A Romani Potpourri Part Three

As the mother teaches her children how to express themselves in their language, so one Gypsy musician teaches the other. They have never shown any need for notation.
Franz Liszt

The Roma people have made a big contribution to the music and dance of Eastern Europe.  They are also known by the politically incorrect term "gypsies." (If you click on the link to the Voice of Roma site, you'll see that Esma  has a U.S. tour planned for Spring 2016. She is a fantastic singer from the Republic of Macedonia and you can read about her in the first post below).

Today's post features two Romani dances from Serbia and Romania.

Video #1 features the dance Opa Cupa  from Serbia.  The lyrics describe a man who's very popular with the women, except for one who refuses to dance with him.

Opa Cupa is very popular with brass bands.  This version, with live music, is slightly different.



Video#2 is Ca la Mahala  from Romania. I couldn't find the lyrics to this song, which is one I would file under the category "earworm."

Unfortunately, the word "mahala" in Romanian has a negative connotations and describes a slum or ghetto, what we would call "the hood" in the United States. In Romania, the Roma live in the rough areas of town under horrible conditions, often without proper sanitation. There is a problem with drug use and crime, the by-products of poverty and discrimination.

Roma people originally came from India and migrated west towards Europe. To this day they have no country to call their own.



If you enjoyed this you make also like

A Romani Potpourri (part one)

Balkan Dances that are Often Confused


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