Romani Dance for the Stage- One Choreographer's Journey

Bringing Romani dance to the stage is somewhat challenging, as it is primarily a non-choreographed and very spontaneous dance - fairly at odds with a stage production!  However Dans Askina dancer Sonja Um-Siri had discovered a song, and wanted to bring it to life in a troupe choreography.

Little did Sonja realize that after listening to 'Anako/Işler Nanay' by Kardeş Türküler  she would also be off on a linguistic journey!

"I'd listened to the song for months, and as choreographic visions took shape in my mind, I saw a group of Romani women doing something together. A matriarch was kvetching, and the other women dialogued
with her. Heavily influenced by a Carlos Saura's classic flamenco movie, "Amor Brujo", I saw these women doing laundry together on the outskirts of their neighborhood. I pictured vividly colorful laundry baskets stacked upon each other to create a platform for the kvetching matriarch."

This was all well and good, but did this scene make sense with the lyrics? Having no clue what they meant, Sonja turned to a Turkish friend for help with the translation - as fate would have it, the lyrics are a mix of Turkish and Romani and her linguistic journey began!

Sonja learned that the Turkish language belongs to the Altay branch of the Urak-Altaic linguistic family, same as Finnish and Hungarian languages. Romani languages have their roots in India, are classified in the IndoEuropean linguistic family, and are also influenced from all the languages the Romani have encountered along the Romani Trail.

As the roots of both languages are quite different, Romani lyrics and movie dialogues are often not easily understood by non-Romani Turks! This became very real as Sonja's friend worked to translate the lyrics of "Anako/Isler Nanay"- (Mama, things are not good/all screwed up)

Aman bir hecalim var! - (I have something to say - usually the start of a rant/heated discussion/argument)
Her kime? - (for who/to whom)
Istanbul'un pahasini, isini pisini, selini çekenlere! - (for those who bear the grind, dirt & flood of Istanbul)
Çal bana çakir gayday - (play me the instrument)
oyna oyna, çal gayday - (dance, dance play the instrument)
Habe yoksa, ye yorganlari - (if there is no food, eat the quilts/comforters)
Bugün de perhiz edelim - (today we'll fast)
Gel bize, keriz edelim - (come over and let's have fun)
Levan da nanay, koy movasta - (we don't have any money, there's nothing left)
Yetmedi, kalmedi, yetmedi - (it wasn't enough, nothing left, wasn't enough)
Yağmur ötelere yapar - (it rains elsewhere)
Bizim mahaleyi sel basar - (but it floods our neighborhood)
Hidrellezgeldi, geçer - (the holiday has come and passed)
Soske be burda çoro kaldik - (why are we left here in despair?)
Eyü'te, balat'ta, gültepe'de - (in Eyup, Balat, Gultepe [gyspy neighborhoods in Istanbul])
So tekera, işler nanay - (oh well/what to do things are not good/all screwed up)

Even though the music has a lively and upbeat feel to it, the lyrics are about very challenging realities of Romani life in Istanbul. Sonja and Dans Askina Artistic Director Amina Beres concluded her idea of a laundry scene was a suitable context for her choreography of "Anako/Isler Nanay" - including a kvetching matriarch, playful teasing from sympathetic women, and Romani dance gestures to represent the playing of musical instruments mentioned in the lyrics.