FEATURE ARTICLE
SHUVANI

Dancing the Romani Trail: An Interview with Shuvani

by David Horwich

Since their 2004 debut in front of a packed house at Café de la Paz, the three-member dance troupe Shuvani has enriched the Bay Area scene with their innovative and original interpretation of traditional Romani culture. Shuvani takes an audience down "the Romani Trail", on a journey both geographic and emotional, highlighting the dance and music of the Roma of India, Turkey, Egypt, Russia, and Spain. The group -- artistic director Amy Luna Manderino , Hannah Romanowsky , and Holly Shaw -- creates a show both powerful and intimate; Manderino's flair for stagecraft provides the framework on which the group weaves a tapestry of diverse styles and moods.

In the less than two years since their inception, Shuvani has performed at a wide variety of venues; I myself first saw them at this year's San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, at which they were the first group ever to perform the Romani Trail. I retain a vivid impression of spinning bodies, whirling skirts...motion, energy, and panache. They've also danced at the San Francisco Opera, the International Roma Day Celebration, and the Kolo Festival, to name but a few, and they'll be headlining next year's tenth anniversary Herdeljezi Festival, a celebration of Romani culture and folk art. Shuvani was even, I'm told, invited to perform Luna's show-stopping dance on wine glasses for Robert Mondavi at his famous winery. Having recently returned from a tour of China, where they performed at the Beijing International Cultural and Tourism Festival along with distinguished companies from around the world, Shuvani is currently putting together a full-length evening concert, which will debut in the Bay Area this winter and launch their nationwide tour, "Opre!". While on tour they'll be performing and giving workshops in the different styles of Romani dance all across the U.S. I recently had the opportunity to talk with this talented threesome about their company, and their plans:

David: How did the three of you come together to form Shuvani?

Holly: We were all bellydancers, I guess that's the common denominator, although I met Luna when I performed a Flamenco piece at her show, Café Bellie. I knew that she incorporated a lot of different styles into her bellydance classes, and after meeting her I just knew I had to work with her, so I said, "Hey, we really should form a group that does styles other than bellydance." Then she introduced me to Hannah and Miriam Peretz, who was with us in the beginning, and I said "Wow, now here are some really talented people." I've been in theatre my entire life and was performing in a professional children's company at the age of twelve; Hannah has been dancing all her life; and then there was Luna, an award-winning dancer who had already established a student base, was producing shows, and offered to bring so much creative showmanship and leadership to a group. There are many student troupes, but I think what all of us were craving was the chance to work with other professionals and do something unique, and Luna proposed the idea of a "Romani Trail" company.

Hannah: Luna had seen me perform Rom and folkloric bellydance with the Aywah! Ethnic Dance Company, and she approached me to work on a project that focused exclusively on Rom material. This intrigued me because it was a culture I took a special interest in, and I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to deepen my understanding. Having recently received a degree in dance ethnology, I was eager to embark on a research project like this and help start it from the ground up. Another big draw was Luna herself, who is an extremely capable leader. When I met Holly I knew we had something going. She, like me, had been involved in performance and dance her whole life, and had a background similar to mine, which was centered around western theater dance and ballet. The three of us work really well together. We all naturally have different backgrounds and strengths, and I think we've learned a great deal from each other.

Luna: The commonality that binds us, and what I think brought us together, is that we are all really diverse dancers. The three of us share the passion for learning new styles and I think we were all seeking a platform in which we could exercise this talent. What's kept us together is that we all are truly inspired by each other, and through creating our passion we've become as close as sisters creating a heartfelt bond that comes across in our performances.

David: Why Romani dance, in particular?

Hannah: We looked at the Roma and said, "Here's a group of people who have had a significant effect on music, dance, and art all over the world." Because there are Roma living all over the world, their culture has developed in several different directions, with various indigenous styles serving as a platform for their own expression. To examine the similarities and differences between the different styles is a fascinating and huge undertaking. We don't know of any other dance company in the U.S. doing what we do, so we saw an opportunity to carve out our own niche.

Holly: Each of these dance styles -- Flamenco, Ghawazee, Kalbeliya -- has its own unique flavor, distilled over hundreds of years. We try to honor that and keep them as authentic and distinct as possible. At the same time, we're becoming aware of the similarities. In a way, we're doing comparative ethnography with our bodies.

Luna: I'm a professional music instructor by day (http://www.bayareapiano.com/) so I was drawn to the fact that I could play instruments while dancing each of these styles. For India, we dancers play manjira (cymbals) and ghungroo (ankle bells), as well as riqqs (tambourines) for Turkey, zils (finger cymbals) for Egypt, wooden spoons for Russia and castanets for Spain. The continuing thread of handheld percussion instruments used in each dance tradition further highlights the common heritage of all the dances. That's just one example of how performing these styles side by side will hopefully leave some interesting conclusions for the imaginations of our audience.

David: Have you had any reaction or feedback from the Roma community?

Luna: From the beginning, we've tried to work closely with members of the Roma community to develop a respectful and accurate representation of their culture. We have become close with Sani Rifati and Carol Bloom, founders of the Voice of Roma, an advocacy group for the Roma, and they've really guided us. From our first show, they were honored audience members, and we've always asked for their opinions about what we're doing. We don't pretend to be Roma -- none of us are of Rom descent -- but no one can fault us for honoring their contributions to art all over the world.

Holly: If anything, our goal is to educate. We try to educate ourselves and educate others when we do our show. For example, you'll notice we use the word "Gypsy" very infrequently in our promotional materials -- there are many Roma that find the word offensive. Unfortunately, it's still necessary for us to use it here and there in order to identify what it is we do to the general public, but we always use it in conjunction with "Roma." We hope that by using the word "Roma" ourselves, we can help spread awareness that the Roma are a real people and not a fantasy stereotype.



David: What's the significance of the name "Shuvani"?

continue >

UPCOMING SHOWS

Click on the show for calendar details. Check show information with venue.

Subscribe to the free SF Flamenco email newsletter and receive monthly issues including class information and upcoming events.
Email: flamencoshows@yahoo.com

Advertise on SF Flamenco LINK

SF FLAMENCO.com(munity)
SF Flamenco is an online community center and magazine working to support and showcase the entire flamenco community in the greater San Francisco Bay Area by providing a promotional media interface representing flamenco culture, arts and artists to facilitate public awareness and understanding. This California on-line flamenco magazine, includes event listings, an artist directory, flamenco artist support and resources, historical and education resources, art, nightlife and resources on local, U.S.A., Spanish and international flamenco art and culture. If you are a local flamenco performer, find out about the free Feature Articles, and Performer's Network. Site created as a community arts project by Jason Engelund, El Pintor.