 2007, Ataka found allies in the European parliament. It joined forces with Western European xenophobic and anti-immigrant parties (such as the National Front in France) to establish the European Union platform “Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty,’ which defends “Christian values” and the “national identities of the countries.” The platform has received €1 million because it has a sufficient number of members of parliament. In the 2009 European Parliament elections, Ataka won two of Bulgaria’s seventeen seats.

31. Marushiakova et al. (2001) estimate that the pre-1999 war population of Roma in Kosovo was 120,000—-150,000, and that only 30,00035,000 remain; today there are far fewer. For accounts of Kosovo Roma, also see the website of Voice of Roma (www.vor.org), and European Roma Rights Centre reports at http:/Awww.errc.oreg/cikk.php?cikk=2271. 32. See Castle-Kanerova 2001 and Graff 2002. Mark Landler’s New York

Times article (2004:4), for example, reported the hysteria of Germans in reference to the “human tidal wave” of incoming Roma. In January 2007 the Los Angeles Times published an article titled “EU’s Ugly Little Challenge,” which claimed that for many Western Europeans inclusion of Romania and Bulgaria in the EU “spells the inclusion of 3 million potential problems: yet more Gypsies. .. . Yet European newspaper editors are stumped by how they should address the largest minority on the continent. Town mayors all over Eastern Europe often avoid the term altogether and talk instead of ‘whitening out’ their inner cities” (McCann 2007).

298 Notes to pages 1 1—13

33. I approximate that there are several hundred Macedonian Romani families in New York, numbering several thousand Roma, with half of them living in Belmont. In the last decade, more families have purchased private homes in the Pelham Parkway neighborhood. There are also a few families in the Philadelphia area and Roma from Struga in the Waterbury, Connecticut, area. Some Macedonian Roma reside in St Louis among a larger group of Bosnian Roma: http://stlouis.missouri.org/501c¢/gitana/ roma.htm accessed June 15, 2010. 34. Macedonian Roma may be considered post-1965 “new immigrants” to New York, according to Foner 2001 and 2005. 35. See Lucassen 2005:143-150 for discussion of the German policy of recruiting Turkish guest workers. 36. The literature about roles and ethics in ethnographic fieldwork is vast; see Jackson 1987; Fluehr-Loban 2003; Lassiter 2005; Wolf 1996. For a discussion of fieldwork dilemmas in socialist and postsocialist states, see De Soto and Dudwick 2000.

37. This issue has been raised in the debates over representation in Marcus and Fischer 1986; Clifford 2004; Smith 1999; for the issue in terms of Roma, see Hancock 1997 and 2002; and Helbig 2007 and 2009. 38. My Balkan Romani fieldwork experiences until 1998 are reflexively analyzed in Silverman 2000c and 2008a; Silverman 1996c deals with fieldwork with American Kalderash. 39. The government policy of Bulgarization intended to turn all minorities into proper socialists. The policy began in the 1970s with the Pomaks

and Roma and was extended in 1984-85 to the ethnic Turks, attracting international attention; see Poulton 1991. Chapter 7 discusses this policy in relation to Romani music and culture. 40. In the narrative of this book, all names are pseudonyms unless persons involved are well-known musicians.

Chapter 2 1. One of the earliest written sources about Balkan Romani music is found in the fifteenth-century archives of Dubrovnik (Gojkovié 1986:190). 2. For recent scholarly literature on East European and Balkan Romani music, see Seeman 1990a and 1990b (also see Seeman 2000, 2002, and 2007 for Turkish Thrace); Petrovski 2002; Kovalscik 1985, 1987; Sarosi 1978; Kertesz-Wilkinson 1992; Lange 1997a, 1997b, 1999, 2003; M. Stewart 1989, 1997; Dimov 2001; Peycheva 1993, 1994a, 1994b, 1994c, 1995, 1998, 1999a, 1999b, 2008a, 2008b, 2008c, 2009; Peycheva and Dimov 1994, 2002, 2005; Beckerman 2001; Van de Port 1998, 1999; Gojkovié 1986; Vukanovié 1962, 1963, 1983; Pettan 1992, 1996a, 1996b, 1996c, 2001, 2002, 2003; Jakoski 1981; Blau, Keil, Keil, and Feld 2002; Brandl 1996; Radulescu 2004; Beissinger 1991, 2001, 2005, 2007; Malvinni 2003 and 2004; Helbig 2005, 2007, 2009; Rasmussen 1991, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2007; Marian-Balasa 2002, 2004; and the bibliographies in Silverman 2000b and Kertesz-Wilkinson 2001. 3. Reprinted in Djordjevié 1984:38-39, cited in Pettan 2002:223. 4. In 1859 Franz Liszt claimed that what was called “Gypsy music” was in fact created by Roma, not Hungarians. Hungarians were, then, merely patrons for the Romani genius. Liszt wrote: “Hungarian songs as they are to be found in our villages .. ., being modest and imperfect, cannot command such respect as to be generally honored . . ., whereas the

Notes to pages 14-22-2299

instrumental music as it is performed and spread by Gypsy orchestras, is capable of competition with anything in the sublimity and daring of its emotion, as in the perfection of its form, and, we might say, the fineness of its development” (quoted in Sarosi 1978:142). Critics, most notably Bartok, countered, “What people (including Hungarians) call ‘Gypsy music’ is not Gypsy music but Hungarian music; it is not old folk music but a fairly recent type of Hungarian popular art music composed, practically without exception, by Hungarians of the upper middle class. But while a Hungarian gentleman may compose music, it is traditionally unbecoming to his social status to perform it ‘for money—only Gypsies are supposed to do that” (1931[1976]:206).

Liszt erringly dismissed the rich Hungarian rural peasant repertoire (which was collected a half-century later), romanticized about eastern survivals among Roma, and defended Roma as creative interpreters of urban songs. The opposite camp reproached Roma for inhibiting development of Hungarian creativity. For example, Spur wrote that Romani music “dammed the source of the far more valuable national folk song, and caused it to remain hidden in the isolated life of the village. .. . Such critics, the followers of Bartok and Kodaly, turn off their radio set whenever a Gypsy orchestra is playing” (1947:130). 5. Note that there are female exceptions; see Chapter 10.

6. One common pitfall is attributing Indian scales to Roma with little documentation to substantiate the claim. Some scholars assert that the Romani scale is the Bhairava scale, which they define as “a 12-note Oriental chromatic scale” (see Ackovié 1989 and Fonseca 1995:106, the latter citing Hancock). On the contrary, the Bhairava rag (a hicaz pattern from the first degree repeated from the fifth degree) is not common in Romani music. In addition, Hancock (2002:72, as well as Fonseca 1995) attributes stick dancing among Roma in Hungary to the Romani migration from India. However, neither author accounts for the widespread performance of stick dancing among non-Roma in other locations (e.g., England and South Africa). Finally, Fonseca and Hancock attribute the vocal performance of rhythmic syllabics found in Hungary among Roma to Indian origins; again, this genre is also performed by non-Roma in Scotland and other locations. Indeed, it is difficult to attribute these far-flung musical styles and genres to Romani origins. These authors stretch musical interpretations to strengthen Indian ties (see Chapter 3). See below for further discussion of so-called Gypsy scales. 7. Bulgarian ethnomusicologist Vergilii Atanasov voiced this opinion to me and other colleagues (Buchanan 2006:266). 8. Although I do not discuss Serbian brass bands in this book, in Chapter 13 I do mention that in world music marketing Balkan music is often

assumed to be synonymous with Romani brass band music; I am now researching this issue. See Babié 2003 and 2004 and Hedges 1996 for historical information. 9. For example, in Chapter 7 I discuss the fact that Bulgarian wedding musicians play for Bulgarians, Turks, Pomaks, and Roma. In Chapter 11 I illustrate this point with the life history of the Bulgarian wedding musician Yuri Yunakov, who added performing for Armenians, Albanians, and Macedonian Roma to the those groups when he emigrated to New

York. Many other musicians, including non-Roma, can illustrate this principle. 10. For example, when Ivo Papazov (see Chapter 7) incorporated the theme from the movie The Pink Panther into his kyuchek “Pinko” in the

300 = Notes to pages 22—26

late 1970s, fellow musicians admired not only his whimsicality but also his skillful execution. (Pinko was recently rerecorded on Papazov's 2008 album Song of the Falcon. Kyuchek is discussed in the next section of this chapter.) Similarly, Boban Markovié¢ incorporated a theme from Mozart's Symphony No. 40 into his “Mundo Coéek,” and Fanfare Ciocarlia released “007” on its 2005 CD Gili Garabdi (Hidden Songs), based on the theme from James Bond; this album includes a version of Duke Ellington's jazz classic “Caravan.” (Although the liner notes for the CD claim thousands of former Romani slaves fled Romania for the American south, living in mostly black neighborhoods, the tie between jazz and Romani music is at best hypothetical.) Bulgarian wedding musician Ivan Milev is known for his quotes from

classical and popular music; for example, his 2006 CD has quotes from Mozczart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik and several genres of American popular music. A game that some wedding musicians play in jam sessions is to take

a piece of classical or popular music (such as “Fir Elise”) and convert it into a kyuchek or a Bulgarian dance rhythm such as a rtichenitsa. 11. Activist Mihail Georgiev of the Romani Baht (Romani Luck) Foundation was the organizer of the CD project. When he visited my home in 1994, he expressed interest in my commercial recordings of Romani music from the 1950s and 1960s, and I later gave him copies. He graciously thanked me in the CD notes. 12. “The Gypsy scale” has been defined by Central European writers as a scalar pattern with augmented seconds between the third and fourth degrees and sixth and seventh degrees. This scale is found in early verbunkos (a Hungarian recruiting dance) and is not common in the Balkans (Silverman 2000b). Another common mistake is to attribute Indian scales to Roma; see note 6 above. 13. The word mane refers to the Turkish and Greek vocal genre amanes, a free-rhythm vocal improvisation using makams where the singer vocalizes on the word aman, a pan-Balkan expression of emotion. 14. According to Seeman, the 9/8 Roman oyun havasi rhythm became emblematic of Romani communities through Turkish marketing strategies of the 1960s (2002:276, 2007). Seeman discusses the types of 9/8 in 2002:278-279. Video example 5.12 shows a line dance in 9/8. 15. The tune is taken from a well-known kyuchek, “Leski Karuchka” (His Cart), and the text claims Barack Obama as “one of us”: “You are so cool, you're

from our tribe. Dark-skinned brother, you're our cousin.” See www.youtube. com/watch?v=OXveis02xwk, accessed February 15, 2009. Victor Friedman reminded me of a similar connection to African Americans when Muharem Serbezovski wrote a song in praise of Muhammad Ali several decades ago.

16. Patrons in one region often do not like the styles from another region. Papazov, for example, told me that he sometimes had a hard time pleasing north Bulgarian patrons. 17. Currently Serbian singers such as Mile Kiti¢é, Saban Saulic, Dragana Mirkovié, and Marina Zivkovié are the source of many Bulgarian and Macedonian Romani songs. A website with a partial list of Balkan covers is www.bepopfolk.free. fr.

18. In Chapter 6, I discuss the gendered dimensions of beauty contests. In 2008 the first festival of brass music was organized in Kumanovo. 19, Elsie Dunin, personal communication; also see Dunin 1997. 20. In 2002, Lolov was honored with an anniversary concert produced for Bulgarian National Television. Attention to Romani music is rare on national television, but Lolov regularly played Bulgarian as well as Romani

Notes to pages 26-33 = 501

music, so he retained his reputation during socialism. Todor Kolev (a famous actor) hosted the event; classical and ethnic Bulgarian clarinetist Petko Radev spoke; Pettr Ralchev (wedding music accordionist) performed with ttipan accompaniment; and many other guests lauded Lolov’s musical contributions. For a discussion of Lolov’s life, see Peycheva 1999a and 2008.

21. See Chapter 7 for discussion of prohibitions during socialism, and how Roma sometimes resisted them. See Chapter 8 for an examination of the Stara Zagora festival. Peycheva refers to this period as the “media emancipation” of Roma (1995:13).

22. During this time, Romani song titles on album covers were routinely mangled by these Bulgarian-run record companies; Nikolai Girdevs song “So GreSingjom” (What Did I Do Wrong?), which has the chorus Da li Panda Roveja (Do you still cry), was translated into Bulgarian as “Golyamata Panda” (The Large Panda; also see Peycheva 1995). For a discussion of piracy and the mafia, see Dimov 2001 and Kurkela 1997. 23. Many tavernas with Greek music opened in the early 1990s in Bulgaria. Kalin Kirilov reported that many of his fellow student tambura players in the Plovdiv Academy switched to bouzouki to find work; but since the hand position is so different for bouzouki, some of them had a hard time switching back to tambura to pass their examinations. See Chapter 8. 24. Using Hungarian examples, Aniké Imre discusses how Roma use rap to create a modern Romani sensibility and to enter the pop market. Furthermore, the representational tropes of rap tend to reinforce a ghetto image that may promote stereotypes (2006, 2008). She writes: “The most radical way in which global entertainment culture has mediated the postsocialist situation of Romany minorities in eastern Europe is by turning

the ghetto, the place of the urban underclass, the very site of Romani segregation, into the site of profitable entertainment” (2006:663). Using the term Ludic Ghetto, Imre notes that some rappers in Hungary and the Czech Republic artfully play with stereotypes while criticizing racism (2006:664). Note that the Czech Romani rap band Gipsy.cz represented the Czech Republic at Eurovision in 2009 (see Chapter 8). 25. I would like to thank Sani Rifati and Re¢ko Ismail for insights into tel o vas. The oldest talava songs were sung in Albanian or Romani. 26. See the websites of the European Roma Rights Centre (www.errc. org) and Voice of Roma (www.vor.org) for more information about the displacement of Kosovo Roma as refugees in the aftermath of the Yugeoslav wars and the plight of Roma who live in Kosovo. DZansever and Cita improvise talava in Dusseldorf for Kosovo Roma, see: www.youtube. com/watch?v=NssFw766sJO&;feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL accessed January 1, 2011.

27 See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTFn3S-lvIA, accessed December 15, 2010.

Chapter 3 1. There is, however, significant literature on the African diaspora in music, including Gilroy 1993 and Garofalo 1994; the Caribbean musical diaspora has been documented by Ramnarine 2007a. 2. Pnina Werbner, drawing on Brah (1996), writes: “Conventionally, diasporas derive their imaginative unity from time-space chronotypes of shared genesis, homelands, sacred centers and cataclysmic events of

302. Notes to pages 33—39

suffering (dispersion, genocide, slavery)” (2002b:11). These “homings” (Brah 1996) are articulated through commemorations and utopian visions. Thus ideologies of a shared past and a common destiny link diaspora communities (Werbner 2002b:11). 3. For example, Lemon demonstrates the patriotism of Russian Roma (2000), Theodosiou discusses the sense of local belonging of Epirot Greek Roma (2003), and Gay y Blasco emphasizes the Spanish emplacement of Gitanos (2002). Contrary to Safran, many Roma believe they are or will be accepted by their “host countries.” See Toninato 2009 for a discussion of the tension between grassroots, scholarly and activist approaches to diaspora. 4. Caroline Brettel reminds us that “anthropologists have worked at both ends of the migration process, beginning in the country of origin and asking what prompts individuals to leave particular communities, and

then what happens to them in their place of destination, including if and how they remain connected to their places of origin” (2003:1; see specific family trajectories in Chapters 4 and 5). 5. “Because of the fact that the very phenomenon of diaspora has produced a multiplicity of Chinese cultures, the affirmation of Chineseness may be sustained only through recourse to a common origin or descent that persists in spite of widely different historical trajectories, which results in the elevation of ethnicity and race over all of the other factors— often divisive-- that have gone into the shaping of Chinese populations and their cultures. Diasporic identity in its reification does not overcome

the racial prejudices of earlier assumptions of national cultural homogeneity but in many ways follows a similar logic, now at the level not of nations but of off-ground ‘transnations” (Dirlik 2002:97).

6. Basch, Glick Schiller, and Blanc (1997) and others have distineuished among (1) transnational cultural studies that focus on the growth of global communications, media, consumerism, and public cultures; (2) globalization, which focuses on recent configurations of space such as the erowth of global cities; and (3) transnational migration studies that examine the actual social interactions migrants construct across borders. My work focuses on the third area. Another useful term is “transborder,” coined by Lynn Stephen (2007) to articulate processes on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border. 7. In 1964 Milton Gordon wrote: “The individual who engages in [requent and sustained primary contacts across ethnic group lines, particularly racial and religious, runs the risk of becoming what, in standard sociological parlance, has been called ‘the marginal man” (56). 8. According to Werbner (2002b:120): “The powerful attraction of diasporas for postcolonial theorists has been that, as transnational social formations, diasporas challenge the hegemony and the boundedness of the nation-state, and indeed, of any pure imaginaries of nationhood.” 9. Jonathan Friedman similarly writes: “Hybridity is founded on the myth of purity” (1997:82-83). 10. Dirlik writes of the danger in postcolonial and postmodern writings of focusing on identity at the expense of power. These writings focus on language as a discursive marker for registering and reaffirming difference, but they often fail to address broader networks of domination and exploitation (2000:188). 11. See Marushiakova et al. 2001 for a discussion of why Egjupkjani and Ashkalia in Kosovo do not employ the label Roma. See Gay y Blasco 2002

Notes to pages 39-44. = 303

for a discussion of Gitanos and their identity labels in reference to religious mobilization. See Okely 1997 for a discussion of the politics of labels in the United Kingdom. Today, activists try to recruit all these groups into the Romani human rights movement; see Boscoboinik 2006. 12. Another excellent overview of postcolonial theory in relation to music is found in Born and Hesmondhalgh 2000.

13. Mirga and Gheorghe contrast a transnational minority that seeks rights within a nation/state framework to a transnational minority that seeks rights on a wider, i.e., European scale (1997). Some Romani groups, such as the Sinti of Germany, see themselves as a legitimate historic German minority; they reject the label Roma.

14. The International Romani Union (IRU) is a pan-Romani political organization that has sponsored congresses every few years since 1971 (see Acton and Klimova 2001; Klimova-Alexander 2005, and Barany 2002). Its legitimacy has been called into question by some Romani leaders. Since 2004 the European Roma and Travellers Forum (associated with the Council of Europe; www.ertf.org) has gained a respected place in Romani politics. 15. The few scholars who contest the Indian origin of Roma are often treated as traitors by activists. For example, Judith Okely (1983) and Leo Lucassen, Wim Willems, and Anna Marie Cottar (1998) suggest Gypsies might have an indigenous tie to Western Europe. Okely’s historical claims are much more tentative than Lucassen; nevertheless she has been vilified by Romani and non-Romani activists (Okely 1997). From the point of view

of linguistics, there is no question that Romani is an Indic language that separated from the rest of Indic at some point during the Middle Indic period and therefore indisputably arrived in Europe from India (Victor Friedman, personal communication). 16. Indian names were also popular in the 1970s among non-Roma. According to Garth Cartwright, Bosnian singer Indira Radics father (a communist party member) named her deliberately after a strong Indian woman (personal communication). Indian music was also popular in Greece in the 1970s. Greek covers were released of songs from Hindi films; see Abadzi and Tasoulas 1998. In the 1990s the Bulgarian Romani band Kristal released Maika India (Mother India [Bulgarian]), and the wedding band Orfei released Mafia ot India (Mafia from India [Bulgarian]. Bulgarian chalga singers Sofi Marinova and Azis have also used Indian motifs; see Chapter 9. 17. Serbezovski’s disk (RTB EP 16 306) cites the tune as “Indijska Narodna” (Indian folk; Serbian; arranged by B. Milivojevic). Slobodan Ili¢ probably made the first recording; for an Ilié remake with the older vocals, see www. youtube.com/watch?v=2lqKhplhPNk, accessed October 20, 2009. Ethnomusicologist Jane Sugarman tried in vain to find the original tune, supposedly from the film Dosti (Hindi, friend, released with the English title The Blind and the Lame). She and Svanibor Pettan concurred that B. Milivojevi¢ wrote the song from the general sound of the Indian film score, with lyrics based on the plot of the film (Pettan 2002:240; East European Folklife Center listserv, November 29, 1997). The film is the story of two poor boys, one lame, one blind. Ramo Ramo continues to be covered, including Sasho Roman's “Oy Sashko” in Bulgarian and Keba’s (Dragan Kojié) “Tdem Idem Duso Moja” (I’m going, my dear; Serbian, 2004). 18. Serbezovski's velvety vocal style captured audiences all over Yugoslavia. He was one of the first Yugoslav singers to adopt the practice of

504. ~=— Notes to pages 44—49

making song “covers,” for example taking the Turkish song “Allah Allah” and recording it in Serbian as “Boze Boze” (God, God; in both languages). He currently lives in Germany and has become a writer; his early life history was published in German (Serbezovski 1995, originally Sareni Diamanti [Colorful Diamonds], Sarajevo 1983). In 1997, he performed at a New Year's party for the New York Macedonian Romani community (see Chapter 5, photograph 5.22 and video examples 3.1 and 5.47), and in 2007 he performed in Bulgaria. His songs are still loved by the older generation from Macedonia and Serbia. 19. The 1970s recording opens with a dazzling unaccompanied clarinet solo by Medo Cun (see Chapter 2 for his family’s history and other performances in video examples 10.3, 10.5, and 10.6), and the accompaniment is arhythmic pattern that Balkan Roma associate with India (number 3 in Figure 2.1, discussed in Chapter 2). For Balkan Roma, pentatonic scales have come to symbolically represent India, perhaps because there seems to be a significant amount of pentatonicism in Indian film music. In Ramayana the scale is minor and five degrees of the scale are emphasized: 1, 3, 4, 5, and 7. In other pieces titled “Indiiski” (Indian), major and mixolydian (major with a lowered seventh degree) scales predominate, often with a pentatonic framework. 20. It has a 4/4 slow rhythm, number 5 in Figure 2.1, and is in the phrygian mode. Many other versions have been released. 21. Gelbart’s version is from the German CD set L’Epopee Tzigane/Road of the Gypsies, (Network 24756, 1996). A similar version is referred to as “the canonical text” of the International Romani Union by Marushiakova and Popov (1995 2:13-14, 20). 22. Serbian and Macedonian versions include “Pilem Pilem” (I drank and drank; Rromano Centar, Opre CD 002, 1995) and “Djelem Djelem” (Koéani Orkestar, L’Orient est Rouge, Crammed Discs 1997/2006 CRAW 19), plus many YouTube versions. Saban Bajramovié recorded the song on Mostar Sevdah Reunion (Times Square TSQCD 9029) and other al-

bums. Lyrics and mp3 files of the song can be found on the websites http://www.reocities.com/~patrin/gelem.htm and www.unionromani.org/ gelem.htm (both accessed June 17, 2011). The version in the 1967 film can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=POD6rWRiYVk, accessed December 13, 2009. 23. Dirlik continues: “so that it is often unclear whether the objection is to essentialism per se or to the politics, in which case essentialism serves as a straw target to discredit the politics” (2000:188). Chapter 4 1. Gurbet, from Turkish, is a term and concept used in South Slavic languages, Albanian, and Romani. 2. Iowe much insight to Jasmin and AiSe, who were very open with me in talking about the community and assessing traditional values. 3. Community members jokingly referred to her as one of “the original Mayflower people.”

4. Being the super (superintendent) of a building means receiving free rent in exchange for doing maintenance and repairs. Many Romani families (as well as other Balkan families) seek this type of arrangement. Even

middle-class families will hold on to their superintendent role to save money on rent.

Notes to pages 49-62 = 305

5. See Foner 2000:127-141 for a discussion of immigrant women’s work issues in New York.

6. Revitalization of Islam needs to be seen in a larger context; similar phenomena are happening in Macedonia and in other places in the Balkans. Iam currently conducting research on this topic. 7. Unlike Balkan Roma, Kalderash typically do not work alongside nonRoma; they tend to be self-employed and marry at an earlier age (Sutherland 1975; Gropper 1975; Silverman 1988 and 1991). However, as Gropper and Miller point out, Kalderash also negotiate multiple identities, engaging in “selective multiculturalism” (2001). 8. Occasionally they call themselves Horahane, which means Muslim in Romani and Turkish. 9. According to Gropper and Miller, “a Rom may self-identify differently depending on the person to whom he is talking” (2001:87). IT am currently doing research on identity issues among young Roma. 10. This comment arose when I distributed to Romani consultants a draft of my article on fieldwork with Roma (Silverman 2000c). All the

other Roma I consulted didn't object to my using the real name of the neighborhood. However, from ethical concerns, I use pseudonyms except where Roma have public reputations as musicians. 11. Roma say that Americans in general are neither curious nor well informed about European geography. Before the breakup of Yugoslavia, many Belmont Roma told non-Romani Americans they were Yugoslavs. But in the 1990s, Yugoslavia became a synonym for violence, Macedonia declared independence, and thus the label Yugoslav faded. Roma sometimes strategically withhold speaking about their ethnicity and Americanize their names: for example, SeverdZan is John, Tair is Tommy, Ferhan is Freddy; Nermin is Nancy, etc. 12. KUD stands for Kulturno Umetnicko Drustvo, Cultural Artistic Group (see Chapter 6). 13. Nevertheless, there are several community members who, for various reasons, have never married. Although homosexuality may be a factor, it is not discussed openly, as most Roma are homophobic; on the other hand, families do not ostracize someone even if he or she is perceived as outside the community norms. Divorced men and women usually remarry. 14. Much of what I am describing about family and community life is not unique to Roma and can be compared to other Balkan ethnic groups. There is a huge cross-cultural literature on the topic of negotiation of female power; for the Middle East, see Nelson 1974. See later in this chapter, the next chapter, Sugarman 2003 and Silverman 1996b for female knowledge about ritual.

15. Leila claimed that “ninety-nine percent of the time that’s the only objective—to get to America. And then once they come here, it becomes an issue.” The zet in one failed Belmont marriage could not adjust to America and became abusive to the bride's entire family. He was sent back within

a few months, and the bride remarried a local man. On the other hand, many marriages of this type work out well.

16. The uneasy relationship of human rights to culture has been discussed widely in the anthropological literature; see Cowan, Dembour, and Wilson 2001; Abu-Lughod 2002; and Goodale 2006. 17. Eminova expanded her prototype virginity surveys to organizations in Novi Sad, Serbia; and Pecs, Hungary, with successful results. In addition to tackling the issue of virginity, a goal of the project is to teach educated Romani women computer skills for future research and networking;

306 ~—=— Notes to pages 64-76

see http://www.advocacynet.org/resource/492, accessed June 17, 2011 and Eminova 2005. Furthermore, the virginity issue is only one of many regarding female subordination that European Romani women activists are addressing; see European Roma Rights Centre 2000, Plaut and Memedova 2005 and http:/Awww.advocacynet.org/page/irwn, accessed June 17, 2011. 18. Iam exploring this topic in my current research on youth and education in the Romani community.

19. There is a huge literature on the domestic-public split, which emerged as a concept in the early anthropology of women (Lamphere and Rosaldo 1974; Lewin 2006; di Leonardo 1991). Iam exploring this issue in my current research with Romani youth. 20. See Roma Portraits (1998), a series of short documentaries by young Bulgarian Roma, supervised by Asen Balicki. By contrast, many scholars have noted the focus on place and religion in Native American filmmaking (Leuthold 1998:183; Worth and Adair 1972).

Chapter 5 1. For example, in his memoir, Serbezovski recounts his circumcision

celebration in Topana, Skopje, in the 1950s, where the absence of his father (who had abandoned the family for a mistress) almost ruined the event. His uncle filled the role of his father, but emotions were noticeable and raw (1995). Similarly, at a New York wedding there was almost a fight between the in-laws because of an old schism. At another wedding, a female guest was upset with the order in which families were called up to lead dance lines (see Chapter 6); to protest, she did not attend the blaga rakija. 2. Creative solutions are devised to save money on celebrations. Relatives who are musicians may be asked to play, and they often perform just for tips. Sometimes ceremonies are combined; a wedding in 1990 in Sutka, described later, was deliberately combined with a circumcision. The contracted musicians charged a combined fee, and the costumes (and even the meals) did double duty. 3. In the Bulgarian language there is a proverb that states “the Gypsy will throw all his money for a wedding and the next day he will not be able to buy bread for his children” (Marushiakova and Popov 1997:149). 4. Roma Portraits is the outcome of a 1997 video workshop in Sliven, Bulgaria, where Balicki trained young Roma to film subjects of interest to them in Romani communities. 5. Her precarious and transitional status is manifested in the myriad ways she is protected from the evil eye; for similarities to ethnic Macedonian weddings, see Silverman and Wixman 1983. 6. See Petrovski 2001 and 2002:18-20 for a discussion of songs texts. There is, of course, a distinction between the numerous songs that describe weddings and the few songs which are sung at weddings for ritual purposes, such as Oj Borije see below. 7. The role of Roma in keeping rituals active (or even newly adopting them when they have died out) among the majority populations has been noted by several scholars (see, e.g., Popov 1993). Sugarman (1997) documented multiday weddings among Prespa Albanian Macedonians in the early 1990s, but currently they have shorter weddings. 8. The literature on Balkan weddings includes Sugarman 1997; Ivanova 1984; and Kligman 1988.

Notes to pages 76-85 = 307

9. For a description of Macedonian Romani weddings, see Petrovski 1993 and 2002; Dunin 1971 and 1984; Seeman 1990b; and the Macedonian television film “Romska Svadba’” (1992; see next note). For Bulgarian Romani weddings see I. Georgieva 1966 and Marushiakova and Popov 1997:144-150. 10. Amdi Bajram, the founder of the textile factory Suteks in Sutka, was

a Romani representative to the national parliament during the 1990s. Because he was well known and wealthy, his son’s 1992 wedding, which had hundreds of guests, was filmed for Macedonian television and broadcast as “Romska Svadba.” Gjulizar DZeljadin, a respected family friend, narrated the wedding for the film; I interviewed her several times about ritual. 11. Gjulizar is referring to Kalderash Roma who practice the custom of brideprice, that is, the groom's family paying the bride’s family a sum of several thousands of dollars. It is probable that the brideprice was once widespread among many groups of Roma but has survived only among the Kalderash (Marushiakova and Popov 1997:144). Most groups still have at least a symbolic buying (or bargaining) for the bride; see later discussion in this chapter. See Sutherland (1975) for brideprice among American Kalderash; Marushiakova and Popov 1997:144 for Bulgarian brideprice customs; and Brunwasser 2011 for a description of a KalajdZi bride fair in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. Among Bulgarian KalajdZi the current average brideprice is $5,000. In the United States among Kalderash the price for a virgin can reach $10,000.

12. The days of the week are sometimes modified (e.g., henna ceremony starting on Thursday), but the sequence of the events remains the same in Macedonia; however, in New York, the sequence often changes (see below).

13. Henna is used throughout the Middle East and South Asia in Muslim and Hindu communities. Unlike in South Asia, where it is applied in intricate designs, in the Balkans it is smeared on the hands and feet of women merely for the color. In Macedonia and Bulgaria, henna is associated with Muslims, but in many parts of Greece henna is used in Eastern Orthodox weddings. 14. Michelle Rosaldo’s classic article, which explains female subordination as a result of the domestic-public split, claims that women are identified with the domestic sphere (defined as the sphere of mothers and children) and men with the public, leading to hierarchy (1974). This areument has been challenged by scholars for many reasons, for example

regarding slippage between domestic and private (MacCormack and Strathern 1980; Ortner 1996). The domestic, rather than being marginal and excluded from politics, is the site of important decision making regarding family budgets, marriage choices for children, and reputations. As for gender geography, the spatial segregation during celebrations has been described in terms of the “inside” women’s world and the “outside” men’s world. This concept of space is shared with non-Romani Muslims of the region (Sugarman 1997), but it must be noted that the inside female world spills out into public space during rituals (Silverman 2003). 15. According to zurla player Muzafer Mahmud (see the next note), there was a special melody (alaj, procession) for getting the bride, but it declined in Skopje around 1960. In 1990, Mahmud only knew three ritual melodies, one for the kana and two for waking up the boy the morning after his circumcision. 16. Muzafer Mahmud was the resident zurla player at Radio Skopje from the early 1970s and made dozens of recordings. At his daughter’s

308 = Notes to pages 88—90

henna ceremony, his brother, cousin, and brother’s grandson played. He comes from a long line of zurla and tapan players. In Sutka there are about ten families of performers. For comparative information about Greek Macedonia, see Blau et al. 2002; for Bulgaria, see Peycheva and Dimov 2002.

17. After her wedding, Ramisa ended up living around the corner from her parents. For Romanian comparisons of how the bride is made to cry, see Kligman 1988. 18. See Dunin 1971 for a description of this ceremony in an old communal bathhouse. 19. In the 1980s in Macedonia, women started using hairdressers as a status symbol. In the 1990s upswept hairstyles were common, with white flowers and beads interwoven in the hair. Romani women patronized certain hairstylists who knew how to design these styles. Before styling, a woman had to put on her white underblouse (worn under the jacket of her Salvari) because the volume of the hairstyle would not allow the underblouse to be slipped over the head. 20. In the Balkans, written invitations are rarely used; rather, sponsoring families invite people face-to-face with formulaic language by visiting their homes. See later discussion for contrast to American weddings. 21. The bajraktar role is common in Skopje but not in Prilep. It seems to be more prevalent among the Dzambazi subgroup of Roma than among other groups. The bajraktar is a very well-respected, trusted male member of the community, and his whole family is treated royally during the wedding both by the groom's and the bride's sides. He and his family give and receive lavish gifts. In fact, many of the gifts he receives (such as shirts) are pinned to the flag itself. The flag is decorated with fruit on the end of its pole, greenery, and red ribbons. At a double wedding I attended in Sutka in 1994, there were two bajraktari, one with the Macedonian flag and one with the Romani flag, signifying two levels of identity. According to Gjulizar DZeljadin: “He has to be from a good family, married only once.” According to AiSe, the flag is so important that “if it falls to the eround, you have to sacrifice an animal immediately”; AiSe also explained that “the bride’s family tried to steal it, so it must be guarded!” 22. Temana is a Turkish term for a symbolic hand gesture indicating respect. See Ellis 2003:128. 23. In the early 1990s in Bulgaria, it was fashionable among wealthy Macedonians, Turks, and Roma to rent a helicopter to transport the bride. 24. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship is the most important and most precarious in the time period after the wedding. The bride is subordinate to her mother-in-law as well as to the males of her new family. She has to get along with her mother-in-law, who may be very demanding. On the other hand, the mother-in-law may be her greatest ally, even against the males of the family. See Sugarman 1997, Kligman 1988, and Ellis 2003 for analyses of Prespa Albanian, Romanian, and Turkish/ Albanian urban Macedonian female-to-female relationships, respectively. 25. Dzumaluk comes from Cuma, which is the Turkish word for Friday. According to Seeman, before World War II the taking of the bride occurred on Thursday and the dzumaluk occurred on Friday (1990b:42).

26. Interestingly, Kalderash Roma in the United States hold their weddings midweek and still get large attendance. One reason Kalderash have weddings midweek is that they do not plan them far in advance; banquet halls are simply not available on weekends at the last minute.

Notes to pages 90-95 = 309

Kalderash can attend midweek because they tend to be self-employed and thus have more control over their schedule. Also, because their children are less integrated into the school system, they have no qualms about keeping a child out of school for several days because of a wedding. This is not true for Macedonian Roma, for whom school is often very important (see Chapter 4). 27. The parents of the groom entered first, followed by the parents of the bride, followed by close relatives. 28. The event typically begins with the mother of the bride leading the dance line with the decorated bottle of rakija.

29. The family does not speak Romani; rather, they speak Turkish and Macedonian in addition to their primary language, Albanian. In fact, they do not refer to themselves as Roma, but everyone else in the community accepts them as Roma, and they are intermarried with Roma. For a 2010 release of Ramiz’s sons’ band, see www.youtube.com/ watch?v=uykObURJNns, accessed January 1, 2011. 30. See Leibman 1974 and Sugarman 1997 for a discussion of the Prespa song, instrumental, and dance repertoire. 31. Ilhan is referring to violent incidents that occurred in the 1990s in New York night clubs, where Bosnian Muslims, Albanians, and Serbs coneregated. I witnessed several such fights at these clubs. 32. Severdzan’s wife also loves to dance. The whole family, including the parents and both brothers’ children, were invited to teach at a weekend dance workshop for Americans in Maryland. Yuri Yunakov and Seido

Salifoski were among the invited musicians. In Chapter 4, I discussed how the two brothers tried unsuccessfully to organize a dance group with Roma from Belmont. Chapter 6 1. Portions of this chapter are reprinted from Silverman 2008b with permission from McFarland & Company Inc.

2. Community members refer to dances by names that are not standardized. When a leader requests a song or dance, there is sometimes miscommunication, and the leader might refuse to dance until the musicians play the “right” melody. From the point of view of musicians, this can be very frustrating because they sometimes have to guess several times what the leader wants. 3. Mahala means neighborhood in Turkish and the Balkan languages, but its use implies that it is a low-class Turkish or Romani neighborhood. Manele, from the Turkish amane, means an instrumental or a vocal free-rhythm improvisation. These terms are also used for the accompanying music, which may also be referred to as musica orientald (oriental music); see Chapter 9. 4. The film Jag Bari: Brass on Fire (by Ralf Marschalleck, HS Media Consult, 2002) features several performances with these female dancers. 5. Markovic’s Vranje suite (by Ensemble Djido, Bogatié, Serbia) can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpiDsHdxkt8&;feature=related, accessed December 12, 2010. The poster remarks: “Boiling Gypsies temperament with the accompaniment of tambourine and drums contribute to the value of this spectacle (sic).” Kolo introduced a new Vranje choreography in the 1990s, but it retains many of the stereotypical movements (see www. youtube.com/watch?v=gkKp8PbTR5hO&;feature=related accessed December 11, 2010) (Alexander Markovic, personal communication).

310 Notes to pages 95-117

6. Sugarman recalled a regional dance competition in the early 1980s where an amateur Romani group from Kumanovo performed, ending their choreography with a mock drunken fight. Neither the performers nor the jury nor the folklorists seemed concerned that thus was “feeding a negative stereotype” (Sugarman, personal communication). 7. See Hancock 2008 and Hasdeu 2008 for discussion of how the female Gypsy body is portrayed in museums and literature. 8. For example, the Bulgarian Romani wedding band Trtistenik’s 1990s cassettes are titled Gol Kyuchek (Naked Kyuchek) 1 and 2 and feature bare-breasted women. 9. See as examples the videos MP 31003: Volim Te/U Zemlji Baro-Than

(I Love You/In the Great Land [refers to India; Serbian/ Romani]) and MP 31005 Romano Horo/Chaje Sukarije (Romani Dance/Beautiful Girl). In Chapter 10, I discuss Esma’s video collaboration with ToSe Poeski, which features stereotypical dance scenes.

10. Sonneman reports that Roma sometimes defend romantic images of themselves because they elicit sympathy from non-Roma (1999:129).

11. I would like to thank Lozanka Peycheva for updating me on this phenomenon (personal communication). Clips from the 2007 Stara Zagora festival, including dance groups, are often aired on the Sofia cable television station Gypsy TV (www.gypsytv.tv). 12. See Helbig 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009 for discussion of the role of Romani NGOs in music activism in Ukraine.

Chapter 7 1. Some ideas in this chapter and the next were first presented at the conference Cultural Circulations, at the Ohio State University, 2005. I would like to thank the participants, especially Amy Shuman, for their comments. Some concepts were further developed in Silverman 2007a (reprinted with permission from the publisher).

2. See Chapter 11 for a discussion of how and why Yuri Yunakov changed his name. 3. Although not widespread, there were some notable instances of resistance among Pomaks, for example, in the village of Ribnovo in the Pirin region. 4. Of course, the teaching and practice of the Qur’an was prohibited, as was the teaching of Eastern Orthodoxy, the majority religion; however, the ban against Islam was enforced more severely. For example, there were virtually no working mosques in villages, whereas there were a few working Eastern Orthodox churches in villages and quite a few in towns. 5. Verdery (1996) and Gal and Kligman (2000a and b) have written extensively about the private-public dichotomy in socialist societies. 6. Tsiganski Pesni (Gypsy Songs) BHA 11087 omits the Romani titles of songs; rather, songs are translated (often mistranslated) into Bulgarian. The same policy applied to Turkish music. Other early 1980s Balkanton releases of Romani music include Tsiganski Pesni, BHA 10183; Ivo Barev /Asiba Kemalova: Tsiganski Pesni, BHA 10645; Ibro Lolov: Tsiganski Pesni, BHA 10890. These albums often featured famous wedding musicians. 7. This celebration (izprashtane na voinik) is sponsored by the parents of the soldier and can be as elaborate as a wedding. 8. See N. Kaufman 1989; D. Kaufman 1990; Buchanan 1991:522-529. Non-Roma also played a major role in the history of wedding music. For

Notes to pages 118-131 511

example, Atanas Milev, the father of Ivan Milev, was one of the founders of the influential band Ptrvomayskata Grupa (May First Group, referring to the town named after International Workers’ Day). I would like to thank Ivan Milev for many fruitful discussions about the history of wedding music. 9. In the 1970s there were often two accordions and no bass guitar; the bass was introduced a few years later. The drum set is sometimes modified to include bongos or indiyanki (roto-toms).

10. Ironically, tambura is a traditional village instrument only in the Pirin region. It was physically modified to become a chordal instrument and accepted into the canon of national traditional instruments by the ensembles in the 1960s (Buchanan 2006:151). 11. Pravo horo is in 2/4 meter (often 343), rtichenitsa is in 7/8 meter (2+2+3), paidushko is in 5/16 meter (2+3), and krivo horo is in 11/16 meter (2+2+3+2+2). Another common rhythm is 7/8 (3+2+2), identified with Macedonia and Pirin (see rhythm number 10 in Figure 2.1). 12. Nikolai Kaufman observed, “The most important feature of this musical genre is improvisation. ... Different from folk orchestras composed of traditional instruments which strictly play pieces of composed multi-part music, the groups... play more freely, often without knowing how long a piece will take, how it will be built, who will solo—how it was at the dance

(horo)” (1987:79). Here Kaufman favorably compares the spirit of the wedding bands to the spirit of the horo, the traditional village dance event, where dancers and musicians communicated constantly; he distinguishes it from the more formal, stilted, and formulaic atmosphere of ensemble music. See Buchanan 1991 and 2006 for thorough discussion of ensemble style, and Rice 1994 and 1996 for comparison of wedding, ensemble, and village styles. Indeed, wedding music shares many characteristics with the horo: it is village-based, is open-ended in terms of length (with some horos lasting four to five hours), and thrives on dancer reaction. Todor Todorov, for example, describes Bulgarian accordionist Ivan Milev as an “artist who grasps the audience and leads them to react violently to every one of his gestures” (1986:7). There is, then, a great deal of performer-audience interaction in wedding music, and both dancers and listeners alike are energized, especially when the musicians improvise. In comparing weddings to concerts, clarinetist Ivo Papazov stated: “In truth, a wedding is equal

to a dozen concerts. There a person can create. ...A great deal of music is introduced into a wedding, and in a concert you lack this thrill.” Saxophonist Yuri Yunakov concurred: “You can’t compare a wedding with any other performance. At weddings people have gathered for joy, they know each other. On the concert stage it is more like an examination.” 13. The full version is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_FgpZ87R_M, accessed January 2, 2011. 14. Papazov is known as Ibryam by most fans; other wedding musicians are also known by their first names or nicknames (which are sometimes based on their village or town). 15. Art Pepper is an American jazz saxophone player of the bebop era. Alan Stivell is a harpist who played a large role in the Celtic revival. Joan Baez is a prominent singer in the folk revival. 16. This act of contagious magic, whether accidental or purposeful, bonded him to the instrument. If this incident ever happened, however, the thread could have been from a zurna, not a clarinet, since his father played both. Ivo also related that when a male child was born, the parents put a clarinet in the cradle, also illustrating contagious magic.

312. ~—Notes to pages 131-135

17. This quote is taken from the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Bulgarian web site www.bbc.co.uk/bulgarian/news/story/2005/03/ printable/050306_papazovbbc.shtml, accessed March 10, 2008. 18. See biographies of wedding musicians in Bakalov 1992, 1993, 1998; and Peycheva 1999. Note that Ivo’s wife, Maria Karafezieva, is a wellknown performer of the Bulgarian vocal repertoire of wedding music. 19. See the full version at www.youtube.com/watch?v=leA_UQ6GJUI&; feature=related accessed January 2, 2011. 20. Gaida player Maria Stoyanova is an exception to this pattern. See Rice 1994:268-271; also see Chapters 6 and 10. 21. In 1985, Trakiya charged 1,300 leva for a one-night soldier send-off party. Also see N. Kaufman 1989. 22. In the 1980s the category of wedding musician was somewhat motley, including hundreds of lesser-known performers of doubtful ability.

These imitators contributed to the mass phenomenon by disseminating the core repertoire. 23. This sometimes causes conflict, for at the end of a wedding there are often drunken men demanding “one more song.” 24. In the western Thracian area around Plovdiv and Ptrvomai, a decorated box is used to collect tips. If the collected amount is less than the agreed sum, the sponsors pay the musicians the difference; if it is more, the musicians keep the difference. 25. The label was used by the socialist government for wealthy families who resisted collectivization of land. 26. For example, Popularni Trakiiski Klarinetisti (BHA 11188, Popular Thracian Clarinetists) includes Petko Radev, Nikola Tliev, Nikola Yankov, Hari Asenov, Ibryam Hapazov, and Yashko Argirov; the first three are Bulgarians,

and the last three are Roma (although no ethnicity is revealed on the album). 27. Arrangers are indeed paid per arrangement; see Buchanan 2006 for a full discussion of obrabotki. 28. The first studio was established in 1980 in Plovdiv. By the mid-1980s every major city had one or several studios.

29. The proprietors of the studios often traveled to events to record, sometimes plugging into the amplification equipment and paying the musicians a modest state-set fee. Many fans also recorded at events, but musicians received no compensation. Proprietors were state employees who worked on a percentage system, which in 1985 was 50 percent. In one Sliven studio, the average monthly intake in 1985 was 1,000 leva, which means the proprietor received 500 leva or $250. He boasted he had even made 900 leva, or $450 a month, occasionally. This proprietor was a Romani drummer who gave up wedding work because studio work was easier. Thus the world of the studios and the world of wedding musicians

intersected; the proprietors were often extremely knowledgeable about wedding music, and they had their fingers on the pulse of popular taste. Chapter 8 1. The Plovdiv Folk Jazz Band, composed of jazz musicians, had a style much closer to jazz than to folk or wedding music, For connections between folk and jazz, see Levy 2009.) 2. This sentiment is still current in Bulgaria. Later in this chapter I discuss the 2005 controversy about Romani singer Sofi Marinova’s role in the competition leading to Eurovision.

Notes to pages 136—150 aD

3. The 1994 festival cost 1 million leva ($17,000), and prizes were approximately $30 each, equivalent to about two weeks’ salary in a factory. The Haskovo regional government contributed one-quarter of the 1994 festival funding, but the rest had to be raised from private firms. In 1994 there were 40,000 audience members, but by 1996 there were only 4,000. In 1996, for the first time, Bulgarian television and radio did not broadcast the event; they demanded a huge subsidy from the sponsors to defray their expenses, and when the sponsors refused they did not attend. The sponsors had a hard time raising even the prize funds. After 1996 the festival was abandoned. 4. Ivo composed “Celeste” earlier and named it after a popular television series. It was later recorded on the album Panair/Fairground (2003); see later discussion. 5. Trakiya Folk was held in 1994 (Dimitrovgrad), 1995 (Haskovo), 1999 (Stara Zagora), 2000 (Stara Zagora), and 2003 (Plovdiv).

6. There is am emerging literature on nostalgia for socialism; see

Berdahl 1999,

7. I will deal with Trakiya in detail because its trajectory is unique. Some wedding performers have become active in the growing Romani music scene and in the chalga scene. Others have been featured as guests in international Romani productions; Yashko Argirov and Slavcho Lambov, for example, appeared in the Hungarian production Gypsy Spirit, which toured Europe and North America (see Chapters 6 and 12). Filip Simeonov appeared with the Romanian group Taraf de Haidouks and recorded with them on the album Band of Gypsies (Nonesuch; see Chapter 13). Note that there are newer wedding bands that command solid reputations, such as Orkesttir Plovdiv and Folk Palitra (folk palette, Bulgarian). 8. As early as the 1980s Kanarite were known as a “well-behaved band.” According to Rice, Stoev insisted that members arrive on time, wear identical white jackets, and refrain from smoking and drinking on the job. In 1988, their Romani clarinetist Nesho Neshev complained to Rice about how reserved the music was (Rice 1994:246). 9. See full version at www.youtube.com/watch?v=74NS_VpYbZs&; feature=related, accessed January 2, 2011. 10. In the Iraq war, Bulgaria was known as a staunch ally of the United States. 11. See www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMEFyAk6yY-0, accessed January 2,

201.

12. Another type of Romani festival is emerging in the United States with the work of the NGO Voice of Roma (www.voiceofroma.com); their Herdeljezi festival is run by both Roma and non-Roma and tries to combine education and entertainment. The lack of an organized Romani community in the United States has been an impediment to connecting with

and attracting more Roma. On the other hand, the festival has received state and national grant funding for its pioneering efforts to bring the culture of an invisible minority to the attention of the American public. 13. Despite the official rhetoric, kyuchek is the main dance genre found

on stage and off stage at the Stara Zagora festival. See Chapter 6 for a discussion of kyuchek, and video example 2.5 for the music and dance at the festival. 14. Jury members have included, for example in 2007, Romani singers Nikolai Gurdev, Ivo Barev, and Sasho Roman along with Bulgarian folklorist Lozanka Peycheva, as well as Malikov.

314 ~—Notes to pages 152-164

15. The Elit Center is associated with the chitalishte (reading room or cultural center) of the Krasna Polyana district. Recent activities have included shows for the holiday of Christmas and Vasilitsa (St. Basil’s Day, a Romani holiday after New Year's), dances, and political speeches. These activities have been led by Sali Ibrahim, a Romani poet who directs the center. The center also sponsored Romane: International Magazine for Romani Culture, Literature, and Art, whose first issue appeared in 2005. See www.chitalishteelit.piczo.com. 16. On the other hand, scholarly study now includes the culture, music, and history of Roma and other ethnic groups. Pioneering Bulgarian scholars writing on Roma include Lozanka Peycheva, Ventsislav Dimov, Antonina Zhelyaskova, Ilona Tomova, Elena Marushiakova, Vesselin Popov, Rosemary Statelova, Claire Levy, Ivalyo Ditchev, Alexey Pamporovo, etc. (see Valtchinova 2004 and Silverman 2008a). 17. In 2001, when an American visitor asked Prof. Slavchev of the Academy of Musical Arts in Plovdiv if the musics of Jews, Roma, Turks, and other minorities were included in the curriculum, he said no, but there were restaurants in town where one could hear these musics (Henry Goldberg, personal communication). For the past several years, a summer proeram for foreigners has been organized at the Plovdiv Academy (www. folkseminarplovdiv.net). Instruction on clarinet, violin, and accordion is featured in this program; however, it is not officially part of the regular curriculum. It is ironic that the rubric “folk music” includes these instruments for foreigners but not for Bulgarians. 18. There are some exceptions: at a 2005 concert celebrating European accession, students from the Shiroka Lika High School performed one wedding song; the rest of their program included solo and arranged village music. A new folk dance curriculum track has been introduced in Shiroka Luka, but this too excludes Romani and Turkish dance. 19. Note the contrast between the place of Romani music and the place of Pomak music in contemporary folk festivals. Unlike Romani music, Pomak music is now embraced at festivals and draws enthusiastic audiences. Pomaks now wear their Muslim costumes freely and sing texts that include Muslim names and references to Muslim celebrations. Why the difference between Romani and Pomak music? Pomaks are Bulgarian-speaking, and thus, their folklore is configured by scholars as purely Bulgarian with a Muslim overlay. Thus it can be embraced in the domain of folk. But note that when Pomaks do perform, their ethnic label is neither announced nor printed in written programs (Ditchev 2004). The label Pomak has become a contested term; Bulgarian Muslim (Bulgaro-mohamedanin) is preferred. Although the rise of Pomak ethnic consciousness is not the topic of this book, I note that escalation of Pomak Muslim religious identity receives financial support from countries such as Libya and Saudi Arabia (for mosque building, teaching of Arabic language, and distribution of Our’ans; see Ghodsee 2009). Whereas rich Muslim nations have an interest in the Pomaks and Turks of Bulgaria as potential allies, they have less interest in Roma. Pentecostals, however, are interested in Roma. 20. Ditchev is referring to an innovative Romani educational integration project initiated by the NGO Drom in Vidin and funded by the Open Society Institute. Integrated educational projects now operate in several locations around the country. 21. The July 2006 training was supported by the Democracy Commission Small Grants program of the American Embassy. The participants were

Notes to pages 166-169 = 515

exposed to Romani culture and folklore; an additional aim of the seminar was also to stimulate teachers to diversify their way of teaching and more actively engage both children and parents. The teachers dedicated a day of the week to the culture of each ethnicity and invited parents to present, see www.amalipe.com/index.php?nav=projects&;id=8&lang=2, accessed June 18, 2011. Textbooks were prepared for the classes, e.g., Stories from the Fireplace (for grades two through four) and Roads Retold (for grades five through eight), although the Bulgarian Ministry delayed in disbursing the necessary funds for their distribution. The folklore texts are organized according to classic generic categories such as fairy tales, calendrical and family feasts, and song texts, attributed to various groups of Bulgarian Roma. The books tend to treat folklore as a collection of items to be classified and categorized. In reality, Romani scholars and Roma alike agree that Roma in Bulgaria cannot be divided into neat groups (Marushiakova and Popov 2001). In addition, Romani folklore items are compared to Slavic Bulgarian variants and West European variants such as those from the Grimm brothers. I suggest this framework seeks to legitimize Romani folklore by showing that its structural features are similar to Bulgarian folklore. In spite of these small caveats, this project is a welcome sign of support of Romani folklore by the state.

22. Note that this designation is accompanied by a monetary award plus international prestige. See www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index. php?pg=00103, accessed June 10, 2010. 23. These Albanian-speaking Roma refer to themselves as Egjupci or Egjupkjani (Egyptians); see Chapter 1. Historically they are Roma who moved up the social scale by adopting the Albanian language and distancing themselves from the stigmatized label Roma. In a 1955 film of the wedding, these Romani musicians are featured prominently; see www.europafilmtreasures. eu/PY/262/see-the-film-galichnik wedding, accessed October 25, 2010. 24. Note that the descriptive part of the application is based on Kli¢kova and Georgieva's 1951/1996 study, which also minimizes the role of Roma. 25. Compare this to Giguére's research, which deals with Spain's unsuccessful 2005 application to UNESCO to have Flamenco declared a Masterpiece of Intangible Cultural Heritage. She found that the ownership of Flamenco was contested and that the role of Gitanos was minimized (2008).

26. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mf[XNtcNG2SE, accessed December 15, 2010. 27. Trifonov's impact on Bulgarian cultural life is considerable. His show is watched by Bulgarian émigrés, by Macedonians and Serbs. He not only is a singer, song writer and arranger, but he produces concerts, tours, a reality TV show, and contests for talented singers. He is acutely aware of and promotes ethnic diversity in Bulgaria and is closely tied to Bulgarian folk music, wedding music, and Romani music. One of his projects was a televised dance contest (Dance with Me) in which one category of competition, Oriental Dance, included Gypsy Dance, Belly Dance, North Indian Dance, Arabic dance, and several more. The grand prize was a red Ferrari, and in February 2007 it was won by a Romani dancer. See www.slavishow.com.

28. Some writers said Sofi and Slavi looked static, like statues, and didn't dare hold hands; many others wrote racist comments on internet forums and in YouTube commentaries. Activist organizations responded; the NGO Romani Baht (Romani Luck) in Sofia called on public officials to denounce the anti-Romani backlash.

316 = Notes to pages 169-173

29. The votes were tallied by cell phone; Slavi accused the producers of the winning group, Kaffe, of purchasing 50,000 leva worth of SIM cards and distributing them to people who voted for Kaffe (see Standart February 15, 2005). 30. See www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvWHF8&8SK6dHY, accessed March 20, 2010.

31. However, by June 2008 the Roman Star music contest, devoted exclusively to Roma, was launched in Turkey; see www.medyakafe.com/ haber.php?haber_id=6366, accessed July 20, 2008. 32. I would like to thank Nick Nasev for this information; also see www. zvezdegranda.com accessed June 15, 2010. 33. This was a nonmusical ambassadorial post. See www.romea.cz/english/imdex.php?id=detail+detail+2007_517, accessed October 30, 2007.

Chapter 9 1. Audiences for chalga shows have reached 27,000 fans, for example, at the 2006 Planeta Prima show in Varna. Some authors use pop/folk as a broad category under which they place wedding music, pop music, chalga, and other contemporary fusions (Buchanan 2007; Dimov 1995). Several authors emphasize the continuity of chalga from the nineteenth century (D. Kaufman 1995; Levy 2002; Vilchinova-Chendova 2000). The scholarly literature on chalga is quite extensive, encompassing works in Bulgarian (Dimov 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001; Peycheva 1995, 1999a, 1999b; Peycheva and Dimov 1994; Kraev 1999; Ivanova 2001) and in English (Rice 2002; Statelova 2005; Levy 2002; Kurkela 1997 and 2007;

Apostolov 2008; and Buchanan 2007). There are also hundreds of Bulgarian newspaper articles, some scholarly, some journalistic, and some merely descriptive. See bibliographies in Dimov 2001 (the definitive book of its era) and Statelova 2005. 2. For a discussion of arabesk as a controversial genre in Turkey, see Stokes 1992 and 2003. 3. These festivals started in the early 1990s; see Buchanan 1999, 2006, and 2007:436-452.

4. As mentioned in Chapter 2, éalgija in Macedonia refers to improvisational urban Turkish-influenced music that was prominent until World War II and performed mainly by Roma. In Bulgaria at the end of the nineteenth century the word chalgadzhii meant professional urban musicians (mostly Roma) who performed the repertoires of various ethnic groups in both urban and rural settings (Vilchinova-Chendova 2000). By the 1970s it referred to wedding musicians who could improvise. Peycheva writes that “among Romani musicians, chalga is used to mean our music, free, virtuosic, impressive, masterful, celebratory, beautiful” (1999b: 64). According to Seeman, professional wedding Romani musicians in Turkey call themselves ¢calgici (2002:264—266).

5. Bulgarians code Turks as more religious Muslims than Roma (only half of whom are Muslim). Some Bulgarians believe that Turks are fanatical Muslims, and are thus conservative in dress, dance, and treatment of women. The xenophobic Attack party reflects these racist views (see later discussion; Cohen 2005; and Kanev 2005).

6. All album and song titles in this chapter are in Bulgarian unless

otherwise noted.

Notes to pages 173-180 = 517

7. Toni Dacheva is a member of an Eastern Orthodox Romani group known as sivi gtiltibi (grey doves; Bulgarian; Marushiakova and Popov 1997:96); Slavka Kalcheva and Nedyalka Keranova are also alleged to be from this group.

8. Remember, however, that just as chalga looks toward MTV for models, MTV has also looked to world music for new ideas.

9. Other Romani male singers such as Valentin Valdes and Kondyo were popular in the 1990s. In 2005 Kondyo was arrested for sex-trafficking

offenses and sentenced to three years in prison; after prison, his career continued. Newer male Romani singers are Erik and Iliyan. 10. They may constitute a marked form of in-group communication for those who can understand the multiple languages. This would privilege Roma and Turks over Bulgarians, inverting the usual power hierarchy. Linguist Traci Lindsey at the University of California, Berkeley, is doing research on this topic. Also see Azis and Sofi Marinova’s duet, discussed in this chapter. 11. In fact, the chalga production company Payner also runs a cosmetic surgery business. Along with commercialization of the female body is the expectation of sexual services with many female jobs. Some women desire to become high-class prostitutes, secretaries report harassment at work, and some chalga stars provide sexual services for money. The image of the mutresa (well-kept woman) is rampant in the media; see Ranova 2006. In 2007 it was common on unmoderated websites (for example, those associated with the mainstream newspaper Standart) for recruiters to communicate openly with sex workers about services they offered. 12. See www.bg-fen.com and www.chalgatube.com for chalga gossip, news, music reviews, and interactive discussions.

13. In 2004 Matt Pointon wrote in a British travel magazine: “Listen not to the intelligent and educated Bulgarians who deride this peasant/ Tsigani/stupid form of entertainment. Instead gather some friends, a fine carafe of rakiya, a mouth-watering salad and turn up the CD player. Get up on your table, click your fingers, move every part of your body, feel proud of that beer belly and then kiss the person next to you, be it a scantily-clad, bad-perm-sporting young maiden, or an overweight, transvestite Gypsy. It’s a pleasure that’s divine and one that can only be had in Bulgaria,” See http://travelmag.co.uk/?p=611, accessed June 19, 2011. 14. In Las Vegas in 2005 for example, Gloria performed lip synching to her own CD. There was no live music, and the show was basically a visual spectacle. In 2006 in Chicago, Azis performed several songs live to a soldout crowd. In 2010 I heard Poli Paskova in Portland, Oregon, singing live for four hours to her CDs (karaoke style). 15. Exceptions include Neilna’s 2008 song Nyama Nashi, Nvama Vashi (Neither mine nor yours) in which she playfully urges listeners to forget their political differences and have a good time (http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=yGOtNGhLAmo, accessed June 18, 2011). Other exceptions are Slavi Trifonov's texts and Sofi Marinova and Ustata’s 2010 song (discussed later in this chapter). 16. It is true that late at night chalga predominates on Planeta TV, but on their website a greater variety of genres can be heard and seen. 17. Emilia, one Payner’s top stars, has been featured on the cover of the Bulgarian edition of FHM (For Him Magazine) and in several revealing photo spreads in the fan magazine Nov Folk. The gong in the video “Zabravi’ is engraved with E for Emilia, but it also looks like the sign for the Euro.

318 Notes to pages 180-184

Note that the narrative is not literal, but an abstract oriental flavor is very clear. The full version is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgqBbAtRyJTe, accessed January 2, 2011. 18. See www.bg-fen.com, accessed June 10, 2010. 19. The text of “Edinstveni” is by Georgi Milchev-Godzhi; he wrote the music with Evgeni Dimitrov and Slavi Trifonov. (See www.youtube.com/

watch?v=M8u6XghExts, accessed June 20, 2010). In the (nonnarrative) video of the song, Sofi and Slavi are dressed in business suits, pictured (separately) in an airplane and in winter coats in a snowstorm.

20. Rap singers sometimes satirically comment on chalga in their texts; in “Tochno Ti’ Ustata sings about Sofi’s duet with Slavi in the song “Edinsteveni.” For discussion of why rap’s ties to African-American culture resonate with Roma, see Chapter 2 and Imre 2006 and 2008. In 2009 Sofi and Ustata were awarded a prize for general quality in music by Fen TV.

21. “Ljubovta e Otrova” was produced by Slavi Trifonov. He had used the theme of war in his earlier videos, for example in staging the clip for the old Macedonian favorite 7/8 song “Yovano Yovanke” (Oh Yovana).

22. Kalin Kirilov called my attention to the use of rock-style guitar chords with a bit of distortion, also characteristic of Serbian turbofolk. 23. Cartwright explained that this is a quote from an interview in Nov Folk magazine that was released to coincide with his huge 2003 stadium concert. 24. www.youtube.com/watch?v=whi99J4B 20, accessed August 25, 2010.

25. He said: “On my first wedding night Desislava [chalga star] participated. ... I wanted a little bit of that female happiness that all women try to get. Because I’m a girl in my soul—I didn't choose that—I was born that way (Nov Folk 2007:32).

26. Volanis is a Greek Romani singer from Thessaloniki. The same song became very popular in Israel in 2002. One version is in Hebrew and Greek, performed by Moshik Afia and Shlomi Saranga; another version is performed by Lebanese vocalist Fadl Shaker in Arabic; another is in Turkish disco style, performed by Serdar Ortac; finally, a Romanian version is performed by Romani manele star Adrian Minune, or Adrian the Wonder Boy (Eva Broman, East European Folklife Center listserv, March 10, 2007). 27. Azis also sang the Macedonian slow song “Zajdi Zajdi Jasno Sonce’” (Set, bright sun) at the end of his 2003 Sofia stadium concert; Ceca and other Serbian turbofolk singers routinely perform this song to prove they can really sing (Garth Cartwright, personal communication).

28. Stokes analyzes these two singers in relation to concepts of modernity and reminds us that they cannot be assumed to be critical of existing categories (2003). In Pakistan today, a transvestite occupies an acceptable place as a TV host, a similar role to Azis’s role as a singer. The Pakistani host dares to bring up taboo subjects, and somehow these topics become more acceptable because a nonmainstream person brings them up (Masood 2007).

29. The temple pictured is Khajuraho, in North India, and it is indeed known for its erotic Hindu sculptures. There are other temples pictured in this video as well as shots of Tibetans praying at a Buddhist sacred site. I would like to thank Ron Wixman for help identifying this temple.

Notes to pages 184-19] 319

30. For references to the lawsuit over the immorality of this song, see http:// planetbollywood.com/Film/Khalnayak/ accessed June 20, 2010. I would like to thank Francis Fung and Farrukh Raza for help in researching this song.

31. Butler writes: “Sexual difference . . . is never simply a function of material differences which are not in some way both marked and formed by discursive practices” (1993:1). 32. See bell hooks 1991. 33. Iam using the word gaze in the sense in which it has been used by cultural and film studies. The normative gaze is assumed to be a male, that is, looking at females as sexual objects; this replicates the unequal power relationship between the sexes (see Gamman and Marshment 1988). 34. For cogent analyses in English, see Rice 2002; Statelova 2005; Levy 2002; Kurkela 1997, 2007; Apostolov 2008; and Buchanan 2007. Nick Nasev suggested to me that to many members of the middle class, who saw their status drop after the fall of communism, chalga represents the evils of capitalism. 35. Balkanika was started by Victor Kasamov, the owner of Bulgarian Ara Audio-Video; advertising brings in “65% of Balkanika’s income, with the rest coming from on-screen sales of ring tones or fortune-telling and romance-forecasting services” (Brunwasser 2007). 36. Sugarman shows how the Kosovar commercial folk/pop industry is involved in the ideological work of defining a specific Albanian national modernity (2007). 37. Ditchev writes “the new identity debate in the 1990s was largely dominated by the question of whether or not to be Balkan” (2002:235). The issue of European Union membership has heightened these issues. 38. Kiossev writes of the “dark intimacy” of acts of identification, as in “were all just Balkan shit” (2002:182 and 189). Herzfeld’s concept of cultural intimacy can be fruitfully applied here (1997). Kiossev writes: “Balkan cul-

ture domesticates the official codes of national representation... through the multiple uses, misuses, and flexible appropriations performed by social actors in everyday life. Popular amusements in the Balkans produce ironic self-images and display them in semi-public spaces of insiders’ ‘collective privacy... . It also often scandalously perverts these negative auto-stereotypes into positive ones, with a peculiar emotional ambivalence” (2002:189-190). 39. Here is a post on an internet forum: “The success of Attack doesn’t come from anywhere else than the fact that they behave like strong men.

Nobody likes the mangali [derogatory name for Roma, meaning a black pot], everyone thinks they should be ‘neutralized’ but nobody's doing any-

thing about it, they just keep watching them reproduce. Then suddenly along comes this guy... and says “let’s wipe them out” and you think, “that’s easy, all I have to do is put a check in the little box, and I've solved the

problem.” The high Romani birthrate (in comparison to the low Bulgarian birthrate) is indeed causing hysteria in some circles. On October 9, 2006, the Minister of Health Radoslav Gaidarski announced a proposed legislative change to ban births by women under the age of eighteen. He further said that the measure would be directed mainly to girls of minority origin. According to the newspaper Sega (Now), Gaidarski told journalists that if the birthrate among Roma is not limited, then the mortality rate in Bulgaria would become among the highest in Europe, since many of these children do not survive to adulthood. Gaidarski also suggested that a meeting of the health ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia

320 ~=— Notes to pages 191-197

(countries where large populations of Roma live) should be held to tackle the social problems of these groups. Although the health minister feebly tried to frame the demographic issue in terms of the welfare of Roma, the underlying message was that there are simply too many of them. Another example of racism surfacing in high places occurred in October 2006, when a Bulgarian observer in the European Parliament, from the Attack party, commented on the nomination of a Hungarian Romani woman fora human rights prize by writing an e-mail to all MEPs: “In my country there are tens of thousands of gypsy girls way more beautiful than this honorable one. In fact, if you’re in the right place at the right time, you even can buy one (around twelve or thirteen-years-old) to be your loving wife. The best of them are very expensive—up to 5000 euros a piece. Wow!” Chapter 10 1. Anumber of ideas in this chapter appear in Silverman 2003 (reprinted with permission, ©2003 University of Chicago) and Silverman 2011c and 2011b, this last volume being from the conference Interpreting Emotions in Eastern Europe, University of Illinois, Fisher Forum, 2008.

2. Sugarman writes that “until recently, no south Albanian women from Macedonia had ever performed at an event as a professional singer” (1997:369). On the 1999 Gypsy Caravan Tour, of thirty Romani musicians only one was female, and she was the wife of a participant. The 1999 CD Gypsy Queens (Network 32843) was an attempt to highlight the contribution of women to Romani music. 3. Sugarman reports that an ethnic Albanian female singer in Chicago from Kosovo “endured a few years of gossip from community members” (1997:342). 4. This ideology exists among non-Roma of the Balkans as well. I collected

a number of stories of Bulgarian women whose parents, mothers-in-law, or husbands prohibited them from joining professional ensembles in the 1960s because it was shameful. 5. They include Lisa Angelova and Zlatka Chinchirova from Bulgaria, who performed with their fathers; and Natalia Borisova from Bulgaria and Ramiza Dalipova and Esma RedZepova from Macedonia, who performed with their husbands. When Zlatka’s father, Hasan Chinchiri, and Esma Redzepovas husband died, their careers were already launched. A similar pattern exists for Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Slavic vocalists. Most Bulgarian wedding singers, notably Maria Karafezieva, Ruska Kalcheva, Binka Dobreva, and Pepa Yaneva, are in bands with their husbands. The same pattern can be found among Hungarian Roma; in the group Kalyi Jag, the only female participant, Agnes Kunstler, is the wife of male participant Jozsef Balogh. Sugarman also reports that the few female Prespa Albanian singers are in bands with their husbands (1997:342). For Middle Eastern parallels, see Van Nieuwkerk 1995:68 and 128. 6. Teodosievski and Redzepoval984 is an autobiographical book with photographs, newspaper clippings, and testimonials. 7. Van Nieuwkerk claims that in Egypt there is a hierarchy, with nightclub entertainers at the bottom, wedding entertainers a little higher, and concertizing entertainers at the top (1995:122-132). 8. See Chapter 6 and Teodosievski and RedZepova 1984:137 and 194. Essentializing and racist press quotes from the 1960s and 1970s include: “She is a Gypsy girl, hot blooded, happy as a bird! For her money means a new hat,

Notes to pages 197-207. 3521

a ticket for the movies, a new dress, nothing more” (138); “Esma has a lovely dark complexion, it would be a wonderful advertisement for suntan creams and lotion; it has the shade of well-baked bread” (141); “this music reveals the Gypsy philosophy, the simple philosophy and wisdom close to all colors and tongues’ (143); “Gypsies are a strange people—they live in their own way from their very birth. ... Music is the soul and philosophy of Gypsies, simple, clear and deep. Music is their first and eternal occupation” (141).

9. Acton termed this the “artistic collusion between the oppressed and the oppressor” and illustrated his point with materials from Lemon’s book on Russian Romani performers (2000) and Van de Port's book on Serbian Romani musicians (1998) (Thomas Acton, Patrin listserv, April 18, 2001). 10. Stevo wrote that the idea of using young drummers arose almost by accident when their usual drummer could not attend a concert; he was visiting the home of a possible replacement drummer and spotted his young son, Enver Rasimov, playing the tarabuka. Enver became their trademark young performer (Teodosievski and RedZzepoval 984:39-40). When he was married off at a young age, he was replaced with another young drummer because a precedent was firmly established. 11. The longer films are Krst Rakoc (Rakoc’s Cross; Macedonian), Skopie '63, So Sila Tatko (How are you, father?), and Zapej Makedonijo (Sing, Macedonia! Macedonian); her shorter music videos were compiled and released by RTS (Radio Television Skopje) under the series titled Putevima Pesme: Esma Ansambl Teodosievski (Song Paths; MT 31001-5). There are many recent video clips of Esma performing Chaje Sukarije on YouTube; for example, a 2006 video of her performing a lip-synched version of Chaje Sukarije on BTR Skopje (one of the Romani TV channels) is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgIS8eJayUY, accessed June 10, 2010. The video includes greetings in Romani and Macedonian, from Roma in Germany to Roma in Macedonia and vice versa, and it gives a telephone number and price to order greetings. 12. In Chapter 3 I chronicled this process. Yugoslav Roma, for example,

gave their children Hindu names, and musicians used Indian themes in their Goéeks.

13. An exception is keyboardist Elvis Huna, who met Esma through her adopted son, Simeon Atanasov, with whom he served in the army. 14. Two other performers were awarded diplomatic passports several years ago, pop singer ToSe Proeski and rock guitarist Vlatko Stefanovski. Nick Nasev (a long-term fan of Esma) pointed out that of the three artists,

Esma had the most solid international reputation, but the government delayed her passport for years. He felt that the state preferred certain ambassadors to others (personal communication). 15. http://www.blic.rs/stara_arhiva/kultura/22531/Pozitivne-emocije-icisto-srce, March 27, 2002, accessed July 19, 2011; also see Cartwright 2005b:111.

16. In Chapter 13 I discuss how western recording contracts have had an impact on Balkan Romani musicians. 17. They include Nasvali me so Iljum (1 fell ill), available on her website, and Pomegu Dva Zivota (Between two lives [Macedonian], KMP: KA005). 18. http:/Awww.youtube.com/watch?v=K2ewdetNASI, accessed December 15, 2010. 19. IT thank Nick Nasev for these observations. In Chapter 8 I discussed similar controversies related to contests in Bulgaria, Turkey, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.

322 Notes to pages 207-216

20. See www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aDYAIA_plQ, accessed May 30, 2010. 21. http:/Wwww.esctoday.com/news/read/15114, accessed May 30, 2010.

22. This song can be found on the albums mentioned in note 17. The text is by Oskar Mahmut, the arrangement by Simeon Atanasov, and the melody by Esma.

23. The whole song can be found at _ http:/Wwww.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZzOukXu0ARE, accessed June 19, 2011.

Chapter I! 1. Fieldwork with Yunakov spanned the mid-1980s to the present and took place in Bulgaria and New York City, and on multiple tours. Portions of this chapter are reprinted from Silverman 2009, with permission of the publishers. 2. According to Seeman, dahli may come from dagli, the label used in Erdine, Turkey, for zurna and ttipan families who came to Turkey from the Yambol, Bulgaria, region in the nineteenth century. In Turkish, the word means mountain folk (2002: 260). 3. The ensemble Yunakov describes is similar to the urban Macedonian céalgija ensemble discussed in Chapter 2. 4. See www.ctmd.org/pages/enews0509yunakov.html, accessed December 15; 2010:

5. See John and Jean Comaroff 1993:34 and Ortner 1995:174. As noted

in Chapter 7, domination as well as resistance needs to be interrogated and its pluralities revealed.

6. I know of no wedding musicians who resisted the name changes. Whereas many Turks and a small number of Roma resisted the name changes, Roma in general did not resist. 7. In 2001 Yunakov purchased a condominium and, because of financial pressure, took a nonmusical job; he registered his own corporation and purchased a van. For the last decade, he has worked as a driver but continues to perform music at night and on weekends. Yunakov has always been the primary income producer in his family; he is extremely hard-working, and at one time he was supporting at least eight people. 8. He also introduced Merita and Raif to Americans involved in the Balkan Music and Dance Workshops sponsored by the East European Folklife Center, which facilitated their being asked to teach at the workshops. 9. Like many Balkan musicians, Yunakov cannot afford a stable booking agent; the Center for Traditional Music and Dance (www.ctmd.org) and Harold Hagopian of Traditional Crossroads (www.traditionalcrossroads.com) have served in that role, and when he first emigrated I did so informally as well. For the most part, Yunakov handles his own bookings, which has disadvantages and advantages. 10. Turks also notice that he is from Bulgaria, has not lived in Anatolia, and is Romani. It is obvious that Yunakov could never be fully accepted by

Armenians and Albanians because of language and religious differences, not to mention racism. Chapter 12 1. As mentioned in Chapter 8, world music emerged in the late 1980s in Europe and America as a marketing category (Taylor 1997; Feld 1994). Portions of this chapter are reprinted from Silverman 2007b with permission from the publishers.

Notes to pages 216-24! 523

2. Kusturica’s films include Time of the Gypsies; Underground; and Black

Cat, White Cat. They all prominently feature Romani music, and many of the Romani performers became famous as a result (see Iordanova 2001, 2002, 2003a, 2003b). See Chapter 13 for analysis of the role of Goran Bregovié, the music collaborator with Kusturica for Time of the Gypsies and Underground. 3. Roma-sponsored festivals such as the Khamoro festival in the Czech

Republic, Sutkafest in Skopje, and Romfest in Bulgaria (discussed in Chapter 8) serve overt political functions, but their cultural displays are sometimes just as stereotypical as non-Romani-sponsored events. The Guéa brass band festival in Serbia is sponsored by the regional administration and by private Serbian sponsors, all non-Roma. Although south Serbia is not the focus of this book, I underscore that the issue of representation deserves to be examined at Guéa. Serbian music garners international fame, but several participating Romani musicians have complained about discrimination at Guéa in the 1990s. 4. Gypsy Spirit, directed by Hungarian choreographer Zoltan Zsurafski, featured the Budapest Dance Ensemble (composed of non-Roma) performing dances from India, the Balkans, and Hungary (http://centrummanagement.org/gypsy-spirit/, accessed June 19, 2011; see Chapter 6 for a discussion of Gypsy dance suites). Romani musicians participated in the band. 5. Hedgehogs are traditional food for Travelers. 6. See Chapter 1; see Clark and Campbell 2000 for media coverage in England. 7. This can be seen a number of times in the film Jag Bari.

8. Tony Gatlif, director of Latcho Drom, was scheduled to film the events but he took ill; he sent his daughter instead. The resulting film No Man Is a Prophet in His Own Land is found on the DVD The Continuing Adventures of the Taraf de Haidouks (2006); also see Chapter 13. 9. At this point, Esma launched into a proud narrative of how tolerant Macedonia is toward Roma. As mentioned in Chapter 10, Esma is very patriotic; other Roma are similarly loyal even to states that have not protected their freedoms (see Lemon 2000). 10. The masterful Kalman Balogh Gypsy Cimbalom Band was prominently featured, with guest Romani musicians from Bulgaria Yashko Argirov and Slavcho Lambov. Yashko and Slavcho were extremely grateful for the opportunity to tour, but they complained of the low salary; indeed, several Bulgarian musicians turned down the offer to tour with Gypsy Spirit because the compensation was so poor. 11. According to Dusan, the purpose of the Amala school is “to promote Romani music and culture, to teach it to non-Roma, and to provide jobs for local Romani musicians. When they see non-Roma, especially western

people, interested in their music, they start to feel more pride in their culture.” DuSan served as a board member of Voice of Roma and also published the collection Rromani Songs from Central Serbia and Beyond (Ristié and Leonora 2004).

12. Cartwright documented the widespread discrimination of Romanian musicians in his report for Free Muse (Cartwright 2001); also see Cartwright 2007. 13. Note that condescension was not typical of all the managers I met. Winter's relationship to Taraf also needs to be seen in the light of the fact

that his managerial partner, Stephane Karo, is married to a relative of a Taraf member, and is thus considered adopted family. The managers of

324 ~——Notes to pages 242-256

Fanfare Ciocarlia, Henry Ernst and Helmut Neumann, are also married to Romani women from the Taraf village of Clejani; these managers are very respectful of their clients. 14. Zirbel’s research with “Gypsies” from Egypt who perform at European festivals supports this claim: “Most groups either did not realize or were just not interested in what they... signified for audiences” (1999:86). Exceptions to this observation are DuSan and Dragan Risti¢, discussed earlier in this chapter, who are also activists. 15. Imre discusses Hungarian Romani pop singer Gyozo Gaspar, leader of the band Romantic. His reality television show portrays his family as stereotypically childish, loud, argumentative, materialistic, and unable to lead a civilized life: “The show seems to confirm nothing but Gypsies’ inability to function as hard-working citizens” (2006:335). Gaspar seeks to fulfill expectations that non-Roma have of Roma, thereby making him unoffensive. 16. As discussed in Chapter 3, the question of unity is also an important political issue; to build a human rights movement, Roma have to establish unity based on something tangible. 17. For discussion of appropriation and music, see Born and Hesmondhalgh 2000 and Chapter 13. I am currently researching this topic. Chapter 13 1. In 2002, Taraf de Haidouks won the BBC Radio 3 Planet Europe

Award; in 2006 Fanfare Ciocarlia won the award and Gypsy-inspired DJ Shantel won the BBC Club Global Award; in 2005 Ivo Papazov won the BBC Planet Audience Award; in 2007 Gogol Bordello won the BBC Planet Americas award and Balkan Beat Box was nominated in the Club Global category; in 2008 French guitarist Thierry (Titi) Robin, known for Gypsy fusions, was nominated in the Europe category, and Balkan Beat Box was nominated in three categories (Newcomer, Club Global, and Culture Crossing); in 2006 Taraf and its label Crammed Discs won the Edison Award in Holland (equivalent to a Grammy). 2. For example, Jony Iliev's album Ma Maren Ma (Don't Beat Me) was on the European world music charts for two months in 2003; Fanfare Ciocarlia's Gili Garabdi (Secret Songs) was in the top twenty for two months in 2005 and in April it was number one; the Serbian Romani band Kal’s (Black) album Kal was on the charts for four months in 2006 and was number three

in the annual list; its Radio Romanista was number two in March 2009; Mahala Rai Banda’s Ghetto Blasters was number two in November 2009, and the remix album Electric Gypsyland 2 was on the top of the charts in December 2006 after two months in the top twenty. In 2007 Fanfare Ciocarlia’s

Queens and Kings was and was voted among the top ten world albums of 2007 by the British magazines Songlines, fRoots, and Mojo, and the French magazine Mondomix (www.asphalt-tango.de/news.html). Here are the albums in the top twenty of the European world music charts at some point in 2008 to 2010: Kal’s Radio Romanista, Shantel’s Disko Partizani and Planet Paprika, Koéani Brass Band's The Ravished Bride, the DJ compilations Balkan Beats 3 and Balkan Grooves, Balkan Beat Box’s Blue-Eved Black Boy, Boban and Marko Markovié's Devia, and the CD compilation accompanying Cartwright’s book Princes Among Men (www.wmce.de). Note that although sales were good for these albums, they never approximated the sales of the top pop and rock albums. Henry Ernst remarked that Joni Iliev’s album sold

Notes to pages 256-269 = 325

poorly, and that although Gili Garabdi sold 41,000 albums in two years this was very low in comparison to pop acts (personal communication). Appropriation of Romani music into the popular music realm is the subject of my current research project.

3. For example, after the 1999 Gypsy Caravan tour, Robert Browning of the World Music Institute wanted to develop the potential musical relationship between the Rajasthani and the Flamenco artists in preparation for the 2001 tour. He secured a commissioning grant from the Rockefeller

Foundation for the piece Maharaja Flamenco; it was performed in the 2001 tour, but the collaborative project seemed to neither excite audiences nor lead to future work. 4. The creativity of Asphalt Tango was recognized by their WOMEX and World Music Charts Europe Top Label Award in 2006; in 2009 they were honored as one of WOMEX’s top twenty labels. Asphalt Tango’s roster of Romani artists includes Fanfare Ciocarlia, Kal, Jony Tliev, Esma RedZepova and as of 2009 Mahala Rai Banda (see www.asphalt-tango.de). The Western European companies Asphalt Tango, Piranha, Essay, Divano Productions, and Crammed Discs currently dominate the Romani music market. 5. The Macedonian brass band Koéani has also collaborated with several eroups as a result of its managers’ efforts. Koéani played with two Italian jazz combos: Koéani Orkestar meets Paola Fresu and Salis Antonello: Live (Manifesto 2005); and Harmana Ensemble and Koéani Orkestar: Ulixes (Materiali Sonori 2002). Koéani, unfortunately, has suffered because of an ugly split between its founder Naat Veliov and Crammed Discs (more specifically, Stephane Karo and Michel Winter of Divano Productions), regarding money (Cartwright 2005:136-138). Now there are two bands: Koéani Orkestar whose name is registered in Belgium by Crammed Discs and which is managed by Divano Productions, and King Naat Veliov and the Original Koéani Orkestar which records on the small German label Plane. 6. One video (accessed January 2, 2011), for example, shows Alyosha performing Godzila with Orkestar Universal on Veselina TV in Bulgaria. 7. The popularity of Taraf and Fanfare may be due to the Romanian meters (mostly 2/4 and 4/4) being more accessible to non-Romani audiences

than southern Balkan meters (such as 11/16, 7/16, and 9/16); however, all Balkan Romani groups now perform 2/4 or 4/4 kyuchek/€oéek/manele. These two groups achieved their popularity in part thanks to the efforts of their managers and record producers. Note that Ernst, Neumann, and Karo are all married to women from Clejani, Taraf’s village. This cements their ties (and also their obligations) to Romania and the musicians. 8. On the 1999 North American Gypsy Caravan tour, Taraf accordionist Ionitsa asked Neshko Neshev to play Ionitsa’s accordion “for good luck.” He was clearly in awe of Neshko’s playing. 9. Similarly, the two Bulgarian musicians on the 2004 Gypsy Spirit tour, Yasko Argirov and Slavcho Lambov, were grateful for the work but com-

plained of low pay and short performances (see Chapter 12). We might think that all Roma-Roma relationships would be less problematic than non-Roma—Roma ones, but this is not the case. Although Romani Routes, a division of the NGO Voice of Roma that arranges tours in the United States, aims to avoid the exploitation that non-Romani managers might impose on Romani musicians, sometimes it is accused of the very same exploitation. 10. Taraf’s most famous collaborators are the Kronos Quartet (Caravan

album from 2000; see Broughton 1999). I too had a role in this collaboration: after several phone conversations with violinist David Harrington

326 ~——Notes to pages 269-272

about Romani bands that might be suitable for collaboration with the quartet, I suggested Taraf because of its string base. 11. Beissinger asserts that earlier manele (called manea and performed in the eighteenth-century Ottoman Phanariot or Greek-run court in Ro-

mania) possibly resembled the contemporary genre in rhythm but differed from it in many ways (also see Garflas 1981 and 1984). She writes (2005, 2007) that Romanians in the 1980s forged the genre from musics covertly imported from Serbia and Bulgaria (also see Voiculescu 2005). I posit that Romanians themselves may overemphasize the linear unbroken connections from the eighteenth century so that manele seems more home-grown, and thus legitimate. The same recasting occurred in Bulgaria, where scholars emphasized the historical roots of wedding music to legitimize it.

12. Ziff and Rao define cultural appropriation as “the taking—from a culture that is not one’s own—of intellectual property, cultural expressions or artifacts, history and ways of knowledge and profiting at the expense of the people of that culture” (1997:1 and their footnote 1). 13. The literature on ownership of culture is vast; recent scholarship on UNESCO initiatives to copyright culture examines the legal and theoretical frameworks of this debate (M. Brown 2004; Kurin 2004, KirshenblattGimblett 2004). 14. See Gojkovié 1977 and Djordjevié 1984 (1910). In his discussion of culture and appropriation, Samson states “almost axiomatically, Rom musics from all over the region” can be subsumed in the category synthetic (2005:44).

15. This is related to the professional role and the requirement to provide music that the patron knows and desires. Samson and Pettan remind us that Kosovo Roma have appropriated to remain neutral ina war. Samson writes: “Kosovo Rom musicians deliberately adopted transnational idioms, including Western popular music, if not to promote a universalist ideology then at least to maintain ethnic neutrality at a time of prevailing ethnic tension and dispute” (2005:46; also see Pettan 1996b and 1996c). 16. In the United States, for example, Macedonian Romani drummer Seido Salifoski (see Chapter 5) performs with the Zlatne Uste Brass Band, Serbian Romani accordionist Peter Stan performs with Slavic Soul Party, and clarinetist Catherine Foster was trained by and performed for many years with Yuri Yunakov. Zlatne Uste has been particularly sensitive to ethical issues. They routinely credit the sources of their music, they encourage local Balkan Roma to attend their events, and the proceeds of their annual Golden Festival have been donated to NGOs working for peace and justice in the Balkans. 17. At the Portland showing of the film When the Road Bends: Tales from a Gypsy Caravan, a tribal dance representative proudly announced that his troupe was “keeping the Gypsy spirit alive.” On the other hand, dancers such as Artemis (Elizabeth Mourat) and Helene Ericksen have done field-

work in Romani communities and educate their students about the political situation of Roma (www.serpentine.org/artemis/artemis.htm; www. helene-eriksen.de/). Tribal dancer Kajira Djoumahna has interviews with Esma and activist Sani Rifati on her website (www.blacksheepbellydance. com/writings/files/rom.html). 18. Bregovié collaborated on Time of the Gypsies and Underground. See Iordanova 2002, Gocié 2001, and Malvinni 2004 for a discussion of Kusturica.

Notes to pages 272-275 = 327

19. Graceland (1986), a collaboration among Paul Simon, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and others, won awards, sold millions of copies, and even figured in the anti-apartheid movement. Simon’s lyrics contributed to the project, and he clearly respected his collaborators, paid them well, toured with them, and donated to political causes. But in terms of ownership, Simon’s name appeared above the title and he copyrighted the music (Feld 1988). In the end, perhaps “musicians fill the role of wage laborers” (2000a:242).

20. Deep Forest's 1992 multimillion-dollar-selling album features digitally sampled and manipulated African sounds mixed with synthesized tracks. The liner notes are stereotypical romanticizations, but they ask listeners to contribute to a Pygmy Fund (which has received little money; Feld 2000a:271). As mentioned in Chapters 3 and 12, world music is often

tied to soft social altruism, in part to make fans feel good. But the real money being made is in record sales, and “hardly any of this money circulation returns to or benefits the originators of the cultural or intellectual property in question” (274). 21. Feld asks if we should believe Peter Gabriel when he says he wants to make third-world artists as famous as he is, and when Youssou N’Dour gives him special thanks (1994:271). Feld asked Charles Keil: “How do you

respond to Joseph Shabalala when he says that without Paul Simon Ladysmith Black Mambazo would have never gotten a record contract with Warner Brothers?” CK: “T would tell Joseph to be content with Shanachie Records. .. . If that is the price to pay for keeping Warner Brothers and Paul Simon from having the copyright and ownership rights to those erooves, it is worth it.” SF: “T don’t think you can say that to third-world musicians. You just can’t... .” CK: “Everybody is hoping that they are going to make money because of this ownership principle of music, but they never do. All the musicians with the exception of Michael Jackson end up poor’ (Keil and Feld 1994:315).

22. The list of Romani artists and groups who have recorded Erdelezi includes Serbian singer DZej, Macedonian performers Muharem Serbezovski and Koéani, the Bulgarian band DZipsi Aver, the French band Bratsch, and the Hungarian singer Mitsou. Non-Romani singers of Erdelezi include Albanian vocalist Merita Halili. Bregovic rerecorded Erdelezi in collaborations with Greek performers Giorgos Dalaras and Alkisti Protopsalti, with Polish singer Kayah, and with Turkish pop star Sezen Aksu (who recorded a whole album of his songs; see Stokes 2003).

23. The Magdolna version can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/ watch ?v=t-H47c3xnZo, accessed June 19, 2011.

24. The paper wrote: “Balkan music is a volatile concoction. Though instantly identifiable, it can also be difficult to define. Selling it outside the region is even harder” (www.f[td.de/karriere_management/business_english/149236.html). Bregovic’s website contains this press excerpt: “The fashion of reviving all sorts of popular music in most spectacular manners

has recently set its heart on the musical world of the Gypsies. It’s been sixty years since the Belgian guitarist Django Reinhardt conducted, for the first time, an orchestra, becoming thus the greatest reviver of Gypsy music. Today a number of names join him in this enterprise, but no one does it with the intelligence of the Yugoslav Goran Bregovié. The result of his inventions resembles no other. He is light years from them, both by means but even more by his ingenuity’ (Luis Martin, ABC, April 25, 2001, www.goranbregovic.co.yu, accessed January 2, 2011).

5328 Notes to pages 276-277

25. Note that despite his notorious reputation among Roma, Bregovié has always been able to hire Romani musicians. We can benignly suggest that perhaps he pays musicians well, or else, cynically, that Romani musicians are desperate for work. In either case, his ownership and copyright practices have not changed. In his 2009-2011 tours, however, he seemed to employ fewer Romani musicians. The lineup included a string quartet, a male vocal sextet, a five-piece brass band, two Bulgarian female singers, and lead singer and percussionist Alen Ademovié (whose father, Ninoslav, does many of Bregovic’s arrangements).

26. I would like to thank the late Mirjana LauSevié for several fruitful conversations about Bregovié and for drawing my attention to several published interviews with him.

27. For example, “Hybridity can rebound from its discursive origins in colonial fantasies and oppressions and can become instead a practical and creative means of cultural rearticulation and resurgence from the margins’ (Born and Hesmondhalgh 2000:19). Postmodernists tend to see a “resolution of issues of appropriation into unproblematic notions of crossover and pluralism.” Aesthetic pluralism is then divorced from extant socioeconomic differences and “held to be an autonomous and elfective force for transforming those differences. The aesthetic is held to portend social change; it can stand .. . for wider social change” (21). Hutnyk critiques this stance of postmodernists (2000; see Chapter 3).

28. African Americans are a useful comparison as a marginal group with musical power. Monson’s statement that “African-Americans invert the expected relationship between hegemonic superculture and subculture” (1994:286) could apply equally to Roma. But is this another from of exploitation? Has the socioeconomic position of blacks improved as a result of their music becoming popular throughout the world? Simon Jones (a celebratory scholar) asserts that when white British youths adopt black musical styles they are implicitly rejecting racism (1988). Others, however, focus on how black music never lost its imputed exoticism and primitiveness even when taken into white commercial forms (Born and Hesmondhalgh 2000:22-23). In jazz, white musicians have tended to receive greater rewards; similarly, in rock, “its white stars have generally been paid much more attention than black innovators” (23). 29. Keil, for example, is concerned that mediated musics, because of their frozen electronic form, are separated from communities (Keil and Feld 1994).

30. Perhaps the earliest critic of commercial forms of recording and appropriation was Alan Lomax, who warned of a cultural gray-out, a homogenization of the world’s music toward Western forms. Similarly, the New York Times music critic Jon Pareles wrote in his 1988 article “Pop Passports—At a Price”: “When Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel and Talking Heads sell millions of records using Jamaican reggae and South African

mbaganga, the sources deserve a piece of the action. But to reach the world audience how much will these musicians have to change—and for better or worse?” (cited in Feld 1994:267). 31. Although some writers have grouped the bands together, there is also dissention among them. When Beirut band leader Zach Condon told New York magazine that “half of what makes that band [Gogol Bordello] work is the fact that the singer [Eugene Hutz] dresses crazy,” Hutz retorted: “To me, that’s digging your open grave. For us, the whole movement was about getting people to think about authenticity rather than the ironic plastic crap we've been force-fed for generations. Then, of course,

Notes to pages 278-280 =. 529

there’s people who are simply in it for fashion” (Lynskey 2006). On the other hand, Ori Kaplan of Balkan Beat Box claims to be inspired by Hutz, with whom he performed for three years in Gogol Bordello, and Kaplan and Tamir Muskat of Balkan Beat Box collaborated with Hutz and Oren Kaplan on the JUF (Jewish Ukrainian Friendship project). 32. Although Shantel himself has never claimed to be Romani, the liner notes to the album Gypsy Beats and Balkan Bangers by DJ Russ Jones clearly state “he was captivated by his Gypsy heritage” (2006). Gypsy wannabes do liberally populate the club scene. Non-Romani dancers at the New York Gypsy Festivals often dress in versions of the fantasy Gypsy. The outfits of musicians and dancers in Gypsy Punk bands also reinforce the image of a circus (see Chapter 12). 33. I would like to thank Garth Cartwright for many comments on this chapter. On his website, www.bealkanbeats.de, accessed January 2, 2011, Soko reports that as early as 1990 he was DJing using Balkan music at the Berlin Mudd Club; his April 2007 performance in Paris featured “Gypsy Punk, electrogypsy, hiphop, Klezmer, Balkan and Gypsy, Reggae, tradi-

tional, gypsy, hungary, brass bands of the Balkans [sic].” Soko also has several albums titled Balkan Beats (Dimova 2007). Iam currently conducting research on the DJ scene in Western Europe. 34. For example, a video in Greek and Romani was released by Payner in Bulgaria by Sakis Coucos. The refrain is also used in the Turkish/Bulgarian/Romani song “Yak Motoru” (Light the motor, Turkish), sung by Habibi and Malki Kristalcheta (The Young Crystals) on Payner. Versions by Paultalia of Kyustendil and Kristali of Montana, Bulgaria, are on www. cocek.com. A Romanian manele version was released by Brandy.

35. Indeed, parallels can be drawn with American minstrel shows where whites enacted stereotypes of blacks, and sometimes even blacks wore blackface (see Johnson 2003 and Lott 1993). 36. For example, at the 2000 British Barbican Gypsy festival, Fanfare Ciocarlia was paired with Transglobal Underground, a multi-ethnic London electronic fusion group that has its own issues of appropriation (see Hesmondhalgh 2002). 37. Similarly, Feld reports that when he asked African-American jazzman Herbie Hancock if he had any moral concerns when he copied a central African phrase on a remake of his hit “Watermelon Man,” Hancock answered, “It’s just a brothers kind of thing” (Feld 2000a:257). With Hancock and the fusion group Zap Mama (composed of urban Africans and hyphenated African-European musicians), there is the issue of “the place of condescension, even subjugation within a sphere overtly marked by inspiration and homage.” Hancock and Zap Mama are not critiqued for cultural theft the same way that Europeans and Americans are; they are even hailed as “cultural ambassadors.” “Nonetheless, the power differentials separating cosmopolitan African Americans, Afropeans, and Africans from their forest pygmy muses cannot be elided” (270). 38. For example, Tamir Muskat of Balkan Beat Box explains: “Our connection to the Balkans, blood wise, is both of our families came from Eastern Europe. ... The beginning of our Balkan Beat Box experience was falling in love with bands like Taraf de Haidouks, Fanfare Ciocarlia, so many others. That just started the whole thing for us. ... And then incorporated into what we do and mixing it with all this beautiful Mediterranean music we grew up on, from Turkey to Greece to Egypt, Morocco, and tons of other places. That would be part of why we use the name. The other part is just so much love

330 Notes to pages 280-285

to our music, kind of a nonsense approach, not to take it too serious. We are not only necessarily dealing with Balkan music. We are and we will deal with music from all around the world. So don’t take it too serious there.” http:/Awww.essayrecordings.com/essay_bbb.htm, accessed January 2, 2011.

39. Spin magazine wrote: “Condon may hail from Albuquerque, call Brooklyn his home, and choose Lebanon's capitol for his nom-de-plume, but this teenager sounds straight up Balkan. His orchestral gypsy dirges feature a string of somber horns that sound fueled on the tears from a torn Soviet Bloc” (www.Spin.com/articles/beirut June 23, 2006, accessed June 10, 2010). In fact, Condon has recently abandoned the Balkans and has more recently collaborated with a Zapotec Mexican brass band. 40. I would like to thank my colleague John Fenn for this term. 41. A few Roma collaborated in Shukar Collective's album of electronic remixes, Urban Gypsy (2005, Riverboat Records). Producer Marc Hollander realizes that in all remixes “electronics are added by a producer

rather than a member of the band, which distinguishes it from fusion from within, though this too can be very satisfying for all participants” (Dacks 2005). He, as well as Dacks, still seems to emphasize the fairness of the process: “In the end, call it world fusion or party music, all parties are concerned to make sure each project is an equitable work situation and generates goodwill amongst the participants” (Dacks 2005). 42. As I mentioned in Chapters 11 and 12, Yuri appeared with Eugene at the 2005 New York Gypsy Festival and the 2008 Herdeljezi festival. Yuri was projected to appear with J.U.F. on the album Balkan Gypsy Regegaeton (www.myspace.com/jewishukrainianfreundschalt, accessed June 10,

2010), although it appears that this project has been shelved as Balkan Beat Box and Gogol Bordello have become more famous. Yuri told me this relationship with Hutz was “good for business.” 43. Iamcurrently researching new manifestations of and reactions to of Gypsy Punk and the DJ scene. Also see Stankova 2009 and Szeman 2009. 44. In response to these accusations, Shantel said of Cartwright: “T think he is racist. Who is he to judge this is wrong and this is right?” (Lynskey 2006). Actually Cartwright is by no means against fusions; he admires musicians “who listen with open ears and wish to share music” and differentiates them from “those... who simply lust after pop fame.” For example, he thinks the Beirut album is “very much a student effort .. . to bring Balkan brass into a pop-rock setting;’ he admires the Hawk and a Hacksaw album The Way the Wind Blows, which was recorded in Zece Prajini with members of Fanfare laying down brass; “it’s eerie sounding and not imitation, more using the Rom musicians to colour a folk rock canvas” (personal communication). 45. Roma also can't afford to buy western albums. As I discussed in Chapter 12, Macedonian Roma attending Gogol Bordello performances at the 2005 New York Gypsy Festival were baffled by the music and offended at the visual spectacle. They stood on the side and either laughed or sneered. 46. According to a British Daily Mail article, the Roma of Glod:

...eke out meagre livings peddling scrap iron or working patches of land... . Just four villagers [out of 1,000] have permanent employment in the nearby towns... while the rest live off what little welfare benefits they get... . But now the villagers of this tiny, close-knit community have angrily accused the comedian of exploiting them, after discovering his new blockbuster film portrays them as a backward eroup of rapists, abortionists and prostitutes, who happily engage in casual incest. They claim film-makers lied to them about the true

Notes to pages 285-290 = 3531

nature of the project, which they believed would be a documentary about their hardship, rather than a comedy mocking their poverty and isolation. Villagers say they were paid just £3 each for this humiliation, for a film that took around £27 million at the worldwide box office in its first week of release. Now they are planning to scrape together whatever modest sums they can muster to sue Baron Cohen and fellow film-makers, claiming they never gave their consent to be so cruelly misrepresented [Pancevski and Ionescu 2006]. Villager testimonies show just how marginal these Roma were: “Our region is very poor, and everyone is trying hard to get out of this misery. It is outrageous to exploit people’s misfortune like this to laugh at them.’ When a Hollywood film crew descended on a nearby run-down motel last September, with their flashy cars and expensive equipment, locals thought their lowly community might finally be getting some of the investment it so desperately needs.” The filmmaking process replicated the very prejudice it seeks to mock. Indeed, when the non-Romani local vice-mayor was asked whether the villagers felt offended, he replied: “They got paid so I am sure they are happy. These gipsies will even kill their own father for money.” Moreover, Sasha Cohen “insisted on traveling everywhere with bulky bodyguards, because, as one local said: ‘He seemed to think there were crooks among us.” Finally, no villagers have seen the film since they can't afford a trip to the nearest movie theater, 20 miles away (Pancevski and Ionescu 2006). This echoes the situation with expensive western albums that feature Balkan Ro-

mani music: Balkan Roma can't afford to buy them. The Mail article reported that one actor from Glod said: “Tt was very uncomfortable at the end and there was animal manure all over our home. We endured it because we are poor and badly needed the money, but now we realise we were cheated and taken advantage of in the worst way.” Another said: “All those things they said about us in the film are terribly humiliating. They said we drink horse urine and sleep with our own kin. You say it’s comedy, but how can someone laugh at that?” Another actor said: “What I saw looks disgusting. Even if we are uneducated and poor, it is not fair that someone does this to us.” A local official helped the crew but he claims he was never told what sort of movie it was, and that the crew failed to get a proper permit: “I was happy they came and I thought it would be useful for our country, but they never bothered to ask for a permit, let alone pay the official fees. I realise I should have taken some legal steps but I was simply naive enough to believe that they actually wanted to do something good for the community here. They came with bodyguards and expensive cars and just went on with their job, so we assumed someone official in the capital Bucharest had let them film.” The production company that facilitated the filming claims the crew

donated computers and TV sets to the local school and the villagers, but villagers have denied this. “The school got some notebooks, but that was it. People are angry now, they feel cheated” (Pancevski and Ionescu 2006). 47. According to Borenstein (2006), Borat is both indebted to and a par-

ody of the films of Emir Kusturica, and this is why the song “Erdelezi” is featured so prominently. Borenstein sees the “over-the-top squalor and old-country festivities” as similar to the film Time of the Gypsies. 48. This situation is similar to performers from other marginal groups; see Taylor 1997, 2007. As Feld observes, Central African Pygmies “are disempowered precisely because they have never gained control over how they are discursively represented” (2000a:262). Similarly Johnson discusses the construction of “blackness” and its appropriation by whites (2003).

5332 ~~ Notes to pages 290-292

49. Taussig aptly writes: “Once the mimetic has sprung into being, a terrifically ambiguous power is established: there is born the power to represent the world, yet that same power is a power to falsify, mask and pose. The two powers are inseparable” (1993:42-43). 50. In commenting on third-world musicians, Keil claims corporations and privileged people profit the most from collaborations: “With the high-

quality recording and distribution and all the rest, ninety percent of the money winds up going to white people... who are already in positions of power: the gatekeepers, the copyright holders, and the distributors” (Keil and Feld 1994:317). But Feld says the same moves that are being read as “cannibalizing” from an ethical point of view are also read as “empowering in various third-world locations” (315).

Notes to page 293 = 533

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364 ~~ References

Index

Page references in italics indicate illustrations.

Abdi, Faik, 170, 298n24 “Alo Taxi,” 30, 133

accordion, 131, 132 Alyosha (Aleksei Atanasov

Acton, Thomas, 47, 50, 257-58, Stefanov), 34, 36-37,

322n9 271-72, 326n6 Ademovié, Alen, 329n25 Amala Festival (Ukraine), 163 Ademovié, Ninoslav, 329n25 Amala Summer School (Valjevo,

adet (custom of), 76, 77 Serbia), 255, 324n11 aesthetic pluralism, Amalipe (Veliko Ttirnovo,

329n27 Bulgaria), 169

African Americans amanes, 36, 301n13

identity of, 55-56 Amanet, 102 musical power, 329n28 169 and minstrel shows, Amet: “Belgiiskite Vecheri,” 181 330n35 Amza Tairov, 35, 37, 166, 271

as a marginal group with America for Bulgaria Foundation,

and Roma, 35, 45, 122 Amzoski, Severdzan, 100 Ahmeti, Muharem, 36, 188 Ana-Maria, 184

Aida, 224-25 Andreya, 183 Ajvazi, NeSo, 64, 101, 104 Angelite, 270

Akana ka khela (now So-and-So Angelov, Mitko, 224

will dance), 86-87 Angelova, Lisa, 321n5

Aksu, Sezen, 328n22 animal trainers, 25

Albania AnsambIl Teodosievski. See Albanian influence in Esma—Ansambl

Skopje, 28 Teodosievski

Albanian style in Romani Ansel, 122

music, 35 anthems, 48, 50, 51, 169, 173, 188,

as Decade of Roma Inclusion 190, 211, 261 signatory, 297n22 Anti-Discrimination Act Macedonians vs. Albanians, (Bulgaria), 12

298n24 Antonio EI Pipa Flamenco

modernity in, 320n36 Ensemble, 235, 243

Albanian music, 231-32 anxious account of appropriation.

Ali, Muhammad, 301n15 See celebratory vs. anxious

Ali, Salif, 16, 17, 135, 136, 142, account of appropriation

202, 233-34 Appadurai, Arjun, 42-43, “Allah Allah,” 304—5n18 81, 268

appropriation, 273-75, 279, and modernity, 54, 248, 251-52 327n12, 327nn14—17, and nationalism, 163-64, 251

329n27, 329n30 of the past, nostalgia for, 246 arabesk, 177 search for, 22 Arabic music, 231 as a social construction, 53

“Arabski,” 30 and tradition, 53, 247-48

Ara/Diapason, 34, 179 See also heritage and the

Ara TV (Bulgaria), 34 Bulgarian socialist state; Aretxaga, Begona, 129, 147 purity

Argirov, Yashko, 136, 313n26, autoexoticism, 258 314n7, 324n10, 326n9 Azirov, Menderes, 68, 103-4,

Arif, Bekir, 298n24 310n32

Armeanca, Dan, 270 Azirov, Sabuhan, 104 “Tag Bari,” 273 Azirov, Severdzan, 64, 68-69, Armenian diaspora, 39 103-4, 119, 232, 310n32

Armenian music, 231 Azis (Vasil Boyanov), 188-94, 270 arranged marriages, 71, 87 “Antigeroi, 191-92, 319n29 Artemis (Elizabeth Mourat), autobiography of, 188-89

327d clothing/image of, 190

artistic collusion between discrimination experienced by,

oppressed and oppressor, 189

258, 322n9 “Dnevnik I Praznik,” 193

artistic/cultural adoration, 246, “Edin Zhivot Ne Stiga,” 193-94

253 gender ambiguity/transgression

Asenov, Hari, 313n26 by, 188, 189-90, 191, 192-

Ashkalia, 295n1 93, 197, 295n5, 319n25

Asphalt Tango, 216, 218, 270-71, “Hajde Pochvay Me,” 190

287, 290-91, 326n4 homosexual wedding of,

assimilation, 8, 66, 252 189-90, 319n25 “Astargja o horo,” 85 “Hvani Me,” 190

Ataka party. See Attack Indian motifs used by, 304n16 Atanasov, Simeon, 211, 212-14, influence of, 194 216-17, 249, 254, 322n13, influences on, 191

323n22 “Kak Boli,” 193

Atanasov, Vergilii, 300n7 “Kazvash che me Obichash,”

Atanasovski, Pece, 203 185 atsingani, 295n1 Kralyat, 191

Attack (Ataka; Bulgaria), 12-13, live performances in Chicago

163, 184, 197, 298n30, by, 318n14 317n5, 320n39 and Marinova, 188, 193-94

Aura, 169 musical background/upbringing

authenticity of, 189 clothing as conveying, “Nakarai Me,” 193

250-51 “Ne Kazvai Ljube Leka Nosht,” conceptions of, 54, 237 191 of the ghetto, 248 Night Show, 191

of Gypsy music festivals, “No Kazvam Ti, Stiga,” 193

246-49 “Nyama,” 192-93

and hybridity, 46, “Obicham Te,” 190

215; 292 oriental stereotype used

in instrumentation, 248 by, 194

marketing of, 241, 244-52, popularity of, 188-89, 197,

250-52, 257 319n23

366 ~—s Index

at Romfest, 166 Balogh, Jozsef, 321n5

shock value in his Balogh, Kalman, 160, 263, performances, 190 324n10 “Teb Obicham,” 193 banja (bath ceremony), 91 “Tochno Sega,” 194 “Barack Obama Kyuchek,” 30, versatility/talent as a singer, 301n15

190-91 Barbican: The 1000 Year Journey

“Zajdi Zajdi Jasno Sonce,” (London, 2000 and 2005),

319027 242, 245, 259, 330n36 Barev, Ivo, 314n14

babina (party for a newborn), 83 Baro Bajrami or Seker Bajram

Babu§&, 36 (big or sweet festival), 83

Baez, Joan, 134, 312n15 Bartok, Béla, 300n4

bajraktari (flag bearers), 81, 93, Basch, Linda, 41, 303n6

309n21 Basement Jaxx, 280

Bajraktarovic, Mirko, 10 bass guitar, 312n9 Bajram, Amdi, 88, 93-94, 215, bath ceremony, 91

298n24, 308n10 bathhouses, 91

Bajramovié, Saban, 51, 188, 270, BBC (British Broadcasting

305n22 Corporation), 290

“Djeli Mara,” 276 BBC (British Broadcasting

bakshish (tips), 138 Corporation) Radio Balgova, Magda, 173 3 award, 161 Balicki, Asen: Roma Portraits, 84, bear leaders, 25

307n4, 307n20 beauty contests, 33, 120-21, 170, Balkana, 150 301n18 Balkan Beat Box, 280, 325n1, Beirut (band), 280, 329n31,

330n31, 330—-31n38 331n44

Blue-Eyed Black Boy, 325n2 Beissinger, Margaret, 327n11

“Red Bula,” 283 belly dancers

Balkan Beats 3, 325n2 association with prostitutes, 108 Balkan Beats music, 3, 20, 43, in Bulgaria, 121, 122-23

269, 281, 330n33 and cengi dancing, 108

Balkan culture/identity, 195, and cocek/kyuchek dance,

320nn37-38 98, 112, 116, 118, 119-20,

Balkan Fever (Vienna), 242 121-23 | Balkan Grooves, 325n2 commercial success of, 123

Balkanika (cable television as exotic/oriental others, 116,

channel), 183, 195, £2123

320n35 exposed skin of, 32, 98, 112

Balkan Music and Dance non-Romani, 275

Workshops, 104, 105-6, stomach movements of, 32

212, 234 tribal, 275, 327n17

Balkan Roma. See Roma, Balkan Turkish, 231 Balkan Romani dialect, 296n13 wedding guests’ reactions to, 98 Balkanton, 130, 146, 147-48, 152, Belmont (Bronx, New York)

311n6 Balkan/Macedonian Roma in,

242 education in, 66 Balkanturist (Bulgaria), 139 identity/ethnicity in, 66-71

Balkan Traffic Festival (Belgium), 13-14, 299n33

Ballet Troupe of Macedonian as an Italian neighborhood,

Television, 32-33, 119-20, 13-14

208 male/females roles in, 79 Index 367

Belmont (continued) Bowers, Jake, 245, 253 as multigenerational, 64-65 Boyarin, Daniel and Jonathan, music/dance as emblematic of 39, 40

Romani identity, 4 Boyd, Joe, 149-51, 160, 161, 229

musicians in, 99-106, 310n32 Brah, Avtar, 302-—3n2

Muslim practices in, 65-66 Brandy, 330n34

Roma’s contact with relatives in brass bands, 25, 300n8

Macedonia, 59 See also Boban Markovié

weddings in, 95-99, brass music festival (Kumanovo,

309-10nn26-28 Macedonia, 2008), 301n18,

work and family life in, 63-66 (Guéa, Serbia), 324

young male dancers in, 112-13 Bratsch: “Erdelezi,” 328n22

Yuri Yunakov in, 229-31 bratstvo i jedinstvo (brotherhood

Berance (a line dance), 114 and unity), 10, 210

Beyashi, 295n1 Bregovic, Goran, 275-80,

Bhabha, Homi, 42-43 324n2

Bhairava scale/rag, 300n6 Balkan music revived by, 277, Bijandipe (Macedonian television _ 328n24 program), 33, 298n24 “Chaje Sukarije” 275

bijav (celebration), 86 criticized as an appropriator,

See also weddings 275-78, 284, 329n25

Bijelo Dugme, 275 “Erdelezi,’ 218, 277

“Djurdjevdan’/“Erdelezi,” 277 Karmen with a Happy Ending, Bikov, Sasho, 36-37 278 Bikova, Yuliya, 184 “Kustino Oro,” 278 “Bingo,” 30 “Mesecina,” 276

Bistijani, 33 musical background of, 275

Bitola (Macedonia), 14, 62, 70, on the peace-making aspect of

102, 114 music, 288

Bitolska Gaida (a line dance), reputation/success of, 276-77

114, 120 on the Roma, 278-79

Black Cat, White Cat (Kusturica), Romani language used by, 279

324n2 Roman musicians employed by, black market, 146, 147 329n25 blackness, white appropriation of, Tales and Songs from Weddings

332n48 and Funerals, 276

blaga rakija (sweet brandy) ritual, Time of the Gypsies, 327n18

75-76, 95, 99, 310n28 Underground, 275-76, 327n18

Blagica Pavlovska, 101 Brestovica, 157

Blanc, Cristina, 41, 303n6 Brettel, Caroline, 79, 303n4 blaxploitation movies, 258 Briggs, Charles, 54, 55-56

blue color, 92 Brody, Lauren, 233

Bocina, Aco, 216, 270 Brown, Catherine, 111 Bojadziev, Duke, 216 Browning, Robert, 236, 247, 256,

Boni, 184 259, 261-62, 326n3

Borat (Cohen), 269, 270, 289-91, Bryceson, Deborah, 59

331-32nn46-47 BTR (Macedonian television Borenstein, Eliot, 332n47 station), 33, 170, 218 bori (bride), 85 Buchanan, Donna, 129 See also weddings Bucovina Club (Frankfurt),

Borisova, Natalia, 321n5 281-82

Bosnia and Hercegovina, 297n22 Budapest Dance Ensemble, 118,

bouzouki, 302n23 243, 324n4

368 Index

Bugarsko (a line dance), 114 Cappadocia, Rufus, 105 Bulgaria Caramel, 174 belly dancers in, 121, 122-23 Cartwright, Garth, 189, 217-18, brideprice customs in, 273, 281, 284, 287, 304n16, 308n11 319n23, 331n44 communism’s fall in, 151 Princes Among Men,

as Decade of Roma Inclusion VAS) (WA

signatory, 297n22 ceiz (bride’s trousseau), 90

democracy in, 152 celebrations, transnational, economic crisis in (1990s), 19, 83-106 15155 babina (party for a newborn), European Union membership 83 OG 12 165.4172; Baro Bajrami or Seker Bajram

298n30 (big or sweet festival), 83

in the Irag war, 159, 314n10 circumcision, 83, 89, 307nn1-2,

recording industry in, 33-34, 308n15

146-48, 152, 155, 302n22, combined, 307n2

313nn26-29 engagement parties, 88, 96

Romani population in, 12, getting the bride, 93-95, 97,

297n25 309n21, 309nn23-25

Romani rights in, 12—13, 196 guest musicians at, 93, 96

socialist, 10, 16-17, 33, 119, henna and bath ceremonies, 164, 227, 292-93, 299n39, 88-91, 96-97, 308n13,

302n21 (see also heritage 308-9n16

and the Bulgarian socialist Herdelezi (St. George’s Day)

state) (Herdeljezi, Erdelezi),

western currency/goods in, 146 32, 33, 83-84

See also Sofia home videos of, 80

196 309nn19-20

Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, igranka (dance party), 91-93,

Bulgarian language, xiii, xiv Kurban Bajrami (festival of Bulgarian Ministry of Education, sacrifice), 83

169, 316n21 of life-cycle vs. calendrical Bulgarian Socialist Party, events, 83

298n25 money spent on, 84, busking, 236 307nn2-3 Butler, Judith, 5, 192, 194, 295n5, musicians in Belmont, 99-106,

320n3 1 310n32

Butler, Ljiljana, 270 overview of, 83-85 patriarchal values in rituals, 94

cable television, 34, 311n12 Ramazan (fasting month), 83

cacak (a line dance), 114 tensions surrounding, 84,

Cafe Antarsia, 268 307n1

calgi (instrumental music ora Vasilica (St. Basil's Day), 83 musical instrument), 177 weddings, generally, 83-85,

calgici (wedding Romani 307nn2-3 (see also wedding musicians in Turkey), music; weddings)

317n4 women’s vs. men’s roles in,

éalgija, 156, 160, 162, 179 86-87, 98, 308n14 See also chalga celebratory vs. anxious account

Cani company, ae 2 of appropriation, 279-80,

capitalism, 44-45, 151-52, 153, 285-88, 329n28, 329n30

155-56, 293 “Celo Dive Mangasa,” 49

Index 369

cengis (professional female popularity of, 156, 177, 183,

dancers), 107-8, 112, 123 195, 317n1

Center for Interethnic Dialogue and rap, 122, 186-87, 319n20

and Tolerance Amalipe retro, 181

(Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria), in Romani, 185, 187

169 Romani elements in, 184-85,

Center for Traditional Music and 195-96 Dance, 235, 323n9 as social critique, 181

Central Romani dialect, 296n13 stars of, 182-83, 184, 318n14 cest (honor) vs. sram (shame), style, text, and imagery of,

109-10 180-81, 318nn7-10 Ceyhan, Ali, 235 taksim/mane in, 180

Chaje Shukarije (album), 216 terminological issues regarding,

_ See also Redzepova, Esma 178-79, 179

Chaje Sukarije, 31, 35, 209-10, at the Trakiya Folk festival, 152 216, 275-76, 290, 322n11 travel magazines on, 183, 318n13 See also Bregovié, Goran and trends in (2000-), 182-85,

Redzepova, Esma) 318n11, 318nn13-14, chalga (Bulgarian pop/folk 318-19nn16-17 music), 19, 177-97 variety in, 183, 195

“Ballads MegaMix,” 184-85 videos vs. texts of songs, 192 Bulgarian folk songs sung by See also Azis; Kristal;

chalga singers, 158-59, Marinova, Sofi 162-63 chalgadzhii (professional urban costumes for performers of, musicians), 317n4 159, 162-63, 180 chetvtirttik pazar (Thursday eniics of: 115; 163,.177;-18t: market), 137 194, 195-96, 320n34 children of adulterous

defenders of, 194-95 relationships, 110

definition of, 317n4 Chinchiri, Hasan, 27, 33, 137-38,

erotic elements of, 182, 191, 321n5

318n11 Chinchiri, Tome, 137-38

folk elements of, 178-79 Chinchirova, Zlatka, 321n5 history/origins of, 31-32, Chinese diaspora, 40, 303n5 177-78, 317n1, 317nn3—4 chitalishte (reading room or

influences on, 177, 195 cultural center), 315n15 kyuchek rhythms/style in, Chow, Rey, 43

177-78, 184, 194 Christgau, Robert, 283, 286

and kyuchek’s association with Cibula, Jan, 50 belly dancing, 121, 178, 180 cifteteli, 28. live vs. studio-recorded, 182, “Ciganski Coéek,” 209-10

318n14 Ciganski Pesni, 311n6

mainstream, 183-84, “Ciganyhimnusz, 50

194, 271 Cintijani (wide, billowing pants), 87

male singers of, 181, 188, 318n9 See also dimije, Salvari and morality/ethnic politics, circumcision, 83, 89, 307nn1-2,

194-97, 320-2 1nn34—39 ; 308n15 and MTV, 180, 318n8 Cita, 35-36, 271 nationalistic/patriotic elements clarinet, 131, 132, 135, 223-24

of, 184-85, 195 Clarinet All-Stars, 105, 235, 266

orient evoked in, 177-78, 180, Clark, Morgan, 233

184, 195-96 class distinctions, 152

pop elements of, 178-79 Clifford, James, 52, 53, 54-55

370 Index

The Cobra (film), 49 appropriation, 273-75, 279, cocek/kyuchek dance, 27 327n12,: 3270n14—17, as artistic/civilized, 115 329n27, 329n30 and belly dancing, 112, 116, Borat, 269, 270, 289-91, 118, 119-20, 121-23 331-32nn46—47 body movements in, 112 collaboration, 270-73, Bulgarian, 119, 121-22 326—27nn3-11, 333n50 in diaspora Balkan Romani (see also individual communities, 112-15, musicians )

310n2 Gypsy Punk and DJ remixes, line dances, 114 5-6, 280-89, 294,

310nn3—4 45 by men, 112-13 overview of, 269, 325—26nn1-2

manele/mahala (dance), 116, 329-30nn3 1-42, 331nn44—-

names of dances, 310n2 transnationalism, 291

oro, 114, 115 See also Bregovié, Goran Ottoman roots of, 107-8, 116, 123 Columbia Artists, 118, 253

and pravo horo, 144 Comité Internationale Tsigane as professional dance, 116-23, (London, 1971), 50

311n11 3301n39 recordings of, 148 copyright/pirating, 155, 287

310-11nn5-6, 311nn8-9, Condon, Zach, 285, 329n31,

rhythms of, 114 See also appropriation;

for ritual vs. entertainment, 113 DJ remixes as social dance among corruption, 152, 155-56, 173, 227 non-Roma, 115-16, cosmopolitanism, 44, 181, 195

310nn3-—4 Costi, 183 120 Coucos, Sakis, 183, 330n34 at the Stara Zagora festival, Council of Europe, 11, 50, 304n14 314n13 Cowan, Jane, 109 stomach flick in, 113-14, 119 Crammed Discs, 282, 283, 325n1, at Sutkafest, 170 326nn4—5 as a solo dance, 112-13, 115-16, Cottar, Anna Marie, 304n15

as Turkish vs. Romani, 164 creativity, interpretations of, 22

at weddings, 115 Croatia, 297n22 by women, 112-15 crosses, 184

cocek/kyuchek music, 98 cultural/artistic adoration,

Bulgarian ban on, 119 246, 253

eclecticism in, 133 cultural intimacy, 127, 129, 145, “Leski Karuchka,” 301n15 147, 296n8, 320n38 meters used in, 29, 112, 114 cultural politics of postsocialist

scales used in, 27-28 markets/festivals, 19,

after socialism, 151 149-75 spread of, 27 Bulgarian wedding music styles of, 30 (1990s), 149-55, 313n1, tunes for, 30, 49, 133 314n3, 314n5

See also chalga; manele (music) Bulgarian wedding music

Cohen, Sasha Baron: Borat, 269, (2000-), 155-63, 313n2,

270, 289-91, 331-32nn46- 314nn7-8

47 copyright/pirating issues, 155

collaboration, appropriation, and Macedonian UNESCO

transnational flows, 20, application, 170-72, 269-94 316n22, 316nn24-25

Index ve

cultural politics (continued) women’s vs. men’s, 87, 98 music idol contests, 172-75, See also belly dancers; Cocek/ 316—17nn27-29, 317n31, kyuchek dance; Phralipe

317n33 dance parties (Brooklyn), 280-81

official views of Romani music, Daniela, 159

167-69, 315-16n21 Darriau, Matt, 105 overview of, 175 Decade of Roma Inclusion, 11,

Romani representation of 169, 297n22

Bulgaria, 150, 166, 172-75 Declaration of a Nation, 47

Romfest, 34, 122-23, 152, Deep Forest, 276, 328n20

163-67, 185, 189, 311n11, Delall, Jasmine: When the Road

314nn13-14 Bends: Tales of a Gypsy

Sutkafest, 50, 120, 169-70 Caravan, 213, 259, 327n17 cultural reification, 40 Demir, Ibro: “Aj Leno, Lenorije Cun, Medo, 169, 211, 305n19 Chaje,” 211 _ “Chaje Sukarije”, 31, 35, 209 Demirov, Rifat, 100

Cun, Muamet, 31, 32, 93 Demirovié, Zvonko, 186

Cun family, 31, 32 “Stranci,” 49-50 Cuperlika/Kjuperlika, 118 Democracy Commission Small Czechoslovakia, 10 Grants program (American Czech Republic, 173, 174, 297n22 Embassy), 315-16n21 Democratic Alternative

Dacheva, Toni, 158-59, 180, 184, (Macedonia), 215

318n7 Democratic Progressive Party of

Dacks, David, 282, 331n41 Roma (Macedonia), 298n24

dahli, 223, 323n2 Denev, Vasil, 136, 160

Daily Mail, 331-32n46 Depp, Johnny, 254 dajre (type of drum), 31 Derrida, Jacques, 295n5

Dalaras, Giorgos, COA es OS Dervisoski, Saban, 103, 105

Dalipova, Ramiza, 321n5 Desislava, 158-59, 185, 190,

dance, transnational, 19, 107-23 319n25 at bath ceremonies, 91 Diamond, Elin, 5

Cuperlika/Kjuperlika, 118 diaspora, hybridity, and identity

dance contests, 316n27 conceptions of diaspora, igranka (dance party), 91-93, 39 ,302-5nZ

309nn19-20 diasporic identity in reification,

order of dance leaders, 40, 303n5 86-87, 98 and displacement/emplacement, Ottoman roots of professional 40, 41-42

Balkan dancers, 107-8, essentialized identities, 51-53

116, 123 (see also essentialism)

segregated dancing, 110, and exoticism, 46

112: 420 and ghettos/marginalization,

self-stereotyping in, 118, 41-42, 45-46, 303n7 121-22, 123, 311nn9-10 Hall on, 238 sexuality and dance, and homelands, 8, 39-4] ;

109-12, 115 66-67, 302-3nn2-3 (see also

social relations displayed via, 80 Indian homeland) stigma of professional female identity politics and the Romani

dancers, 109, 115, 119, rights movement, 44,

123, 218 47-48, 304n11, 304nn13-14

at weddings (see under Indian origins, 8

weddings) and migration, 40, 303n4

372 Index

music in the Romani rights Dule, 101 movement, 49-51, Dunin, Elsie, 32, 110, 112, 113,

304—5nn16-22 116-17, 119

overview of, 39-40, 221 Dtirzhavna Atestatsionna

and the Roma label, 44, Komisiya (State Certifying

303-4n11 Commission; Bulgaria), 139 diasporas, 41 (State Music Society;

tensions/modalities within Durzhavno Obedinenie Muzika

transnationalism and hybridity, Bulgaria), 139

41-44, 303n6, 303-4 Dzafer, 36-37

nn8-11 DZajkovski, Kiril: “Raise Up Your

world music and hybridity, Hand,” 216

44-47, 151, 239 (see also Dzambazi, 309n21 Romani music as world Dzansever, 186, 271

music) “Astargja o horo,” 85

diasporic Romani communities. “Romani Chaj Sijum,” 113

See Belmont; Sutka DZej, 328n22

di Leonardo, Micaela, 86 “Dzelem DZelem,” 50-51, 169, dimije (wide, billowing pants), 87, 188, 211, 261,

204, 208-9, 217 305nn21-22

Dimitrov, Alex, 235, 265, 267, DzZeljadin, Gjulizar, 75, 88,

288-89 308n11, 309n21

Dimitrov, Evgeni: “Edinstveni,” DZemaloski, Trajce,

172-73, 186, 319n19 98, 232 Dimitrov, Kiril, 271 Dzeno, 173

Dimitroverad (Bulgaria), 314n5 Dzhambazov, Marin, 30 Dimov, Ventsislav, 26, 33, 166, Dzhamegyoz, Halil, 135

Gi Bein Ko. Dzipsi Aver, 34-35, 122 Dinkjian, Ara, 231 “Erdelezi,” 328n22

Dirlik, Arif, 40, 42-44, 46-47, dzumaluk (first visit of bride’s

52-54, 303n5, 303n10, family to groom’s home), 305n23 95, 309n25 Ditchev, Ivaylo, 167-68, 196, dzumbuS (type of lute), 31, 49 315n16, 315n20, 320n37

Divano Productions, 272, 326n4 Eastern Orthodoxy, 311n4

Djordjevic, Tihomir, 21 East European Folklife Center,

Djoumahna, Kajira, 327n17 104, 105-6, 212

DJ remixes, 5-6, 280-89, 294, The Economist, 6 329-30nn31-42, 331 Egjupci or Egjupkjani, 295n1,

it a eee 2 316n23see also Gjupci,

Dobrev, Matyo, 16, 136, 145, Egypt, hierarchy of entertainers

160, 167 in, 321n7

Dobreva, Binka, 321n5 Ekstra Nina, 158-59, 182 domazet (live-in son-in-law), Electric Gypsyland/Electric

74, 306n15 Gypsyland 2, 282-83, 284,

domestic-public split, 78, 89, 109, 227

111, 307n19, 308n14 Eleno Mome (a line dance), 114

Dosta, 50 Elfman, Danny, 254 Dosti (film), 304n17 Elit Center for Romani Culture double cooptation, 196, 257 (Sofia, Bulgaria), 166,

drag and gender, 192 315n15

Drom, 105, 315n20 Ellington, Duke: “Caravan,”

drum set, 312n9 301n10

Index 373

elopement, 74, 77 European Roma Rights Centre

Emilia, 159, 183 (ERRC), 11, 297n21 “Zabravi,’ 184, 318-19n17 European Union

Eminova, Enisa, 76, and Balkan identity, 320n37

306n17 Bulgaria's membership in, 6, 12, Encyclopedia of Gay 165, 172, 298n30 Folklife, 190 platform of, 298n30 Enev, Dragiya, 144 and the Romani human rights engagement parties, 88, 96 movement, 11 ensemble dance groups, European Year of Equal

166, 171 Opportunities (Czech

See also Cocek/kyuchek dance, Republic), 174, 317n33 as professional dance; and Eurovision, 172-74, 186, 187,

individual groups 216-17, 302n24, 313n2,

Erdzan, 36, 218, 271 316-17nn28-29 Erickson, Helene, 327n17 Eva Quartet, 159 Erik, 318n9 evil eye, 92, 94, 307n5 ERIO (European Roma “Evro,” 30

Information Office), 11 Evroroma, 188 Erkan, 173 Exclaim, 281

Ernst, Henry, 237, 250, 270, 287, 291, 324—25n13, 325-26n2Z, Fabri, Gaetano, 281

326n7 families, transnational, 19,

ERRC (European Roma Rights 59_81 Centre), 11, 297n21 bride’s reputation/virginity, Ersoy, Bilent, 191, 319n28 74-77, 95, 306-7n17 Esma—Ansambl Teodosievski, definition of transnational, 31, 205, 209, 211. See also 59 RedZepova, Esma early emigration stories, 61-62, Esma’s Band: “Dzipsi Denz,” 217 305nn3—4

essentialism identity issues surrounding, of appropriation, 274 66-71, 306nn7-11 Clifford on, 54-55 marriage in, 71-74, and collective identity, 53 306nn13-15

demonization of, 52, 305n23 men’s role in, 77-78 and ethnic/cultural identity, 54, migration narrated in song,

243, 262 59_60 and multiculturalism, 18 Muslim practices by, 65-66

strategic, 51-52, 213-14 superintendent roles for free

ethics, individualistic vs. rent, 305n4

collective, 66 travel and keeping in touch with ethnography, 15-17 videos used in the diaspora,

ethnogenesis, 47 relatives, 60-61 etniceski grupi (ethnic groups), 10, 79-81, 307n20

221049 women's power/knowledge in,

European Gypsy Festivals, 242, 71, 77-79, 88, 94, 109-10,

252, 266 306n14, 307n19 European Parliament, 13, 197, work and family life, 63—66

298n30, 321n39 Fanfare Ciocarlia, 287, 330n36

European Roma and Travellers “007,” 301n10

Forum, 11, 304n14 awards received by, 325n1 European Roma Information Baro Biao, 250

Office (ERIO), 11 in Borat, 290-91

374 ~— ‘Index

“Born To Be Wild,” 290-91 instruments, 131-32,

clothing of, 250-51 312n10 (see also

collaborations by, 270 specific instruments) Gili Garabdi, 270-71, 301n10, schools for, 167, 315nn17-18 325-—26n2 turbofolk, 177, 178-79, 319n22,

“Godzila,” 270-71 319n27

in the Gypsy Caravan tour, and wedding music, 132-33,

236, 243, 262 140, 156, 160, 162, 167,

Hollywood party performances 226,312n12,315n18

by, 254 See also chalga managers of, 324—25n13 Folk Palitra, 314n7 manele dancers who tour with, Folk Panair, 153

116, 310n4 folk (new) vs. narodno

peasant image of, 249-50 (traditional) music, 178-79 popularity of, 269, 326n7 Foner, Nancy, 299n33

poverty of, 213 Fonseca, Isabel, 300n6

Queens and Kings, 270, 273, fortune tellers, 218-19, 258

325n2 Foster, Catherine, 233, success of, 270 327n16 theatrical framing by, 247 Framework Program for Equal

Feld, Steven, 274, 276, 279, 282, Integration of the Roma in

286-88, 328n21, 330n37, Bulgarian Society, 12

332n48, 333n50 Fraser, Angus, 296n14

Fen (Bulgaria), 34 Friedman, Jonathan, 303n9

Festival Internazionale di Musica Friedman, Victor, 48, 301n15

Romani (Italy), 242 Frigyesi, Judit, 22

festivals. See Gypsy festivals and fRoots, 284

individual festivals Frula, 117-18

festivals, dance groups at. fusion genres, 5-6, 18, 166. See Cocek/kyuchek dance, See chalga; Gypsy Punk as professional dance; and

individual groups Gabriel, Peter, 276, 328n21, Festival Tzigane (France), 242 329n30 Filipovska, Jagoda, 93 eaida (bagpipe), 23, 31, 128 First World Festival of Romani Gali¢nik Wedding

Songs and Music (Macedonia), 170-72, 175, (Chandigarh, India),211, 316n23

214 Gandhi, Indira, 211

First World Romani Congress Gardjian, 100 (London, 1971), 48, 50 Gasi, D%emailj, 36, 37

See also International Gaki, Nehat, 36 Romani Union Gaspar, Gyozo, 325n15

flags, 48, 51, 106, 309n21 Gatlif, Elsa, 250, 324n8

Flamenco Gatlif, Tony, 281, 324n8

dance, 180, 261-62, 265-66 Latcho Drom, 49, 151, 242,

as heritage, 316n25 243-44, 247, 258-59, MUSIC,35, 2435, 259;-520n5 260, 275

Folk Kalendar, 155 Gaxha, Adrian, 216 Folklore TV, 162 Gaytandzhiev, Gencho, 168

119 303n3 Greek, 177 Gazoza, 33

Folklorna Grupa TrabotviSe, Gay y Blasco, Paloma,

folk music gaze, 192-93, 320n33 Index 375

Gelbart, Petra, 50, 51, 305n21 eurbet/pecalba (working abroad), gender 59, 103, 305n1 and dance, 87, 98, 109-15, 120 Gurdev, Nikolai, 314n14 (see Coéek/kyuchek dance) “So GreSingjom,” 302n22

and drag, 192 Guy, Will, 47

inside world of women vs. Gypsies outside world of men, authenticity of, 46

111, 308n14 conceptions/stereotypes of, parody of, 5, 295n5 3, 67-69, 117-18, 123, 195, and performance, 5, 192, 295n5 207-8, 217, 292, 311n6,

See also Azis; domestic-public $2 1-22n8

split; women fictional Gypsy musicians in Georgiev, Lyudmil, 136 Western culture, 3, 7

Georgiev, Mihail, 301n11 hypersexualized female Gypsy

Georgiev, Nikolai, 154 body, 121, 123

Georgieva, Milica, 171, 316n24 orientalization/exoticization of,

“Germaniya, 30 116;:292 297018

Gheorghe, Nicolae, 47, 304n13 as refugees, 14-15

Gieva, Anka, 206 vs. Roma, 295n1

Giguére, Héléne, 316n25 use of term “Gypsy,” 195, 255,

Gilroy, Paul, 42, 43, 46-47, 295n1

55-56, 246 See also Roma, Balkan Gio Style, 26 Gypsy Caravan tour (1999)

Gipsy.cz, 174, 302n24 American response to, 263-64 Gipsy Festival (Holland), 242 caravan concept in, 258-59

Gipsy Kings, 26, 34-35 communication/camaraderie

Girgis, Mina, 259 among participants in, Gitan/Gitanos, 48, 295n1, 316n25 260, 262

Gjupci, 66, 295n1 diversity vs. unity in, 260-62 Glick Schiller, Nina, 41, 303n6 “Dzelem Dzelem” rejected as global imaginaries, 42-43 finale piece, 51

Glod (Romania), 290, 331-32n46 educational component of, 252 Gloria, 158-59, 179, 182, 318n14 exoticized marketing of, 244

Gnawa, 296n7 female musicians in, 321n2 Gocié¢, Goran, 253 finale for, 261-62 Gogol Bordello, 235, 264, 266, eroups in, 235-36, 243, 260

280, 283-84, 325n1, marketing/publicity for,

330n31, 331n45 236-37, 249-50

Multi kontra culti vs. Irony, 265 program notes for, 255-56, 259

Gojkovié, Adrijana, 21 reception of, 260-62 Golden Whee! Film Festival, 170 vs. Romfest, 163 Goodman, Benny, 135 sponsorship of, 243 Gordon, Milton, 303n7 stereotypes used in, 236

Gostivar (Macedonia), 94 Together Again: Legends of Grand Masters of Gypsy Music, Bulgarian Wedding Music,

232-33 161, 233

Greek music, 34, 231, 302n23 urban-rural dichotomy in, 236 Gropper, Rena, 71, 306n7, 306n9 Yuri Yunakov Ensemble in,

Gruevski, Nikola, 215 233-34

Grupi Sazet E Ohrit, 101 Gypsy Caravan troupe, 275 Guca brass band festival (Serbia), Gypsy festivals, 105, 235, 242,

324n3 247, 252, 266, 330n32, see

etidulka/kemene, 25 Romfest, Sutkafest 376 ~—s Index

Gypsy Punk music, 3, 20, Herdelezi (Herdeljezi, Erdelezi) (St.

43,235 George's Day), 32, 33, 83-84

and DJ remixes, 5-6, 280-89, Herdelezi festivals,

294, 329-30nn3 1-42, VOR-sponsored, 102-3, 331nn44—45 105, 232-34, 242-43, 287, and the New York Gypsy 314n12, 331n42 Festival, 265-67 heritage, meanings of, 127, 171

popularity of, 264 heritage and the Bulgarian

Romani music appropriated by, socialist state, 19, 127-48

5-6 Bulgarization, 16-17, 127, 129,

Gypsy Queens, 321n2 299039

The Gypsy Road, 259 category system for musicians,

Gypsy scale, 27-28, 301n12 139-40, 152

Gypsy Spirit (2004), 118, 243, “fascist” families, 139, 313n25

253-54, 314n7, 324n4, the free market and state

324n10, 326n9 control, 137-40, 148,

Gypsy TV (www.gypsytv.tv; Sofia, 313nn21-25 Bulgaria), 34, 311n12 in inclusion vs. exclusion in the nation/state, 127

Habibi and Malki Kristalcheta: meanings of heritage, tradition,

“Yak Motoru,” 330n34 and folk, 127, 171

323n9 130

Hagopian, Harold, 236-37, 251, Muslim emigration to Turkey,

hairstyles/hairdressers, name-changing campaign,

309n19 129-30, 142, 226, 228, Hajgara, 283 323n6 Halili, Merita, 102, 231-32, official rhetoric of purity, 129,

323n8 140-45 “Erdelezi,” 328n22 overview of, 127

Hall, Stuart, 7, 55-56, 238 resistance to state policy, 127, Hancock, Ian, 8, 15, 106, 173, 246, 128-30, 143-45, 147, 148,

253, 296n14, 300n6 229, 292-93; 301013 Handler, Richard, 53 state ambivalence, 145-48, Handzhiev, Ivan, 167 313nn26—29 Hannibal records, 149 Turkish resistance to state

Hanson, Allan, 53 policy, 129-30

Hapazov, Ibryam. See Papazov, Ivo wedding music (1970s—1989),

Harrington, David, 326-27n10 131-33, 311-12nn7-12

Haskovo (Bulgaria), 224, 227, zurna and the anti-Muslim

229-30, 314n3, 314n5 campaign (1980s), 128-30,

hate speech, 11, 297n21 141, 311nn3-4, 311n6 (ch.

A Hawk and a Hacksaw, 280 7)

The Way the Wind Blows, See also Papazov, Ivo;

331n44 wedding music, Bulgarian;

“Hazart,” 30 Yunakov, Yuri Head On (film), 270 heritage movements, indigenous, 54 hedgehogs, 324n5 Herzfeld, Michael, 51-52, 127,

henna 320n38

Heller, Andre, 242 129, 145, 147, 296n8,

ceremonies/rituals involving, hicaz, 27-28, 180, 191-92, 278,

88-91, 96-97, 111, 308n13, 300n6

308-9n16 hidden vs. public transcripts,

use in different cultures, 308n13 228-29

Index oye

Hindi language, 49 issues surrounding hip-hop music, 122 transnational families, Hleda Superstar competition, 173 66-71, 306nn7-11

Hobsbawm, Eric, 53 and modernity, 44, 81 Hollander, Marc, 249-50, 256, Native American, 56

282-83, 285, 331n41 and performance, 4—5, 41

Holocaust, 39, 48, 51, 169, 197 Romani rights movement and homelands, 39-41, 55, 66-67, 196, the politics of, 44, 47-48,

291, 302-—3nn2-3 304n11, 304nn13-14 Home of Humanity and Yunakov, Yuri)

See also Indian homeland of Yuri Yunakov (see under

Museum of Music, 215 See also diaspora, hybridity, and honor, 109, 202 identity hooks, bell, 52 Identity, Tradition, and

Horahane (Muslim), 306n8 Sovereignty, 197

horo (village dance event), igranka (dance party), 91-93,

160, 312n12 309nn19-20

Hristov, Krasimir, 181 Ilhan, Serdar, 235, 265 Hristovski, Jonce, 93 Ili¢é, Slobodan, 304n17 Huna, Elvis, 76, 77, 322n13 Iliev, Boril, 136 Hungarian Governmental Office Iliev, Jony, 269,

of Equal Opportunity, 272, 289

Directorate of Romani “Godzila,” 270-71, 272

Integration, 253 Ma Maren Ma, 325-26n2

Hungary, 130, 253, 297n22 Iliev, Nikola, 134, 136, 139, 157,

Hungry March Band, 264, 265 315126 Husein, Husein. See Yunakov, Yuri Iliyan, 318n9

Hutnyk, John, 43, 4446, 252, 329n27 Imam li Dobtir Ktismet (DzZipsi

Hutz, Eugene, 235, 264-65, Aver), 35

266-67, 280, 281, 285, 287, immigration, 14, 15

329-30n31, 331n42 imperialist nostalgia, 45, 246

hybridity Imre, Anik6, 166, 174,

transnationalism and, 41-44, 196, 248, 257, 293,

303n6, 304n8-11 302n24, 325n15

world music and, 44-47, 151, 239 inbetweenness, 42-43 See also diaspora, hybridity, and Indian homeland, 23, 39-40, 165,

identity 191, 243, 259-60

Hyseni, Raif, 102, 231-32, 323n8 Indian music and films, 49, 304nn16-17, 305n19

lag Bari: Brass on Fire, 250, 291, indigenous rights movements, 48

310n4, 324n7 See also Romani rights

Iagori festival (Norway, 2005), 242 movement

Ibrahim, Sali, 315n15 “Tndiiski’ scales, 305n19

Ibraim Odza (a line dance), 114 interethnic relations, Gallup poll

Ibraimov, Muren, 101 on, 196

Ibro Lolov: Ciganski Pesni, 311n6 intermarriage, 71—72, 205

identity International Roma Day African American, 55-56 (April 8), 33, 50, 119, 170, Balkan, 195, 320nn37-38 243 Balkan vs. European, 195, 320n37 International Romani Union in Belmont, 66-71 (TRU), 11, 47, 48, 50,

essentialized identities, 51-53 304n14, 305n21

ethnic/cultural, 54, 243, 262 invented traditions, 53

female, 86 Ionitsa, 247, 256, 326n8

378 Index

IRU. See International Romani Julliard Conservatory, 104

Union Juzni Kovaci, 37 Isakut, Hasan 231, 232

Islam 183

Ishida, Masataka, 250 K88 (cable television channel),

Bulgarian anti-Muslim kaba zurna, 28 campaign (1980s), 128-30, Kaffe, 317n29

(ch. 7) 326n4

141, 311nn3-4, 311n6 Kal. 251255. 269.270: 277.

conversions to, 8-9, 296n15 Kal, 325n2 revitalization of, 66, 306n6 Radio Romanista, 325n2

on women as sexual, Kalbelia dancers, 247

110 Kalcheva, Mariana, 181

Islami, Kurte, 99, 101 Kalcheva, Ruska, 321n5

105, 232 318n7

Islami, Ramiz, 98, 101, 102, 104, Kalcheva, Slavka, 158-59, 182,

Islami, RedZep, 101 Kalderash Roma. See Roma,

Islami, Romeo, 101 Kalderash Islamic Center (Belmont, Bronx, Kaliopi, 216

New York), 66 Kalji Jag, 235-36

Ismail, Ferhan, 102 Kalman Balogh Gypsy Cimbalom

“Gurbeti,” 59 Band, 324n10

Ismaili, Kujtim, 98, Uste Opre, 263 TOE. 232 Kaloome: “Que Dolor,” 273

Ismaili, Muamed, 101 Kalyi Jag, 243, 321n5

Israeli music, 231 Kamburov, Mancho, 128 “Isuara,’ 30 kana. See henna Ivana, 159, 162, 182 Kanarite, 184, 314n8 Ivancea, loan, 291 “Ah Lyubov, Lyubov,” 159 Ivanova, Lili: “Vyattir,” 187 “Biznesmen,” 158

Ivanovski, Blago, 206 “Bulgarski Cheda,” 159 Ivo Barev/Asiba Kemalova: Kanarite, 98, 158 Tsiganski Pesni, 311n6 Muzika s Lyubov, 160

Na Praznik iv Delnik, 159

Jackman, Robert, 281 Ne Godini, A Dirya, 159 Jackson, Michael, 328n21 Nie Bilgarite, Kanarite 25 Jackson, Michael, imitators of, Godini, 158-59

122 “Nie Sme Kanarite,” 159

Janev, Georgi, 155 popularity of, 157

Jankovié sisters, 118 “Pravoslavno Horo,” 159

Jankuloski, Toni, 104, 105 recordings by/repertoire of,

Jasarov, Ilmi, 32 158

jazz, 135, 136, 329n28 S Rittima Na Vremeto, 159

Jeni Jol (a line dance), 114 St. George’s Day concert, 162

Jerrari, Al, 281 Traditsiya, Stil, Nastroenive,

Jewish diaspora, 39 159

Johnson, E. Patrick, 332n48 vs. Trakiya, 160

Jones, Russ, 284-85 kanun (type of zither), 31

330n32 296n7

Balkan Bangers, 282, Kapchan, Deborah, 4-5, 295n4, Gypsy Beats, 282, 330n32 Kaplan, Ori, 280-81, 282, 283,

Jones, Simon, 329n28 286-87, 330n31 Joro-Boro, 267-68 Karafezieva, Maria, 143, 154, 160, Jovanovié, Jarko, 50 289, 313n18, 321n5 Index 379

Karlov, Boris, 165 Koev, Kristian, 190

Karo, Stephane, 250, 256, 272, Kolev, Nikolai, 144-45 283, 324n13, 326n5, 326n7 Kolev, Todor, 302n20

Kasamov, Victor, 320n35 Kolo (Serbian State Ensemble):

Kaufman, Nikolai, 140, 157, Vranje, 116-17, 310n5

312n12 Kolpakov, Sasha, 256, 262

kaval (type of flute), 23, 31 Kolpakov, Vadim, 266, 287

Kayah, 328n22 Kolpakov Trio, 235, 243, 269 Kazakov, Radi, 136 Kondyo, 318n9

Keba (Dragan Koyé): “Idem Idem Konushenska Grupa, 134, 139, 157

DuSo Moja,” 304n17 Kopanari, 25

Keil, Charles, 328n21, 329n29, Koprivshtitsa festival, 167

333n50 Kosovo Roma, 13, 242-43,

“Kemano Baal,” 50, 305n20 298n31, 327n15

kemene/gtidulka, 25 “KoStana, 207

Kenrick, Donald, 50 “Kote Isi Amalalen,” 94, 95 Keranova, Nedyalka, 133, 162, Kotel school, 30, 144

318n7 Kracholov, Aleksandutr,

kerava bijav (putting ona 163 wedding), 86 Kristal, 34, 156

Kertesz-Wilkinson, Iren, 26 “Bashtinata Ktishta,” 180

Khajuraho (North India), 191, “Builgarina v Evropa, 181

319n29 “Chudesen Stin,” 180

Khalnayak (film), 191 “Dobro Utro,” 180

Khamoro festival (Prague), 163, “Karavana Chayka,” 180

242, 324n3 Maika India, 304n16

King of the Gypsies (Maas), 67 Maria’s collaboration

kinwork, 86 with, 185 Kiossev, Alexander, 195, 320n38 “Ne Smenyai Kanala,” 185 Kirilov, Kalin, 132, 136, 145, 233, “Sladka Rabota,” 181

302n23, 319n22 “Svatba,” 180

Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara, Vsichko e Lyubov, 180-81

5, 41-42, 248, 292 “Zvezditse Moya,” 180

kissing hands of elders, 91, 99 Kristali, 34, 166, 330n34

Kisslinger, Jerry, 233 “Godzila,” 271-72,

Kiti¢, Mile, 301n17 326n6

Kjuperlika, 118 “Ne Smenyai Kanala,” 185 Klezmer All Stars, 235, 270 “Red Bula,” 283 Klickova, Vera, 171, 316n24 “Telefoni,” 185

Know the Ledge, 283 transnational reputation of, Kocani Brass Band/Orkestar, 263, 271

272; 277, 282;284, 287,289 krivo horo, 132, 312n11

“Erdelezi,” 328n22 Kronos Quartet, 326-27n10 Harmana Ensemble and Kocani Krst Rakoc (film), 322n11

Orkestar, 326n5 Krtistev, Angel, 128

Kocani Orkestar meets Paola KUD (Kulturno Umetnicko

Fresu and Salis Antonello, DruStvo), 68, 101, 118-19,

326n5 170, 306n12

The Ravished Bride, 325n2 See also Phralipe kdcek (professional male dancer), Ku-Ku, 172

107, 412 Kulturno Umjetncko DruStvo. See

Koco Racin, 68, 103, 171 KUDs

Kodaly, Zoltan, 300n4 Kultur Shock, 264, 280 380 Index

Ktineva, Radostina, 156 Lucerne festival (1995), 242, 244,

Kunstler, Agnes, 321n5 246, 261 Kurban Bajrami (festival of Lumanovski, Ismail (“Smajko”), sacrifice), 83 102, 103, 104-5, 235, 266 “Ktrdzhaliisko Horo,” 146 Lumanovski, Remzi, 104 Ktirdzhali school, 30, 135 Luminescent Orchestrii, 267 Kurkela, Vesa, 178, 180 Lynskey, Dorian, 286, 294

Kurtis, Tunan, 100, 211

Kurtov, Samir, 24 Maas, Peter: King of the Gypsies,

Kusturica, Emir, 242 67

Black Cat, White Cat, 324n2 Macedonia Time of the Gypsies, 258, 277, as Decade of Roma Inclusion

324n2, 332n47 signatory, 297n22

Underground, 275-76, 324n2 European Union membership

Kutev, Filip, 129 of, 6, 169

Kuti, 30 independence of, 14, 306n11

kyuchek. See cocek/kyuchek Indian culture in, 49, 304n16 Macedonians vs. Albanians,

Laco Tayfa, 36 298n24 Lady Gaga, 190 multiculturalism in, 169 Ladysmith Black Mambazo, prejudice in, 213

328n21 recording industry in, 33

Graceland, 276, 328n19 Romani political parties in, Lambov, Slavcho, 324n10, 326n9 215

Landler, Mark, 298n32 Romani population in, 11,

Lassiter, Luke, 15 297n23

Latcho Drom (T. Gatlif), 49, 151, Romani rights in, 11-12, 254 242, 243-44, 247, 258-59, Romani television stations in, 33

260;-275 UNESCO application of, Lazarevska, Tatjana, 179 25

Lawless, Elaine, 15 170-72, 316n22, 316nn24Lazarov Records (Bulgaria), virginity test in, 76

34,152 See also Sutka

Lee, Ken, 297n18 Macedonian Association of Lemon, Alaina, 122, 257, 268, Romani Women, 215

303n3 Macedonian language, xiii—xiv

Lenovska Grupa, 139, 141 Macedonian National Radio and

lesbianism, taboo against, 190 Television, 169

Lesno (a line dance), 114, 115 See also Ballet Troupe of

Leviev, Milcho, 135 Macedonian Television Levski, Vasil, 190 Macey, Bilhan, 36, 100, 211

Levy, Claire, 195-96, 315n16 Madonna, 3, 182, 190, 266, 269,

Lindsey, Traci, 318n10 274

Linnekin, Jocelyn, 53 Maestro (television program),

Lipsitz, George, 279 120

lip synching, 157, 189 mafia, 34, 155, 160, 181, 229-30

Liszt, Franz, 299-300n4 Magazin, 216 Livni, Eran, 166-67 Magdolna, Ruzsa: “Erdelezi,” 277 Lolov, Ibro,-27,.33. 165, Magneten, 242 301-2n20 Mahala Rai Banda, 262, 269 Lomax, Alan, 329n30 Electric Gypsyland 2, 325n2 London, Frank, 216, 235, 270 Ghetto Blasters, 325n2

Lucassen, Leo, 304n15 “Red Bul,” 283

Index 381

Mahmud, Muzafer, 89-90, “V Drug Svyat Zhiveya,” 187

308-9nn15-16 “Vinovni Sme,” 187

Mahmut, Oskar, 323n22 Vreme Spri, 188

Maia Meyhane (East Village, New “Vyattir,” 187 York City), 103, 235, 265 markets, postsocialist, 149-163,

Majovci clan, 171 286 makams (Turkish-derived modes/ Markovic, Boban, 25, 188, 270, scales), 27-28, 31, 301n13 275, 262, 301010

Malakov, Mladen, 136 on Bregovic, 276

Malikov, Anzhelo, 27, 33-34, 130, Devla, 325n2 138, 151, 164-66, 314n14 Markovié, Branko: Vranje, 116-17,

Malikov, Yashar, 27, 33, 130 119, 310n5

Malina: “Ne Se Sramuvan,” 194 Markovic, Marko: Devla, 325n2

Malkki, Lisa, 41 marriage, 71-74, 306nn13-15 Malvinni, David, 27 See also intermarriage,

Mamudoski, Sal, 103, 232-33, weddings

235, 289 Marushiakova, Elena, 12, 48,

manele (music), 194-95, 236, 245, 298n31, 305n21, 307n3,

262-63, 272, 273, 326n7; 315n16

327n11 Massey, Douglas, 40 manele/mahala (dance), 116, Masterpiece of Oral and 310nn3-4 Intangible Heritage of

mane/taksim, 27-28, 180, 209, 210 Humanity, 170-72, 316n22, manglardi chaj (asked-for girl), 74 316nn24—25

Magellara, Haxhi, 232 Matras, Yaron, 8, 48

the marginal as exotic, 248 Mavrovska, Dafinka and Dragica, 206 Maria (chalga star), 182, 183, 185 Mefailov, Vehbi, 100

Maria Theresa, Empress, 8 Megasztar (Hungary), 174 Marinova, Sofi (“Romska Perla”), Mehanata (New York City), 103,

168, 172-73, 184, 185-188, 232-33;-235, 205; 207-264; 270, 304n16, 316—17nn28-29 288-89

5 Oktava Lyubov, 186 meter “Ah Lele,” 188 2/4 meter, 29, 32, 112, 114, “Bate Shefe,” 186-87 136; 158-59, 177; 180,217, “Buryata v Stirtseto Mi,” 186-87 312n11, 326n7

“Danyova Mama,” 172-3, 185-86 4/4 meter, 29, 49-50, 177,

“Dzelem DZelem,” 188 305n20, 326n7 “Edinstveni,” 172-73, 186, 5/16 meter, 312n11

319nn19-20 7/8 meter

“Edin Zhivot Ne Stiga,” 193-94 for Goéek, 112, 114

186, 187 28, 114

and the Eurovision scandal, fast, light forms of, (lesno),

“Lyubov li Be,” 186-87 folklore evoked by, 180 “Lyubovta e Otrova,” 187, on Planeta Folk, 162

319nn21-22 rtichenitsa, 132, 312n11 “Mik Mik”, 188 slower forms of, 28 “Moy si Dyavole,” 186-87 variations of, 29 Ostani, 187 9/8 meter, 28, 29, 112, 114, 136, and Slavi Trifonov, 172-73, 187 158-59, 177, 301n14

Studen Plamtik, 187 10/8 meter, 231

“Tochno Ti,” 186-87 11/16 meter, 312n11

“USest,” 186 migration “Vasilica,” 188 difficulties of, 13, 298n32

382 Index

linear, 243, 258-59, 291 MTV 2 (Macedonia), 33 narrated in song, 59-60 Muabet Bez Parsa (radio

to the United States, 13-15, program), 34 299nn33-34 (see also multiculturalism

Belmont) commercial manipulation of, 43

See also diaspora, hybridity, and Disney version of, 45

identity; Latcho Drom by music promoters, 252-53

Milchev-Godzhi, Georgi: Romani diversity, 47 “Edinstveni,” 172-73, 186, selective, 71, 306n7

319n19 Muren, Zeki, 191, 319n28 Milena (Bulgaria), 34 Musafir/Maharaja, 235, 243-44, Milev, Atanas, 311-12n8 259-60 Milev, Ivan, 136, 225-26, 227, 233, Musa Mosque (Belmont, Bronx, SUI IO. 392012 New York), 65-66 Milivojevicé, B., 304n17 music idol contests, 172-75, Miller, Carol, 71, 306n7, 306n9 316-17nn27-29, 317n31,

millet system, 8 317n33 minstrel shows, 330n35 Musiciens du Nil, 260

Minune, Adrian (“Adrian the Muskat, Tamir, 282, 330n31,

Wonder Boy”), 319n26 330-31n38

Mirga, Andrzej, 47, 304n13 Mustafa, Nezdet, 298n24 Mirkovic, Dragana, 301n17 Mustafov, Ferus, 100, 119, 120,

“Sama,” 192 133

Miro: “Gubya Kontrol Kogato,” 194 “Tikino,” 32 Miss Roma International contest, Mustafov, Ilmi, 32

170 Mustafovska, Eleonora, 217

Mitev, Delcho, 158 mutresa (well-kept woman), Mitsou: “Erdelezi,” 328n22 318n11 Mixolydian scales, 305n19 Muzafer, Abas: “To Phurano

Mladeshki Tants (young person’s Bunari,’ 60

dance), 150-51 Le Mystére des Voix Bulgares, Mladi Talenti, 33 150 Mladost, 136, 146, 225 modern dance, 32-33, 119-20, 210 “Naktareja Mo Ilo Phanlja,” 28,

modernity 217, 323n22 alternative, 238 nardonosti (nationalities), 10, amplified music associated 297n19

with, 131, 248-49 narodi (nations), 10, 297n19

and authenticity, 54, 251-52 Nasev, Nick, 187-88, 320n34,

and chalga, 159 322n14

and cosmopolitanism, 44 nasli Chaj (runaway girl), 74

and identity, 44,81 Nasmi ler, 34 and tradition, 55, 247-48 National Committee on Ethnic Modern Quartet, 284 and Demographic Affairs modesty, 109-10, 118, 120, 123, (Bulgaria), 166 202, 218-19 National Council for

monkey leaders, 25 Cooperation on Ethnic

Monson, Ingrid, 329n28 and Demographic Issues

Montenegro, 297n22 (NCCEDI; Bulgaria), 12

Movement for Rights and National Ensemble of Folk Music Freedoms (MRF; Turkish and Dance (Bulgaria), 129 party; Bulgaria), 298n25 Native American filmmaking, MTV, 180, 318n8 307n20

Index 383

Native American identity, 56 Novi Sad (Vojvodina, Serbia),

Nay-Dobri Kyuchetsi ot Mahalata, 115, 245

183 novokomponovana narodna

NCCEDI (National Council for muzika (newly composed Cooperation on Ethnic folk music), 25—26, 177,

and Demographic Issues; 178-79 Bulgaria), 12 Novoselsky, Valery, 51

N’Dour, Youssou, 238 NY Gypsy All-Stars, 105 Neascu, Nicolae, 236, 256

Nelina, 158-59, 162, 182 Obama Kyucheck, Barack, 30,

Neshev, Neshko, 30 301n15

326n8 119

on Gypsy Caravan tour, 233-34, O Clone (television program),

and Papazov, 135 Oegneni Ritmi (Sofia, Bulgaria),

recordings of, 160 130

stature of, 136 “Oj Borije,” 28, 94, 97

in Trakiya, 134, 136 Okely, Judith, 5, 218-19,

and the Yuri Yunakov 304n15

Ensemble, 233 Okka, Sali, 34, 166 Neshev, Neshko, 30 Olah, Ibolya, 174

in Kanarite, 158, 314n8 “Olimpiada,” 30, 133 Kurdzhali style of, 30 OMFO: Trans Balkan Express, Neumann, Helmut, 237, 250, 270, 283-84 324—25n13, 326n7 Ong, Aihwa, 42, 258, 268

Newsweek, 269 Ongeni Mom¢inja, 33

New York Black Sea Roma “Open Heart” children’s festival, 169

Festival, 235 Open Society Institute, 11, 76,

New York City 166, 168-69, 315n20 blaga rakija banquets in, 99, Orce Nikolov, 68, 103 310n28 Ordulu, Gamze, 235

Herdelezi celebrations in, 84 Orfei, 136, 154-55, 157-58, 162 Macedonian Roma in, 13-15, Mafia ot India, 304n16

299nn33-34 (see also Organization for Security and

Belmont) Cooperation in Europe, 11

videotaping in, 79-80 Orkesttir Plovdiv, 314n7

weddings in, 99, 308n12 Orkesttir Universal, 34, 36-37,

New York Gypsy Festivals, 105, 163, 271, 326n6 235, 243, 265-67, 330n32 oro, 114, 115

See Belmont Ortner, Sherry, 7, 145, 228, 237

New York Times, 264 Oruci, Vera, 232

NGOs (nongovernmental otherness, 116, 121, 123, 245, 258,

organizations), 11, 12, 282

167-69, 168 Ottoman dancers, 107, 108, 112,

Nieuwkerk, Karin van, 321n7 116, 123, 191, 209, 218,

nihavent, 27-28 327n211

nomadism, 8, 296n14 Ottoman Empire, 8, 24, 31, 44,

nongovernmental organizations. 107, 108, 195, 223, 226, 258 See NGOs

Nonini, Donald, 42, 268 Paicho, 154

296n13 312n11

Northern Romani dialect, paidushko (a line dance), 132, northern style of Romani clarinet Pamporovo, Alexey, 315n16

playing Pamukovy, Orlin, 136, 154

nostalgia 30, 45, 246 Panair/Fairground, 314n4 384 Index

pan-Romani human rights self-censorship by, 147

movement. See Romani Song of the Falcon, 301n10

rights movement on Stambolovo festivals, 152

Papazov, Ivo (formerly Ibryam on state constraints on music,

Hapazov), 16, 17 141

arrest/imprisonment of, Together Again: Legends of

142-43, 145 Bulgarian Wedding Music,

awards received by, 325n1 164,255

BBC Radio 3 award won by, on tour, 151, 161

161 in Trakiya, 134, 136, 160

bitterness of, 161-62 wage labor resisted by, 139

and Boyd, 149-50, 161 on wedding music, 141, 143, on capitalism and the economic 156-57, 312n12

crisis, 153 and Yuri Yunakov, 225, 227,

“Celeste,” 152, 314n4 233-34 on chalga, 156 Paradox Trio, 105

clarinet played by, 235, 266 Pareles, Jon, 329n30

on corruption, 155-56 parsa (tip collection), 138 on critics of wedding music, 157 Party for the Complete

Dance of the Falcon, 161 Emancipation of Roma

155-56 298n24 ethnicity of, 141-42 Pasalan, 250

on democracy vs. socialism, (PCER; Macedonia), 170, ethnic variety/tastes among Paskov, Dimittr, 30, 136

patrons of, 301n16 Paskova, Poli, 318n14

gaida imitations on clarinet, 132 “Moiite Pesni,” 162

and Gogol Bordello, 235 pativ (respect) vs. ladz (shame),

on Gypsy Caravan tour, 233-34 109-10

on Gypsy Punk music, 266 patriarchy, 74, 77, 85, 88, 94,

influence of, 101 109-10

Kurdzhali style of, 30 Payner (Bulgaria), 34, 152, 155, legends surrounding, 135-36 157—58,. 162-63; 179,

Anzhelo Malikov on, 164 182-83, 318n11

musical family/upbringing of, See also Planeta Folk, Planeta

135, 141, 312n16 Prima, and Planeta TV

“A Musical Stroll Around pazari za muzikanti (musicians’

Bulgaria,” 132 markets), 137-38

and Ferus Mustafov, 32, 133 PCER (Party for the Complete

name change of, 142 Emancipation of Roma;

on the NATO concert, 161 Macedonia), 170, in the New York Gypsy Festival, 298n24

266 peasantry, marketing of, 249-50, on Payner, 182 324n8 “Pinko,” 30, 133, 300-301n10 pecalba/gurbet (working abroad),

police evasion by, 143-44, 161 59, 103, 305n1

popularity in Bulgaria, 161-62 Pengas, Avram, 231 popularity/stature of, 134-36 pentatonic scales, 305n19

recordings of, 146-47, 160, Pepper, Art, 134-35, 312n15

313n26 performance Yunakov, 161 295n5 robbed at gunpoint, 155 definition of, 4

reunion tours with Yuri Judith Butler on, 5, 192, 194,

and Salieva, 108 framework of, 4—5

and Salifoski, 105 and gender, 5, 192, 295n5 Index 385

performance (continued) pornography, 121, 182, 311n8

and identity, 4-5, 41 porrajamos (Holocaust), 48 Kapchan on, 4-5, 295n4 See also Holocaust

as power, 228 postmodernists, 274, 329n27

296n7 149-75

subjectivities created via, 5, postsocialist markets/festivals, 19,

Petrova, Dimitrina, 9 Povinelli, Elizabeth, 5

Petrovic, Aleksandar: Skupljaci Prashtakov, Todor, 146

Perja, 50 pravo horo, 132, 144, 312n11

Petrovski, Trajko, 10, 297n20 Prespa Albanian Macedonians, Pettan, Svanibor, 26, 31, 108, 111, 101, 307n7, 321n5 119, 202, 304n17, 327n15 Prilep (Macedonia), 14, 62, 69-70,

Peycheva, Lozanka, 26, 30, 33, 309n21

114, 166, 302n21, 314n14, privatization, 5-6, 166

315n16, 317n4 Proeski, ToSe, 322n14

“Phirava Daje,” 30 “Erdelezi,” 218 170, 203 prostitution, 182, 318n11

Phralipe, 32, 68, 103-4, 118-19, “Magija’/“Cini,” 217

Phrygian scales, 27-28, 180, 209, Protestant work ethic, 9

210 prvié (first visit of bride to her

“Pinko,” 30, 133, 300—-301n10 natal home), 95 pipiza. See zurna/zurla public vs. hidden transcripts,

Piranha, 270, 326n4 228-29 Pirin Ensemble, 128 purity

Pirin Folk/Fest, 177, 317n3 ehettoization of, 46 Pirin Pee folk festival, 128, of Gypsy music, 164-66,

129, 167 285-86

Planeta Folk (cable television vs. hybridity, 42

channel), 162-63 myth of, 303n9

Planeta Prima, 317n1 rhetoric of, 129, 140-45 Planeta TV (Bulgaria), 34, 182-84, See also authenticity

318n16 Purvanov, Georgi, 161, 165

Plovdiv (Bulgaria), 137, 139, Ptirvomayskata Grupa, 312n8

143-44, 157, 158, 313n28, Putevima Pesme: Esma Ansambl 314n5 Teodosievski, 322n11

Plovdiv Academy, 132, 144-45, Pygmies, 332n48 167, 302n23, 315n17

Plovdiv Folk Jazz Band, 149, Our’an, 311n4 313n1

Pointon, Matt, 318n13 racial profiling, 11

political parties, Roma, 11, racism toward Roma, 6, 69-70,

298nn24-25 168, 173, 196-97, 207,

Pomaks (Bulgarian Muslims), 170, 320-21n39

215, 224; 501n3, 315019 Radevy, Petko, 157, 158, 302n20,

Popaj, Alfred, 103, 232-33, 235 313n26

pop/folk music. See chalga Radic¢, Indira, 179,

Pop Idol competition, 173-74 304n16

Popov, German, 283-84 Radio Signal Plyus, 34, 153

Popov, Vesselin, 12, 48, 305n21, Radio Skopje, 31, 93, 203, 204,

307n3, 315n16 206-7, 308n16

Popstar Alaturka contest, 173 Radio Veselina, 34, 153 Popularni Trakiiski Klarinetistt, Radulescu, Speranta, 273

313n26 Rahmanovski, DZengis, 103

386 Index

Rahmanovski, Ilhan, 102, “Dani Su Bez Broja,” 216

103, 105 dimije worn by, 204, 208-9,

Rajasthani music, 49, 236, 243, 217251 259-61, 326n3 “Dzelem Dzelem,” 50, 51, 169, Rajasthani Roma, 247, 259-61, 211

326n3 early years of, 202-5

Ralcheyv, Pettir, 136, 143, 154, 155, emotion used by, 208-9

1973-227, 502020 in Esma—Ansambl

249 209, 211

Ramadanov, Zahir, 211, 212, Teodosievski, 31, 205, Ramazan (fasting month), 83 Esma’s Band, 217

Ramko (Ramadan Bislim): “O Esma’s Dream: Esma and Duke,

Gurbetluko,” 59-60 216

“Ramo Ramo,” 49, 304n17 family of, 202-5

Ranger, Terence, 53 and Fanfare Ciocarlia, 262

Rao, Pratima, 327n12 in films, 209-10, 257, 322n11

rap music in the Gypsy Caravan tour, and the authenticity of the 243, 262

ghetto, 248 Gypsy persona of, 46

and chalga, 186-87, 319n20 “Hajri Ma Te, Dikhe, Daje,” 208

in pop/folk videos, 122 Indian ties of, 211

in Romani, 26, 34—35 “Kolku e Macno em Zalno,”

stereotypes used in, 302n24 210

RaSsidov, Eljam, 211 Legendi na Makedonska

Rasimov, Enver, 211, 322n10 Narodna Pesna, 216 Rasmussen, Ljerka Vidié, 25-26 “Ljubov e,” 216

Raznatovic¢, Ceca, 179 “Magija /“Cini,” 217 reciprocity, 79, 93 “Makedo,” 210 Recommendations on the and Marinova, 186 Safeguarding of Traditional Mon Histoire, 216

Culture (UNESCO), 170 multiethnic socialist agenda

“Red Bul,” 283, 330n34 embodied in her music, 46 red color, 92 “Naktareja Mo Ilo Phanlja,” 28, Redzepova, Esma, 20, 32, 217, 523022

201-19 overview of success of, 201

artistic control by, 214, 249 patriotism of, 324n9

on assimilation, 252 performances with her on authenticity, 214-15, 248 husband, 321n5 awards received by, 215 Pesmom 1 Igrom Kroz “BaSal Seljadin,” 206, 208, Jugoslaviju, 210

209-10 as a pioneer, 207, 209, “Bel Den,” 216 214, 218

on belly dancing, 120 and Proeski, 311n9 on Bregovi¢, 275-76 politics/humanitarianism of,

“Chaje Sukarije” 31, 35, 209-10, 212-16, 217, 218,.322n14

275-76, 290, 322n11 as Queen of Romani Music,

Chaje Shukarije, 216 201, 211, 214

“Ciganski Cocek,” 209-10 racism/prejudice faced by, 46,

collaborations by/current 321-22n8

directions of, 216-19, 270, “Raise Up Your Hand,” 216

323n22 relationship with Stevo, 204-6, criticism of, 248 209-10 dancing by, 119, 120, 208-9, 210 respectability of, 109

Index 387

RedZepova (continued) conceptions/stereotypes of, 3,

retirement of, 217 9, 207-8 (see also under

Romani identity of/songs sung Gypsies) in Romani by, 206-7 diasporic communities of (see

Romani reception of, 205 Belmont; Sutka)

“Romano Horo,’ 210 dichotomous conceptions of, 3

at Romska Vasilica, 202 discrimination against, 8, 10—-

on segregated dancing, 110 11 47,69-70;.152;-206-7; stereotypes in her videos, 255-56, 292, 297n21

121-22, 311n9 Eastern Orthodox, 9 stereotypes of her by the press, educational integration of 207, 321—22n8 Romani children, 168, and Stevo’s music school, 315n20 211-12, 322n13 vs. Gypsies, 295n1

style and image of, 205-11, historical and political overview

214-15, 321-22n8, 322n11 of, 7-13, 296nn13-15,

Sutkafest involvement of, 297nn18-19, 297-98nn2 1-

169-70 25, 298nn3 1-32

synthesizer used by, 248, 252 homophobia among, 306n13 as visiting artist in New York, Indian origins of, 39, 40, 49-50,

100, 101 55, 211, 304nn15-17,

wedding performances by, 93 305n19

on women’s cocek dancing, vs. Kalderash Roma, 66, 306n7

113 marginalization/poverty of, 11,

Yugoslavian and other Balkan 45-46, 218-19, 254, 274,

songs sung by, 210-11 292, 331-32n46

Reinhardt, Django, 328n24 media emancipation of, 302n21 representation in fieldwork and migration of, difficulties of, 13,

writing, 7, 15-17 298n32 resistance, everyday forms of, 147, migration to the United States, 228-29 13-15, 298n32, 299nn33-34

Rice, Timothy, 132-33, 314n8 (see also Belmont)

67 Muslim, 8-9, 13

The Riches (television program), multilingual, 9, 297n17

Rifati, Sani, 205, 213-14, 217, nomadic vs. sedentary, 8, 10, 22,

234-35, 242, 248-49, 47, 111, 259, 296n14 254-55, 287, 292 oppression of/xenophobia See also Voice of Roma toward, 6, 8, 9-11, 13,

Risti¢é, Dragan, 255, 292, 325n14 297n21 (see also Holocaust) Ristic. Dusan, 251.255; 277,292. orientalization/exoticization of,

325n14 9, 10, 244, 292, 297n18

Rromani Songs from Central overview of, 3-7

Serbia and Beyond, 324n11 Pentecostals’ interest in, 315n19

ritual, 86. See celebrations, population figures for,

circumcision, Herdelezi, European, 11

weddings poverty-stricken majority vs.

Rjabtzev, Sergey, 280 successful musicians, Robert Browning, 236 overview of, 4, 45

Robin, Thierry (“Titi”), 216, 325n1 racism toward, 6, 69-70, 168,

Rofel, Lisa, 246 173, 196-97, 207, 320-

Roma, Balkan, 3-18 21n39

and African Americans, 35, representation in fieldwork and

45, 122 writing, 7, 15-17

388 — Index

romanticization of, 9, 291-92, Romani music, 18, 21-37

300n4 2/4 meter, 29, 32, 112, 114,

scholarship on, 10, 315n16 136, 158-59, 177, 180, 217, self-identification of, 306n9 312n11, 326n7

as slaves, 8 4/4 meter, 29, 49-50, 177, under socialism, 10 305n20, 326n7

tensions with other Balkan 9/8 meter, 28, 29, 112, 114, 136,

ethnic groups, 101 158-59, 177, 301n14

use of term “Roma,” 255, 295n1 27, 138 violence against, 6, 10-11, 152, Albanian style in, 35

229-30, 245-46 Americans who play Balkan

See also Gypsies music, 105-6

Roma, Bosnian, 14 amplified, 32, 36

Roma, Bulgarian, 12-14. See also as appropriated, 274, 286,

heritage, Romfest, wedding 327nn14-15 (see also

music, Yunakov, Yuri under collaboration, Roma, Kalderash, 13, 16, 51, transnational flows)

Roma, Greek, 303n3 appropriation, and

309-10n26 23-27 Roma, Kelderara, 122, 257 in beauty contests, 120

66-67, 306n7, 308n11, and Balkan historical threads,

Roma, Russian, 122, 303n3 brass bands, 25, 300n8 Roma Civil Rights Foundation (see also Boban Markovicé)

Awards, 174 Bulgarian, history of, 33-34,

Roman, Sasho, 166, 314n14 301-2n20, 302nn22-—23

“Oy Sashko,” 304n17 in cafes, 115-16, 245

Roma National Congress, 11 cocek/kyuchek, 27-28, 29, 30,

Romane: International Magazine 301n15 for Romani Culture, concerts after the fall of

Literature, and Art, 315n15 socialism, 33-34, 302n21

Romane Merikle/Roma Beads, 27 in elementary schools, scandal

Romania, 6, 8, 297n22 regarding, 168 Romani Baht Foundation, ethnic variety among patrons 301in11, 316n28 of, 26, 300n9, 301n16 Romani culture in fusion genres, 5-6, 18, 166 and Bulgarian culture, 165 at the Galicnik wedding,

and folklore, 5 170-72, 175, 316n23 folklore taught in schools, 169, history of Romani female 315-16n21 musicians, 202, 218, and high art, 169-70 321nn2-5 NGO support for, 168-69 homelands evoked in, 40

and postsocialist agendas, 5-6 Hungarian, 22, 299-300n4 Romani lag festival (Montreal), 243 improvisation/innovation in,

Romani language 26-27 chalga in, 185, 187 and Indian scales, 49, 300n6,

dialects of, 7-8, 48, 296n13 305n19 dictionary of, 48 innovation/hybridity valued by

in films, 258 audiences, 164, 292 7-8, 304n15 Kalderash, 27 literary, 48 Kosovo-style, 36, 49

as an Indo-Aryan language, xiii, instruments used in, 23, 31-32

in Macedonia, 11 in Macedonia, 50, 120, 169-70 transliteration of, xiii-xiv makams, 27-28, 31, 301n13

Index 389

Romani music (continued) pop/folk music; wedding mane/taksim, 25, 28, 180, 184, music; and individual

193, 301n13 instruments and musicians

by non-Roma, 275, 327n16 Romani music as world music,

novokomponovana narodna 20, 241-68

muzika, 25-26, 177, 178-79 caravans, nomadism, and

oral, 30 Romani unity, 258-63, 268, overview of, 21-23 325n16

piracy of, 34 and fashion, 254

as polyethnic/-lingual, 26 festivals/tours, generally, 242-

popular, 25-26 43, 262, 267-68, 293-94,

popularity in the West, 269, 324n3 (see also specific

325n2 festivals and tours)

pure Gypsy music, 164-66 marketing exoticism and

on radio, 34, 153 authenticity, 241, 244-52, recordings of, generally, 251,295 32-34, 302n22 (see also and New York Gypsy Festivals,

specific recordings) 265-67

resistance by musicians, 7 overview of, 241-44, 324n2

resistance songs, 50 and self-stereotyping, 257-58,

scales used in, 27-28, 49, 325nn14-15 301n12 world music events as education scholarship on, 21-23 vs. entertainment, 252-57,

Sofia-based, 33, 151 324n11

song variants/versions, 30-31, See also Gypsy Punk music

301n17 Romani Music Festivals. See

stereotypes used strategically Romfest, Sutkafest

by, 7, 292 (see also under Romani rights movement

Romani music as world emergence of, 15

music) and the European Union, 11

stylistic trends in, 31-37, erowth of, 292

302nn23-24 and identity politics, 44, 47-48, 302n25 music in, 49-51, 304—5nn16-—22

talava songs, 36-37, 60, 191, 304n11, 304nn13-14 technique/passion in, 26-27, national symbols of, 48

300-301n10 and NGOs, 11

on television, 301—2n20 and the Roma label, 238,

themes in song texts, 50 304n11 tours, 293-94 (see also and stereotypes, 173 specific tours) and unity, 325n16

as traditional, 214-15 Romani Routes (booking

turbofolk, 177, 178-79, 319n22, company), 254-55, 326n9

319n27 Romaniya, 122

urban folk, 22, 25-26 Romano Sumnal, 170 U.S. reception of Bulgarian and Romano Suno 2, 21 Macedonian musicians, 7 Romanov, Manush, 129

videos, 34 Roman oyun havasi, 301n14

village folk, 25-26, 131, 272 Roman Star contest, 317n31

vitality of, 36-37 Roma Portraits (Balicki), 84, See also meter; chalga; 307n4, 307n20 collaboration, Roma Reggaeton Hip Hop,

appropriation, and 26

transnational flows; Roma Rights, 297n21 390 Index

Romashka, 267-68 Sapera, Gulabi, 247

Roma TV, 172 “Sapeskiri Cocek,” 49

Roma Variations, 233 Saraci, Sunaj, 232

Romen Theater (Moscow), 257 “Sarajevo, 84,” 30, 133

Romfest (Stara Zagora, Saulic, Saban, 301n17

Bulgaria), 34, 122-23, 152, Savi¢, Tanja, 173-74 163-67, 185, 189, 311n11, Savigliano, Marta, 258

314nn13-14 Schafer, Murray, 274

114 mimesis, 274

Romska Gaida (a line dance), schizophonia/schizophonic

Romska Ubavica (Most Scott, James, 147, 228-29 Beautiful Romani Woman Seeman, Sonia Tamar, 108, 114,

contest), 33 251, 301n14, 309n25,

Romska Vasilica (Romani 317n4, 323n2

St. Basil’s Day), 33 Seibert, Brian, 253-54 Romska Veseliya, 122 self-orientalization, 258

Romski Boji, 106 Sellers-Young, Barbara, 116

Rosaldo, Michelle, 308n14 Senaras, Muzeyyen, 191 Rosaldo, Renato, 45, 246 Senlendirici, Husnu, 36, 235, 266

Rouse, Roger, 41 Laco Tayfa, 251

Rozhen festival, 167 Serbezovski, Muharem, 100,

R Point, 50 301n15, 304n17, 307n1,

Rromant Dives, 50-51, 202 328n22

rtichenitsa, 132, “Boze Boze,” 304-5n18

312n11 popularity of, 305n18

Rudari, 25, 295n1 “Ramajana, 31, 49, 305n19 Runjaic, Zivka and Jordana, “Ramo Ramo,” 49, 304n17

206 “Sine Moj,” 94

Ruseva, Dinka, 139, 144, 154, Serbia, 25, 115-16, 297n22

555-157 Serbian language, xili—xiv Serifovi¢, Marija, 174

Safran, William, 39, 303n3 Serbian-Albanian conflict, 13 Said, Edward, 9, 244, 297n18 Sevéet, 26, 36

Sakip, Sadan, 100, 211 sexual consummation, 74, 75, 95

Sakir, Feta, 33, 92 sexuality and dance, 109-12, 115

Saleas, Vasillis, 36 See also belly dancers

Salieva, Zvezda, 108 sexualized female body, 121, 123,

Salifoski, Seido 132;;491 activism of, 106, 234 shahnai (zurna-like instrument), family life of, 64-65, 71, 72, 191-92 73, 105 Shakira, 182 as a musician, 101, 102, 103, shame, 109-10 104, 105-6, 232, 289, Shantel (Stefan Hantel), 281-82,

310n32, 327n16 286, 529n1, 330n32

Salijevic, Slobodan, 93 Borat tour, 289

91, 96 281, 283, 288 See also dimije on dance clubs as bringing

Salvari (wide, billowing pants), 87, Bucovina Club 1 and 2, 271,

Sambolovo festivals (1985-1988), people together, 288

148 Disko Partizani, 281, 325n2

Samson, Jim, 327nn14—-15 Planet Paprika, 2S: 52 >

Sandu, Florentina, 270 reception of, 284, 287

Sant Cassia, Paul, 247, 248 response to critics, 331n44

Index 39]

Sharena Muzika, 168 292-93, 296n8, 299n39,

Shay, Anthony, 116-17 302n21 (see also heritage

Shepik, Brad, 105 and the Bulgarian socialist Shiroka Ltika, 144-45, 182, state)

315n18 Sofia (Bulgaria)

Shopov, Rumen Sali, 103, 233 Alley of Stars in, 161 Shukur Collective: Urban Gypsy, megaconcert in, 152

331n41 musicians’ market in, 137-38

Siderov, Volen, 197 Romani music based in, 33, 151

sieve (sita), ritual function of, Romani NGOs in, 12

28, 91 Romani rights/living conditions

Simeonoy, Filip “Fekata,” in, 12

northern style of, 30 Soja, Edward, 42-43

“Shalvar Kyuchek,” 28 Soko, Robert, 281, 330n33

stature of, 136 soldier send-off celebrations, 131, and Taraf de Haidouks, 311n7, 313n21

262-63, 272 Sonneman, Toby, 311n9

in Taraf de Haidouks, S Orkesttir Na Kanarite

314n7 Na Svatba, 146

Simon, Paul, 328n21, 329n30 Spain, 297n22

Graceland, 276, 328n19 Spears, Britney, 182

Sinapov, Traicho, 136 Spin, 331n39

“Sine Moj,” 94 Spivak, Gayatri, 51-52

Sinti, 48, 295n1, 304n13 Spur, Endre, 300n4 “Sitakoro Oro,” 28 Stambolovo festivals, 146-47, 148,

sivi gultibi, 133, 318n7 152, 228, 314n3 Skopje (Macedonia), 115, 215, Stan, Peter, 327n16

308n15 Stara Zagora (Bulgaria), 139-40,

Albanian influence in, 28 154, 161, 168, 308n11,

bajraktari in, 309n21 314n5

celebrations/festivals in, 32-33 Stara Zagora festivals. See

racism toward Roma in, 207 Romani Music Festival;

Romani immigrants from, 14 Romfest Romani spoken in, 62 starogradski pesni (old city

temana 94 songs), See alsoin, Sutka state 183

Skopje, 63, So Sila Tatko (film), Bulgarian socialist, 10,

322n11 16-17, 33, 119, 164, 227,

Skupljaci Perja (Petrovié), 50 292-93, 296n4, 296n8,

Slavchev, Prof., 315n17 299n39,302n21 (see also

Slavcho Lambov, 314n7, 324n10, heritage and the Bulgarian

326n9 socialist state)

Slavic Soul Party, 264, 265, 327n16 post-socialist, 296n8

“The Slavi Show” (television Statelova, Rosemary, 315n16

program), 172 Stefanovski, Vlatko, 322n14 Slobin, Mark, 40 stereo zapis studio (tape recording Sliven (Bulgaria), 139-40 Stephen, Lynn, 303n6

Slovenia, 297n22 studio), 147-48, 152,

smiruvanje (reconciliation) 313nn28-29

ceremony, 74 Stewart, Susan, 246

Smolyan Dance Ensemble, 158 stick dancing, 300n6

socialist state, Bulgarian, 10, Sting, 276

16=17,:33;-119, 164. 227. Stivell, Alan, 134, 312n15

392 Index

Stoev, Atanas, 158-59, 314n8 multipart playing of, 25

Stokes, Martin, 7, 319n28 ritual function of, 24, 36, 89,

Stoyanova, Maria, 167, 313n20 308n15

strategic essentialism, 51-52, tarabuka (hand drum), 31, 209

213-14 Taraf de Haidouks, 242, 247,

Struskite Svadbari, 101 263-64, 325n1, 326n7 Sugarman, Jane, 108, 115, 195, awards received by, 325n1

277, 304n17, 311n6, Band of Gypsies, 250, 256, 262,

320n36, 321nn2-3, 321n5 272, 314n7, 324n8

Sukaripe, 122 clothing/image of, 213, 236,

sunet. See circumcision 249-50, 251, 256-57

Sunny Music/Sunny Records The Continuing Adventures of

(Bulgaria), 34, 188-89 Taraf de Haidouks, 256, 272,

Sunrise Marinov, 183 324n8

Super Ekspres, 185 on the Gypsy Caravan tour, 213, surla. See zurna/zurla 235—36, 243, 255-56, 262 Suteks (Sutka, Skopje, and the Kocani Orkestar, 263, 272 Macedonia), 308n10 and the Kronos Quartet,

Sutel (Macedonia), 33 326-27n10 Sutka (Suto Orizari, Skopje, No Man Is a Prophet in His Own Macedonia) Land, 250, 254, 272-73, families of musicians in, 309n16 324n8

music/dance as emblematic of and Simeonov, 262-63, 272

Romani identity, 4 and Winter, 246, 251, 255-57, Romani population in, 12 272-73, 283, 324n13

settlement of, 12 Tarkan, 37, 105

weddings in, 86-88, 308n10 Taussig, Michael, 333n49 Sutkafest (Skopje, Macedonia, Tavce Gravce, 93 1993), 50, 120, 163, 169-70, Taylor, Timothy, 238

202, 324n3 Tekbilek, Omar Faruk, 105 Suto Orizari. See Sutka tel, 89 svatbarska muzika. See wedding temana (hand gesture of respect),

music 94, 97, 98, 309n22

svirki (flutes), 128 Tenth Mediterranean Youth synthesizer, 35, 131, 237, Festival (Akdeniz

248-49, 252 University, Turkey), 242 Teodosievski, Pero, 211

Takev, Ventsislayv, 138 Teodosievski, Stevo

Takev brothers, 33 on authentic Romani music,

taksim. See mane/taksim 214-15

302n25 209-10 Tanec, 101-2, 118 Teodosievski, 31, 205, 209, tapan/ttipan PA talava songs, 36-37, 60, 191, “BaSal Seljadin,” 206, 208,

Talking Heads, 329n30 death of, 211, 215

tambura, 132, 302n23, 312n10 in Esma—Ansambl

in ensembles, history of, 23-24, on Esma’s leadership, 207

128 as King of Romani Music,

as exclusively male, 24 211, 214

at folk festivals, 167 music school of, 211-12, at the Galicnik wedding, 171 322n13

in henna processions, 89 relationship with Esma, 204-6,

improvisation on, 25 209-10

Index 393

Teodosievski (continued) popularity of, 134, 227, 229

206, 214 146-47

Romani music promoted by, Stambolovo festival success of,

169-70 142

Sutkafest involvement of, targeted by Bulgarian officials, young drummers used by, 209, on tour, 151, 161, 229

322n10 See also Papazov, Ivo

Ternipe, 119 Trakiya Folk festival, 133, 152, Tetovo (a Romani KUD), 119 314n5

Tetovo (Macedonia), 94 transborder processes, 303n6

Theodosiou, Aspasia, 303n3 Transglobal Underground, 330n36

thirdspace, 42-43 transliteration, xiii-xiv

Thomas, Nicholas, 52-53 transnational flows. See Thrace (Bulgaria), 33, 132, 133, collaboration,

137, 164 appropriation, and

See also Stara Zagora transnational flows Tia Juana, 262 transnationalism and hybridity,

Time, 269, 277 41-44, 303n6, see also

Time of the Gypsies (2001), 242 hybridity

Time of the Gypsies (Kusturica), transnational minority, 47, 304n13 258, 277, 324n2, 332n47 Trask, Haunani-Kay, 53

Times Square Records/World Travelers, 245, 295n1, 324n5

Connection, 290 Traykov, Dzhago, 35

Titanik, 28, 33 Trifonov, Dimittir, 146 Tito, Josip Broz, 10732, 116:.169; Trifonov, Slavi, 189, 190-91 ZAG 215 “Edinstveni,” 172-73, 186, Todorov, Manol, 139, 140, 146, 319nn19-20

157 and the Eurovision scandal,

Todorov, Todor, 312n12 172-73, 316-17nn28-29 Todorova, Maria, 195, influence of, 316n27

297n18 “Ljubovta e Otrova,” 187,

Tomova, Ilona, 315n16 319nn21-22

tradition Roma TV, 172 and authenticity, 53, 247-48 “The Slavi Show,” 172 conceptions of, 54-55 “Vinovni Sme,” 187

invented, 53 “Yovano Yovanke,” 319n20

and modernity, 55, 247-48 truba (trumpet or flugelhorn), 31

Gralr 137 Trumpener, Katie, 9

Traditional Crossroads, 161, 233, Trtistenik, 30, 157, 311n8

323n9 Tsigan, 48, 295n1, 318n13

Trakiya, 313n21 Tsiganska Muzika, 122

Balkanology, 150-51, 160 Tsiganska Muzika (Gypsy Music),

and Boyd, 149, 161, 229 122

Fairground/Panair, 160-61, 234 tsiganska rabota (Gypsy work),

fees for weddings, 137 195

founding of, 134 Tsintsarska, Rumyana, 149

“Gypsy Heart,” 160-61 Tupurkovski, Vasil, 215 improvisation by, 136 turbofolk music, 177, 178-79,

vs. Kanarite, 160 319n22, 319n27

NATO concert by, 161 Turkey, 173-74, 197, 317n31 Orpheus Ascending, 150 Turkish culture police evasion by, 228 as a mark of civilization, 8,

popularity in Bulgaria, 161 44,115 394 Index

music and belly dancing, 231 Vagabond Opera: “Gypsies,

translations of songs into Tramps, and Thieves” concert,

Bulgarian, 311n6 263

Turks seen as Muslim fanatics, Valdes, Valentin, 318n9

196-97, 317n5 Vali, 183

Turkish language, xiii, xiv, 8, 44 Van de Port, Mattjis, 115, 245,

Tuysuzoglu, Tayik, 272 247, 257-58, 279

Tweed, Ras, 216-17 Van Gennep, Arnold, 85-86

Tyankov TV, 162 Vanjus, 284

Varga, Gusztav, 256, 260

ud (type of lute), 31 Vasilica (St. Basil's Day), 83

Ultra Gypsy, 24 Veliov, Naat, 326n5 Umer, DzZevat, 102 Velkov, Sasko, 211

Umer, Erhan (“Rambo”), 70, 98, verbunkos (Hungarian recruiting

101-2, 232-33,235 dance), 301n12

Umer, Husamedin (“Uska’”; Verdery, Katherine,

Erhan’s son), 102-3 146, 147

Umer, Husamedin (Erhan’s Verdonk, Anton, 248

father), 98, 101-2 Versace (Romani band), 33

Umer, Jusuf, 102 Vesela, 158-59

Umer, Sevim, 102, 235 Veseli Momci, 33

Umer, Turan, 102 Veselina TV (Bulgaria), 34

Umer, Vebi, 102 Via Romen, 266

324n2 2000), 242

Underground (Kusturica), 275-76, Vie dei Gitani (Ravenna, Italy,

unemployment, £52,155 Vievska Grupa, 1575. 162

UNESCO, 285 Visweswaran, Kamala, 16

UNESCO world heritage Vlax Romani dialect, 296n13 applications, 149, 170-72, VMRO-DPMNE (Macedonia), DAD

316n22, 316nn24—25 Voice of Roma (VOR), 16, 213-14,

Union for Romani Culture, 169 242-43, 254-55, 324n11,

Union of Macedonian Folklore 326n9 Ensembles, 171-72 See also Herdeljezi festivals, Union of Roma (Macedonia), VOR-sponsored

298n24 Volanis, Sotis: Poso Mou Lipis,

Unison Stars (Bulgaria), 190; 5 19026

34, 152 VOR. See Voice of Roma (Bulgaria), 298n25 310n5

United Democratic Front Vranje (V. Markovic), 116-17, 119,

United Kingdom, Roma in, Vuorela, Ulla, 59 245-46

United Party of Roma Wagener, Roy, 53

(Macedonia), 298n24 Weber, Alain, 259 U.S. State Department, 12 Wedding and Funeral Orchestra,

“Ustaj Kato,” 94 278 Ustata wedding music, Bulgarian and Azis, 194 amplified, 32, 131

“Bate Shefe,” 186-87 Bulgarian ban on, 16-17, 19, “Buryata v Stirtseto Mi,” 119, 131, 142-43, 146, 227

186-87 Bulgarian instrumentation/

“Lyubov li Be,” 186-87 style/repertoire (1970s— “Moy si Dyavole,” 186-87 1989), 131-33, 141, 311“Tochno Ti,” 186-87, 319n20 12nn7-12 Index 395

wedding music (continued) weddings

Bulgarian vs. Romani, 132 American, average cost of, 99

vs. chalga, 156, 160, 162, 179: American customs at, 97-98

See also é0éek/kyuchek in Belmont, 95-99, 309-

music; Chalga; cultural 10nn26-28

politics of postsocialist brideprice, 88, 308n11

category system for musicians, bride’s clothing, 90

139-40, 152 bride's crying, 90, 92

comeback of, 162-63 bride's importance and

155 307n5

crimes against musicians, transitional status, 85, 90, criticism of, 131, 140, 157 bride’s transfer to groom’s

development of, 141 home, 93-95, 97, 153,

eclecticism in, 132 309n21, 309nn23-25

economic crisis’s effects on cocek/kyuchek danced at, 115

musicians, 153-55 dance’s role in, 86-87, 96-98,

economic framework of, 310n28

137-40, 148, 313nn21-24 economic crisis’s effects on,

vs. ensemble music, 138, 156, [53

312012 Esma and Stevo's wedding,

fees for musicians, 99-100, 205

154 food preparation for, 87

female singers for, 137 eift giving, 87-88, 92-93, 99,

and folk music, 132-33, 140, 309n21

156; 160-162: 167; -226: homosexual, 189-90

312n12, 315n18 igranka (dance party), 91-93,

guest musicians, 93, 96 309nn19-20

history of, 131, 311-12n8, invitations to, 92, 95, 309n20

327n11 length of, 85, 96, 153, 307n7

improvisation/innovation in, 27, Macedonian, 85, 307n7

132, 301n10, 312n12 midweek, 134, 309-10n26 learned in secret, 144-45 mother-in-law and

as a male realm, 86, 137 daughter-in-law

and nationalism/patriotism, relationship after, 94,

156, 159-60, 162-63 309n24

as an oral tradition, 137 Muslim vs. Eastern Orthodox,

popularity of, 151, 156-57, 86

221,295 order of the wedding week, 88,

on radio and television, 146-47 308n12, 309-10n26

recordings of, 146-48, pan-Balkan structure of,

313nn26-29 85-86 self-censorship by musicians, pregnant brides at, 84

147 Romani and Turkish vs.

stars of, 16, 36-37, 136, 137, 294 Bulgarian, 153-54

structure of, 132 season for, 89

tipping for, 138, 313n24 segregated dancing/parties, uses of, 131 110-11 versatility in, 132 as status symbols, 133

See also Cocek/kyuchek in Sutka, 86-88, 308n10 music; cultural politics womens clothing at, 87-88, 91 of postsocialist markets/ women’s vs. men’s roles in,

festivals; Papazov, Ivo; 86-87, 98

Stambolovo festivals See also henna 396 Index

Werbner, Pnina, 52, 302-3n2, Yambol Ensemble, 128

303n8 Yanamoto, Yohji, 250, 254

Western European Gypsy Yanev, Georgi, 136, 154-55,

festivals, 242 157-58

When the Road Bends: Tales of a Yaneva, Pepa, 154, 157-58, 182,

Gypsy Caravan (Delall), 213, 321n5

259.32 71117 Yaneva, Tsvetelina, 157-59,

Willems, Wim, 304n15 182

Winter, Michel, 246, 251, 255-57, Yanitsa, 183

283, 326n5 Yankov, Nikola, 139, 313n26

See also under Taraf de Yankulov, Stoyan, 160

Haidouks Yiftos, 295n1

WIPO (World Intellectual YouTube, 17, 34, 81, 271

women 119

Property Organization), 285 Yugoslavia

WOMAD (Belgium), 242 dance/music in, 116-17, freedom of movement of, 111 economic crisis in, 14

hairstyles of, 309n19 guest worker policy of, 14

inside world of, vs. men’s multiculturalism in, 10, 32, outside world, 111, 308n14 116, 297n19

kinwork by, 86 socialist, 10 modesty of, 109-10, 118, 120, violence associated with, 123, 202, 218-19 306n11 objectification/commodification wars in (1991-1995), 14 OL iz Yunakov, Ahmed, 136, power/knowledge of, 71, 77-79, 224-25

88, 94, 109-10, 306n14, Yunakov, Danko, 104, 225

307n19 Yunakov, Yuri (formerly Husein

role in weddings (see under Huseinov Aliev), 16, 20

weddings) 221-39 sexuality of, 109-10, 120-21 activist projects of, 234-35 subjugation of, 76, 306—7n17, Americans taught by, 234

308n14 arrests/imprisonment of, 227

work ethic, 9, 63 awards received by, 235

World Bank, 11, 12 bitterness toward the press, 162 World Intellectual Property boxing career of, 226 Organization, 170-71 Bulgarian Turkish identity of,

world music and hybridity, 222-73

44-47, 151, 239 clarinet played by, 223-25, 235

See also hybridity; Romani clothing/image of, 237, 251

music as world music club performances by, 235

World Music Folklife Center, collaborations by/contacts of,

243 231-35, 270, 323n8

World Music Institute (New York), at dance workshops, 310n32

243, 258-59 early years of, 221-26

World Village, 161 educational events,

World War II Nazi extermination participation in, 255

of Roma, 9-10, 48 emigration to the United States,

See also Holocaust 17, 20, 160, 229-30 ethnicity of, 142

268 of, 100, 300n9

xenophobia, 3, 13, 246, 252-53, ethnic variety among patrons

Xenos, Nicholas, 14-15 “Fincan,” 231

Index 397

Yunakov, Yuri (continued) Balada, 233 and Foster, 327n16 clothing/image of, 237, 251 on Gypsy Caravan tour, 233-34, in the Gypsy Caravan tour,

235-36, 260, 262 243

Gypsy Fire, 231 New Colors in Bulgarian

at Herdeljezi festival, 234 Wedding Music, 233 and Hutz, 287, 331n42 in the New York Black Sea identities of, 44, 237-39, Roma Festival, 235

323n10 Yuseinov, Ateshhan, 160

and Kaplan, 287

kaval played by, 224 zadruga (patrilineal familial unit),

kyuchek played by, 227-28 64

Z35 319n27

and Mamudoski, 232-33, “Zajdi Zajdi Jasno Sonce,” as mentor to young musicians, Zapej Makedonijo (film), 207,

103, 104 209, 322n11

and Milev, 225, 233 “Zapevala Sojka Ptica,” 28 multiple identities of, 237-39, Zap Mama, 330n37

323n10 Zekirovski, Sami, 211

musical background/training of, Zekov, Osman, 136

223-20 Zhekov, Osman, 30

name change of, 142, 226, Zhelyaskova, Antonina, 315n16

228 Ziff, Bruce, 327n12

and the New York Gypsy Zig Zag, 192 Festival, 235, 266-67 Zirbel, Kathryn, 244, 246, 252, on oppression of musicians, 260, 261, 325n14

227-28 Zivkovié, Marina, 301n17

and Papazov, 225, 227, 233-34 Zizek, Slavoj, 43

on Papazov, 134 Zlatne Uste, 105, 265-66, police evasion by, 143-44, 228 327n16

109 zurna/zurla

on professional female dancers, Zsurafski, Zoltan, 324n4

on Rajasthani music, 236 and the Bulgarian anti-Muslim

repertoire/versatility of, 231-32, campaign (1980s), 128-30,

235 141, 311nn3-4, 311n6 (ch.

reunion tours with Papazov, 161 7)

Romani identity of, 223, 230-37 Bulgarian ban on, 24,

and Salifoski, 105 128-29, 148 saxophone played by, 227 vs. clarinet, 135

synthesizer used by, 237, 249 in ensembles, history of, 23-24

on Taraf de Haidouks, 236 AS exclusively male, 4 Together Again: Legends of at folk festivals, 167

Bulgarian Wedding Music, at the Gali¢nik wedding, 171

161,235 in henna ceremonies, 89-90, on tour, 237 308-9n16 in Trakiya, 136, 227 mane (free rhythmic Turkish music played by, 231 improvisations) on, 25

1Q2 of Pirin, 24

and Erhan and Sevim Umer, multipart playing of, 24-25

on wedding music, 312n12 recordings of, 148

wedding music by, 226, 227-29 ritual function of, 24, 36, 89 Yuri Yunakov Ensemble, 17, 243 training in, 24

398 Index