Romania
ELVIS RROMANOSomcuta Mare (A village inhabited by the Romani), Romania, April 2011. Two-channel video installation, 16’ 09”. ELVIS RROMANO – a stage name of Tudor Lakatos, a teacher in the Romani school in Somcuta Mare, Romania. |
ElVIS RROMANOSomcuta Mare (wieś zamieszkna przez Romów), Rumunia, kwiecień 2011,
Dwukanałowa instalacja video, 16’ 09” ELVIS RROMANO – pseudonim sceniczny Tudora Lakatos, nauczyciela w Romskiej szkole w Somcuta Mare w Rumuni. |
Video: installation & film (1 channel)
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Slideshow (2 channel)
Synopsis
Documentary about Elvis Rromano - a stage name of Tudor Lakatos, a teacher in the Gypsy school in Somcuta Mare.
"I am Elvis Rromano. Elvis Rromano means Gypsy Elvis, it’s because I sing Presley’s songs in the Gypsy language. I love what I do, and I do it with passion. Many Elvis impersonators sing his songs in English, but I’m unique, I sing in Gypsy. Why? I first heard Elvis’s songs when I was 18, but I couldn’t sing them in Eng- lish because I didn’t know the language. The English lessons at school weren’t good, and it wasn’t easy to learn. Later I decided to sing in Gypsy, for many reasons. It was easier. The old Gypsies love Elvis, but they don’t understand his lyrics, many of them don’t know English. So it was a gift for them. Elvis Presley in my very own way, with my own words, in my language, in Gypsy. It’s some- thing they can understand. My lyrics are deeper, more serious. I sing about my roots and my feelings, my own life, as well as the life of the Gypsies. There’s one more reason. I discovered that Elvis was half-Gypsy, from his mother. Nobody wants to comment on that, but a year ago, I read about it on the web. The Ministry of Education in the UK sent out this information to encourage Roma children to go to school. It was to serve as a good example. They said that Gypsies had many good actors, such as Ava Gardner, Yul Brynner, Charlie Chaplin, and of course Elvis Presley who was a Gypsy too. I’m happy because I can sing his songs in Gypsy. I work as a teacher in a Gypsy school. . . . Now there’s wider access to education in Romania, it’s a good system, we have education. There are a lot of poor children, but they come to school in spite of that. I’m a teacher and a famous figure in Romania, everybody knows Elvis Rromano. Everybody knows me and everybody likes me. I started singing, my first album was titled Rock’n’Rrom. My music is in the Gypsy style. We dance to it, so I created rock’n’rrom with Elvis’s songs.
– Great, that’s it. – Thanks."
"I am Elvis Rromano. Elvis Rromano means Gypsy Elvis, it’s because I sing Presley’s songs in the Gypsy language. I love what I do, and I do it with passion. Many Elvis impersonators sing his songs in English, but I’m unique, I sing in Gypsy. Why? I first heard Elvis’s songs when I was 18, but I couldn’t sing them in Eng- lish because I didn’t know the language. The English lessons at school weren’t good, and it wasn’t easy to learn. Later I decided to sing in Gypsy, for many reasons. It was easier. The old Gypsies love Elvis, but they don’t understand his lyrics, many of them don’t know English. So it was a gift for them. Elvis Presley in my very own way, with my own words, in my language, in Gypsy. It’s some- thing they can understand. My lyrics are deeper, more serious. I sing about my roots and my feelings, my own life, as well as the life of the Gypsies. There’s one more reason. I discovered that Elvis was half-Gypsy, from his mother. Nobody wants to comment on that, but a year ago, I read about it on the web. The Ministry of Education in the UK sent out this information to encourage Roma children to go to school. It was to serve as a good example. They said that Gypsies had many good actors, such as Ava Gardner, Yul Brynner, Charlie Chaplin, and of course Elvis Presley who was a Gypsy too. I’m happy because I can sing his songs in Gypsy. I work as a teacher in a Gypsy school. . . . Now there’s wider access to education in Romania, it’s a good system, we have education. There are a lot of poor children, but they come to school in spite of that. I’m a teacher and a famous figure in Romania, everybody knows Elvis Rromano. Everybody knows me and everybody likes me. I started singing, my first album was titled Rock’n’Rrom. My music is in the Gypsy style. We dance to it, so I created rock’n’rrom with Elvis’s songs.
– Great, that’s it. – Thanks."