Michal Mižigár
created: 16. 04. 2024 07:34 modified: 16. 04. 2024 07:34
Michal "Mižu" Mižigár is a descendant of a Romani family from Slovakia, which moved to Czech Republic from the villages of Upper Spiš after World War II. He graduated from the Bussiness Academy in Pisek, and continued his studies at the Charles University in Prague at the Faculty of Arts, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in Roma Studies.
Currently, he is studying at the Central European University (formerly in Budapest, Hungary, later in Vienna, Austria) for a master's degree in comparative history. At the time of the interview, he worked in Great Britain in the team of the Roma of Great Abilities project, where he worked with teachers of Roma children from Czech Republic and Slovakia. The interview is abour his life, work and knowledge received so far.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue general Romani Michal Mižigár general audience internal
Live Book – Gitana – Adriana Drafiová
created: 12. 04. 2024 09:10 modified: 12. 04. 2024 09:11
The "Live Book" format presents the well-known Romani singer Adriana Drafiová, who performs under the stage name Gitana. The recording was made in November 2021 and was broadcasted by RTVS in an exclusive premiere. From a dramaturgical point of view, Gitana is presented as a "living book" that tells the viewer her life story in the field of music, and also about music as a family tradition. In the recording, she interprets traditional Romani and Hungarian songs accompanied by the family cimbalom band Ďusi Band from Prešov.
She inherited great musical talent from her father and grandfather, who were sought-after Romani musicians. She took inspiration by singers such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Barbra Streisand. At the age of seventeen, the first offer to perform abroad came. It started in Switzerland and gradually she traveled a large part of Europe as a singer. She also sang in front of world-class celebrities, such as Tina Turner, Claudia Schiffer, David Copperfield and Boris Becker. In Hungary, she performed with the well-known singer Jozef Szabo, and a little later her long-term collaboration with the group Kmeťoband began.
Later, she became more focused on a new musical style, i.e. electro swing and gypsy swing, while using support of her music producer Slavo Solovič. Her other musical achievements include recording of the title song in Slovak for the animated fairy tale Lava produced by the Disney film studio. The song is a duet with Juraj Benetin, singer of the band Korben Dallas.
She performs both solo and with a band.
The video was documented on 19/11/2021 in Prešov in the center of independent culture Wave on Hlavná Street. Adriana Drafiová - Gitana - vocals, Július Bandy - cimbalom, Samuel Bandy - violin, Roland Horváth - clarinet, saxophone, Kristián Bandy - viola, Július Bandy, Jr. - double bass, text: Eduard Čonka.
category: speaking
tags: retrospective biographical monologue guided Slovak Adriana Drafiová Gitana general audience internal
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
Laci Nitra - Aďes aba me maťuvav
created: 19. 03. 2024 07:32 modified: 19. 03. 2024 07:33
The song "Aďes aba me maťuvav" - halgató, was documented on the Vlachika Roma Culture Festival named Amari Luma (Our World) in Komárno, as a part of a performance of a family music band Laci Nitra. Author of the lyrics and music is Ladislav Németh, who is also the performer.
category: music
tags: vocal-instrumental modern folk orchestra original Romani Ladislav Németh 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
