Productions

Ròma!

The sounds, words, and drums of Romani Culture

I know the woods. I know the road. I know freedom.

Show/concert on the songs and stories of Romani culture.
A journey interweaving words, sounds, and visions to speak of the beauty and strength of a tradition and of a language that are unknown, and often assaulted by prejudice and hostility.
Romani stories and songs, with the secret hope of defeating prejudice and fostering knowledge of a rich and extraordinary culture.
In Ròma, the music of Mascarimirì is interwoven with the fabric of words curated by Fabio Tolledi, and with video projections of unpublished images, the result of research conducted among Salento-area Romani families.

The show is the result of the collaboration between Astràgali Teatro, a Puglia-based theatre company engaged for years in a work of reconnaissance and research on the cultures of the Mediterranean and the Near East, and Mascarimirì, a historical music group from Salento, led by Claudio “Cavallo” Giagnotti, a musician of Romani origin who has made “tradinnovation” his own innovative key for his musical experimentation.

At the origins of Ròma is the spadework done by Claudio “Cavallo” Giagnotti, digging into the origins and history of his own family. This was soon to become a path of rediscovery of the social, economic, cultural, and artistic roots of Salento’s Romani families: the rediscovery of roots and, at the same time, of the relationship with the surrounding territory. This is a relationship made of interweaving, hybridization, acceptance and refusal. It is an extraordinary story, whose vivid traces have come down to us intact.

Ròma consists of three moments:

SHOW (duration: 70 m)
RÒMA! The sounds, words, and drums of Romani Culture
Written and directed by: Fabio Tolledi; Featuring: Fabio Tolledi and Mascarimirì (Claudio “Cavallo” Giagnotti, Alessio “Franza” Amato, Dario Stefanizzi, and Gabriele Martino); music: Mascarimirì; production: Astragali Teatro; general organization: Ivano Gorgoni

PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT
“GITANISTAN”- Lo stato immaginario delle famiglie Rom salentine
curated by Claudio “Cavallo” Giagnotti and Anna Maria Mangia

SCREENING OF DOCUMENTARY (duration: 1 h)
“GITANISTAN”- Lo stato immaginario delle famiglie Rom salentine
Subject by, screenplay by, and directed by: Gigi De Donno, Claudio “Cavallo” Giagnotti; producer: Gigi De Donno, Claudio “Cavallo” Giagnotti, Paolo “Sbrango” Marzoni; director of photography: Alessandro “Luvagnone” Marti; video editing: Corrado Iuvara, Davide Ricchiuti; visual effects & color correction: Ameleto Cascio; visual communication: Progetty; production: Italy France 2014; produced by: MaxmanFreimDilinò.