Although the
\naim of\u00a0International Roma day\u00a0is to\u00a0present a political message, the day
\nhas recently come to be regarded also as a time for celebration.\u00a0 We
\ntherefore try to create a day that combines celebratory cultural activities,\u00a0which
\npromote the need for the\u00a0integration of Roma children, and that tries
\nto\u00a0support communities of Russians and Roma.\u00a0This year, the Children\u2019s
\nCreativity Festival took place in the Dom Kulturi (House of Culture)
\nin the village of\u00a0Leskolovo in the Vsevolozhsk District of Leningrad
\nRegion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Children from
\nschool No.462 of the Pushkin District of St. Petersburg, from school
\nNo. 3 of\u00a0Vsevolozhsk, from the school of Nizhniye Osel\u2019ki village in
\nthe Vsevolozhsk District, and the “Red Rose” ensemble from
\nthe Leskolovo Dom Kulturi took part in this year\u2019s festival.<\/p>\n
ADC Memorial
\ntries to support cultural initiatives in the Roma community, and as
\nsuch this years festival contained a presentation of a book written
\nby the talented self-taught\u00a0Roma-Kelderari writer\u00a0O.Petrovich: “Barrons
\nof the Sapporoni Tabor”.\u00a0 Children acted out various scenes from
\nthe book.\u00a0 Also, under the direction of V.P Pivovarova the students of
\nOsel\u2019ki school acted out the tale of the sharp-witted lucky Roma boy
\nwho completed a task set by the Tsar and sought out a valuable ring.
\nHe then refused\u00a0the reward offered to him\u00a0and disappeared back to his
\nTabor. The students of school 462 from Alexandrovskaya also staged a
\nhumorous tale from O.Petrovich\u2019s book about how a Roma succeeded, through
\nhis own cunning, to return some stolen horses\u00a0and stop the bewildered
\nthieves.<\/p>\n
The play “How
\nthe Roma tricked the mayor” performed by pupils from Vsevolozhsk
\nwas the most relevant\u00a0as far as\u00a0the audience was concerned, and the performers
\nwere followed off stage by wild applause. The story tells of how a group
\nof Roma lived for a long time in\u00a0a\u00a0town, raising their children and earning
\ntheir living by working with metal.\u00a0\u00a0One day, the mayor came to the Roma
\nand\u00a0started\u00a0to chase them out of their homes.\u00a0The Roma however\u00a0charmed him
\nwith their songs and dances, so much so that he decided to let them,
\ntheir children and their grandchildren\u00a0live there forever. There was
\nhowever one condition: that they should not forget to register their
\nhomes as they are built.<\/p>\n
A variety of
\npieces were performed at the concert: the first year pupils of the Osel\u2019ki
\nschool performed a\u00a0Romani song under the direction of their teacher N.G.
\nRinovii.\u00a0Kristina Rik and Dorotea Fasselrinner, two volunteers at Memorial,
\nled a choir of the older children.\u00a0 With the help of teacher A.P Konovalova
\nthe fifth years prepared and performed a selection of ball dances.\u00a0A
\ngroup of Roma girls sang a humours folk song about how they do not want
\nto be married off early and have to run around after children, but about
\nhow it would be\u00a0better to first study and get a profession.\u00a0 All performances
\nwere met with rapturous enthusiasm.\u00a0 The “Red Rose” ensemble
\ndanced so enthusiastically that some of the audience could not contain
\nthemselves, jumped onto the stage themselves, and began to improvise
\nvarious dances, trying to out dance each other.<\/p>\n
The festival
\nturned out to be a very jovial affair and was well attended; not only
\nwere mothers and grandmothers there to cheer on the young artists, but
\nalso Roma fathers and the members of the village\u2019s general public. The
\nhuman rights activists and representatives of the local administration
\nwish the Roma residents of the Vsevolozhsk District prosperity, happiness
\nand health.<\/p>\n
Natalia Stalmakova<\/p>\n