Live Book - The Folk Band of Július Žiga
created: 12. 04. 2024 07:47 modified: 12. 04. 2024 07:48
The „Live book“ presents the well-known Romani band Žigovci from Gelnica. The recording was made in December 2021 and is created for the purpose of RTVS television broadcasting. From a dramaturgical point of view, the founder of the band Július Žiga is presented as a "living book", who tells the viewer his life story and the story of the band in the field of music, but also about music as a family tradition.
The core members of the family cimbalom band are the Žigas from Gelnica: father Július, his daughter Bohdana and son Filip. Guest members are Vladimír Plachetka, Kristián Bandy and Július Bandy. All of them are graduates of conservatories and are engaged in music production professionally. Bohdana Žigová and Filip Žiga were scholarship recipients of the Divé maky organization.
The song Ajsi terňi džuvľi (The Young Woman) is a slow, sentimental composition.
Instruments and players: Július Žiga - double bass, Bohdana Žigová - cello, vocals, Filip Žiga - violin, Július Bandy - cimbalom, Kristián Bandy - viola, Vladimír Plachetka - accordion.
The record was created on December 11, 2021, at the Center for Independent Culture Wave in Prešov.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue guided Slovak Július Žiga general audience internal
Petr Torák - Life in Great Britain
created: 10. 04. 2024 07:19 modified: 10. 04. 2024 07:20
Petr Torák comes from the Czech Republic, from where in 1999, after a series of racially motivated attacks, he and his whole family emigrated to Great Britain. He became a member of the local police, dealing also with the topics such as modern slavery. In 2015, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his dedicated work with Roma communities in Peterborough. After leaving the police, he devotes himself fully to community and charity work, and at the same time acts as the honorary consul of the Czech Republic in Peterborough.
In the second part of the three memoirs, Torák shares what he remembers about their arrival in Great Britain, where they applied for the asylum immediately, describes the events that followed as well as their gradual integration into society. He recalls his first work experience until joining the British police, while being an external university student. He describes the activities he carried on and which led to him being awarded the Order of the British Empire.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue general Czech Petr Torák general audience internal
Petr Torák - Community Work
created: 10. 04. 2024 07:16 modified: 10. 04. 2024 07:17
Petr Torák comes from the Czech Republic, from where in 1999, after a series of racially motivated attacks, he and his whole family emigrated to Great Britain. He became a member of the local police, dealing also with the topics such as modern slavery. In 2015, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his dedicated work with Roma communities in Peterborough. After leaving the police, he devotes himself fully to community and charity work, and at the same time acts as the honorary consul of the Czech Republic in Peterborough.
In the last, third part of the series of memoirs, Torák talks about his decision to leave the police and devote himself fully to community work. It discusses various aspects of helping people, the importance of working with children and youth, schools; compares the education system in the Czech Republic and Great Britain. He talks about how he became the honorary consul of the Czech Republic in Peterborough and about his plans and visions for the future.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue general Czech Petr Torák general audience internal
Petr Torák - Life in Czech Republic
created: 09. 04. 2024 07:28 modified: 09. 04. 2024 07:29
Petr Torák comes from the Czech Republic, from where in 1999, after a series of racially motivated attacks, he and his whole family emigrated to Great Britain. He became a member of the local police and also devoted himself to topics such as modern slavery. In 2015 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his dedicated work with Romani communities in Peterborough. After leaving the ranks of the police, he works fulltime in community and charity field and at the same time acts as the honorary consul of the Czech Republic in Peterborough.
In the first part of a trio of memoirs, Torák recalls his family and childhood in the Czech Republic, his school years and the events that preceded his family's emigration to Great Britain.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue general Czech Petr Torák general audience internal
Dezider Horváth, Krásnohorské Podhradie
created: 20. 03. 2024 13:36 modified: 20. 03. 2024 13:37
Dezider Horváth, the leader of the local Roma community in the village of Krásnohorské Podhradie, talks about the village, the settlement and its origins, the local Roma community as well as his personal and family history. Dezider Horváth is a memorial of many historical events, he also talks about the years when he was active in the field of Roma national politics and local civic activism.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical dialogue guided Romani Dezider Horváth general audience internal
Vladimír Slávik
created: 14. 03. 2024 10:32 modified: 14. 03. 2024 10:41
He comes from Banská Bystrica. He was taught about music by his grandfather, who himself played accordion and loved Romani music. He also is passionate about Romani music, he finds it his favourite. He plays in the bands from Horehronie Region - the Pokoš, the Haviars, the Gabriš.
He studied playing cimbalom in Elementary Music School in Banská Bystrica. He is a member of several folk groups. Currently, he is a student of the Jessenius Medical Faculty in Martin, Comenius University. If compared to Slovak folk music, the Romani folk music is more temperamental, more sensitive to music and harmony.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue general Vladimír Slávik cimbalista general audience internal
Ján Rigo
created: 14. 03. 2024 06:41 modified: 14. 03. 2024 10:42
Ján Rigo comes from Bratislava. He attended the Folk Conservatory, he is a long-time musician playing the double-bass, currently as a freelance musician. He played together with many renowned musicians both in Slovakia as well as abroad. He is a guest musician performing with the bands Gipsy Way Ensemble, Gypsy Jazz SK (the music band lead by Ján Berky-Mrenica Jr.) and at the time of the recording he was a permanent member of the group Manuša, with which he released an album of the same name in 2022.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue guided Slovak Ján Rigo internal general audience
Elena Lacková - Let's Get Introduced (The Debate in Handlová)
created: 08. 03. 2024 11:27 modified: 08. 03. 2024 11:28
The video is the archived material of the NGO Jekhetane-Spolu. Its content is the recorded debate of the writer Elena Lacková which took place in the Library in Handlová; this event being a part of the series of events named Let's Get Introduced. The original video is recorded on VHS tape, the digital version was made in 2002 through digitalization of the tape. Some parts of the debate in the original record are edited, hence the utterance of sentences isn't finished properly. The object is provided only for studying purposes and research of Elena Lacková. The author of the video isn't identified.
Elena Lacková was born on March 22, 1921 in Veľký Šariš. She is one of the most important Romani writer. She wrote fot both children and adult readers. She graduated from the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Charles University in Prague (1970). She wrote prose as well as dramatic pieces. She was a lifelong activist and Romani advocate.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical dialogue general Slovak Elena Lacková general audience internal
Rudolf Balog a Július Ökrös
created: 04. 03. 2024 14:32 modified: 04. 03. 2024 14:34
Rudolf Balog and Julius Okros are members of the cimbalom band named Peter Horvath Orchestra. Rudolf Balog plays double-bass, Julius Okros plays violin. In the interview with both of them, made as an outcome of documentation of the Romani cimbalom bands, they speak about musical family environment, the influence it had on their actual professional lives. Julius attended the Art School in Filakovo which he graduated, thus he achieved the secondary music education. When five year old, he got violin in his hands and keeps holding it still. Rudolf was self-taugh musician who learnt fundamental skills how to play the music instrument in his family. The video document was recorded on August 24, 2022 in Presov.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue guided Slovak Rudolf Balog Július Ökrös internal general audience
Viliam Didiáš
created: 01. 02. 2024 12:54 modified: 01. 02. 2024 12:55
Viliam Didiáš comes from Zvolen, from a family of musicians. He was gifted his first violin when he was three years old. After graduating from the then Folk School of Arts, he continued his studies at the Ján Levoslav Bella Conservatory in Banská Bystrica. After graduation in 1998, he started performing as a freelance artist. He completed several master’s art courses, significantly improving his mastery of playing the violin as well as more mature interpretation of music. He played in various musical groups, at the time of the recording he was a permanent member of the group Manuša, with which he released an album of the same name in 2022.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue guided Slovak Viliam Didiáš internal general audience
