Table Of ContentStaging Citizenship
DANCE AND PERFORMANCE STUDIES
General Editors:
Helena Wulff, Stockholm University and Jonathan Skinner, University of Roehampton
Advisory Board:
Alexandra Carter, Marion Kant, Tim Scholl
In all cultures, and across time, people have danced. For performers and spectators,
the expressive nature of dance opens up spaces where social and political circumstances
are creatively negotiated. Grounded in ethnography, this series explores dance, music
and bodily movement in cultural contexts at the juncture of history, ritual and
performance in an interconnected world.
Volume 1 Volume 7
Dancing at the Crossroads: Memory and In Search of Legitimacy: How Outsiders
Mobility in Ireland Become Part of the Afro-Brazilian Capoeira
Helena Wulff Tradition
Lauren Miller Griffith
Volume 2
Embodied Communities: Dance Traditions Volume 8
and Change in Java Choreographies of Landscape: Signs of
Felicia Hughes-Freeland Performance in Yosemite National Park
Sally Ann Ness
Volume 3
Turning the Tune: Traditional Music, Volume 9
Tourism and Social Change in an Irish Village Languid Bodies, Grounded Stances: The
Adam Kaul Curving Pathway of Neoclassical Odissi Dance
Nandini Sikand
Volume 4
Dancing Cultures: Globalization, Tourism Volume 10
and Identity in the Anthropology of Dance Collaborative Intimacies in Music and Dance:
Edited by Hélène Neveu Kringelbach and Anthropologies of Sound and Movement
Jonathan Skinner Edited by Evangelos Chrysagis and Panas
Karampampas
Volume 5
Dance Circles: Movement, Morality and Self- Volume 11
Fashioning in Urban Senegal Staging Citizenship: Roma, Performance and
Hélène Neveu Kringelbach Belonging in EU Romania
Ioana Szeman
Volume 6
Learning Senegalese Sabar: Dancers and
Embodiment in New York and Dakar
Eleni Bizas
Staging Citizenship
Roma, Performance and Belonging in EU Romania
q
Ioana Szeman
berghahn
N E W Y O R K • O X F O R D
www.berghahnbooks.com
First published in 2018 by
Berghahn Books
www.berghahnbooks.com
© 2018 Ioana Szeman
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of criticism and review, no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information
storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented,
without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A C.I.P. cataloging record is available from the Library of Congress
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-78533-730-7 Hardback
E-ISBN: 978-1-78533-731-4 Ebook
Contents
q
List of Illustrations vi
Acknowledgements vii
Introduction 1
Chapter 1
‘We Will Build a Beautiful Future Together’: NGO Historiography,
Roma Culture and Monoethnic Nationalism 27
Chapter 2
Living in the Citizenship Gap: Roma and the Permanent State
of Emergency in Pod 49
Chapter 3
Too Poor to Have Culture? The Politics of Authenticity in Roma
NGO Training 72
Chapter 4
Performing Bollywood: Young Roma Dance Cultural Citizenship 92
Chapter 5
Consuming Exoticism/Reimagining Citizenship: Romanian
Nationalism and Roma Counterpublics on Romanian Television 116
Chapter 6
The Ambivalence of Success: Roma Musicians and the Citizenship
Gap in Romania 142
Conclusion
Unlearning the Forgetting 162
Bibliography 167
Index 187
Illustrations
1.1. Kelderara Roma selling outfits and copper pots at the Roma q
Fair, Romanian Peasant Museum, Bucharest, October 2002. 30
1.2. Kelderar Rom on the left and Rudara selling wooden household
objects (right); in the background the stand of the Kelderara,
and a television reporter. Roma Fair, Romanian Peasant Museum,
October 2002. 30
5.1. Gypsy Heart promotional advert, featuring Medalion
(Denis Ştefan), flanked by Irina (Andreea Pătraşcu) and Roza
(Nicoleta Luciu); television still. 119
5.2. State (Gheorghe Visu), in State of Romania; television still. 120
5.3. Flacăra (Carmen Tănase) and Rodia (Loredana Groza), in
The Queen; television still. 120
5.4. State and Flacăra, questioned by police at their home, State of
Romania; television still. 122
5.5. Opening credits of State of Romania with State and Flacăra
waving like a presidential couple; television still. 122
5.6. Roma Caravan, December 2011; members of the National
Association of Roma Women; in the background, Roma Caravan
poster; television still. 124
5.7. Roma Caravan, December 2011; the National Association of
Roma Women; in the background, CRED (Romanian Citizens
with Equal Rights) campaign poster: ‘Get to know the Rom
next to you’; television still. 133
6.1. Florin Salam performing live on television channel Kanal D;
television still. 148
6.2. Viorica and Taraful din Clejani performing on national
television channel TVR1; television still. 153
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the Roma friends who have given their timqe and sup-
port to my research. I have learned so much from your creativity, resilience and
generosity.
The beginnings of this book go back to my graduate school years at
Northwestern University and I would like to thank Margaret Thompson Drewal,
whose work has been a constant model and inspiration, Micaela di Leonardo,
who planted many seeds of feminist critical thinking, and Tracy C. Davis, who
inspired my historical research and kindly provided feedback on early sections
of the manuscript. Dwight Conquergood’s vision, unwavering support, and
enthusiasm for ethnography and performance studies have shaped this book in
fundamental ways. He is truly missed.
The formative stages of this book developed with intellectual and collegial
support from my dissertation writing group at Northwestern: Leslie Buxbaum-
Danzig, Amy Partridge, Karima Robinson, Rebecca Rossen, Emily Roxworthy
and Jason Winslade. The spirit of those generous scholarly exchanges continues
to inspire me.
At Berghahn, I am grateful to Chris Chappell, for believing in this project,
and to Amanda Horn, Caroline Kuhtz and the whole production team, for their
invaluable assistance. Many thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful
and detailed feedback. While I have followed many of their suggestions, the
final manuscript reflects my own point of view.
For research leave that has allowed me to conduct fieldwork and to revise the
manuscript, I am grateful to the University of Roehampton. Josh Abrams, Lis
Austin, Simon Bayly, Ernst Fischer, Laure Fernandez, Sarah Gorman, Susanne
Greenhalgh, Adrian Heathfield, Joe Kelleher, Johanna Linsley, Glenn Odom,
Emily Orley, Susan Painter, Jen Parker-Starbuck, Maggie Pittard, Eleanor
Roberts, PA Skantze, Graham White, Lee White, Fiona Wilkie and the late
Peter Majer provided collegiality and encouragement throughout the research
and writing of this book. Many thanks to Stephanie Laryea and Judith Stevens
for being wonderful colleagues and exquisite administrators.
For their generosity and for intellectual inspiration I thank Margaret
Beissinger, Grégory Busquet, Ana Croegaert, Amber Day, Adriana Diaconu,
viii ■ Acknowledgements
Matthew Engelke, Suk-Young Kim, Robert Kulpa, Jacob Juntunen, Christine
Matzke, Rebecca Nash, Lisa Peschel, Carol Silverman, and Maurya Wickstrom.
Over the years I have benefitted from inspiring conversations with and
the collegiality of Christopher Balme, Robin Bernstein, Bianca Botea, Esra
Cizmeci, Karen Fricker, Helen Gilbert, Milija Gluhovic, Silvija Jestrovic,
Margarita Kompelmakher, Branislava Kuburovic, Dominika Laster, Bryce
Lease, Marin Marian-Bălaşa, Meida McNeal, Yana Meerzon, Lisa Merrill,
Stefka Mihaylova, Sophie Nield, Louise Owen, Coya Paz, Suvenderini Perera,
Oyku Potuoglu-Cook, Sheila Preston, Janelle Reinelt, Clémence Scalbert-
Yürcel, Berenika Szimansky-Düll, Amanda Stuart-Fisher, Aniko Szucs, and
Jennifer Tyburczy.
For their scholarly brilliance, which is a continuous source of inspiration,
and for their solidarity, I am indebted to former and current members of the
Feminist Review Collective: Nadje Al-Ali, Joan Anim-Ado, Avtar Brah, Rutvica
Andrijasevic, Irene Gedalof, Aisha Gill, Carrie Hamilton, Gina Heathcote,
Clare Hemmings, Yasmin Gunaratnam, Laleh Khalili, Joanna Pares Hoare,
Suzanne Scafe, Sadie Wearing and Kyoung Kim.
I am deeply grateful to Carol Silverman and Maurya Wickstrom for reading
full early drafts of the manuscript, and for their rigorous, detailed and generous
comments that have improved this book in many significant ways. Heartfelt
thanks to Jen Parker-Starbuck for guidance and support in key moments and
to Susanne Greenhalgh, Branislava Kuburovic and Emily Orley for engaging
in many intellectual conversations about the book and reading sections of the
manuscript. Ana Croegaert has been a constant intellectual interlocutor and
dear friend from the beginnings of this project through to the final writing
stages; her astute feedback on different aspects of the manuscript and her
moral support have been invaluable. My profound gratitude goes to Rutvica
Andrijasevic, and Irene Gedalof for reading sections and the entire manuscript
at crucial points and for providing insightful comments and generous advice.
For their friendship, generosity and assistance during fieldwork and beyond,
I am grateful to Ioana Ghibănescu, Olimpia Mălai, Mihaela Stoienescu, Ligia
Stoienescu, Mariana Soporan, Cristina Marian, Iulia Marian, Daniel Mezö,
Dorin Raţiu, Mirela Borza, Caro d’Offay, Laura Gilmore, Tricia Rumbolz,
Toufique Khan, Sean O’Neill, Snezana Zabic, the late Rodica Nebert, Oana
Stăncioiu, Anca Rozor, Audrey Albert and Beatriz Fernandes. Thank you to
Teodora Szeman for helping in so many essential ways that have made the
writing of this book possible and to Ishti for all the joy that he has brought into
my life.
Introduction
q
Roma are always the last to count, but we won first prize. We would not settle for
second or third place.
—Maria, Roma dancer, interview with the author, 2009
I’ve worked hard. When you look at me, you can see that I’ve succeeded through my
voice, not my looks.
—Viorica, Roma singer, Romanian reality TV show Clejanii, December 2012
Moderator: Why is there tension between Roma and Romanians?
Roma activist: First of all, you should not use these terms; you should speak of Roma
and non-Roma, as all Roma [in Romania] are Romanian citizens.
—Talk show on Romanian national TV channel Realitatea, December 2007
According to Maria, dance was the only avenue of success available to her
as a Romni.1 High rents and unemployment had driven Maria and her
family to Pod,2 a settlement where people squatted in improvised lodgings and
collected recyclables from a nearby refuse site. Living in difficult conditions,
without infrastructure or medical facilities and far away from schools, Roma in
Pod could be mistaken for refugees in a camp, even though they were citizens
of Romania. Local media looked down on Roma from Pod and often described
them as poor, dirty and lazy. A far cry from such stereotypes, thirty-five-year-old
2 ■ Staging Citizenship
Maria – always impeccably dressed in modern clothing – lived with her family
in a wooden house, one of several wooden and brick houses that some residents
had managed to build in Pod with the money they made from scavenging on the
refuse site. She had been a member of a Roma dance group that was formed and
active during the first post-socialist decade; she showed me her dance costumes,
which included long, colourful skirts, scarves decorated with coins, and high-
heeled shoes. Sitting in her spotlessly clean living room, Maria, dressed in jeans
and a T-shirt, proudly reminisced about her dance group’s success in competi-
tions: ‘When they heard that we were coming, they were surprised, and the last
ones to come ended up winning first prize. Roma are always the last to count,
but we won first prize. We would not settle for second or third place.’ She told
me that even though sometimes they were looked at with suspicion because they
were Roma, their performances always earned them praise.
At the opposite end of the social spectrum, Viorica, a famous Roma singer
from the band Taraful din Clejani, explains that her successful musical career is
the result of hard work, not looks. With her musician partner and two children,
Viorica featured on Clejanii, a reality show on Romanian television portraying
their daily life. The quotation in the epigraph is from the third episode, in which
she and her daughter Margherita pay a visit to a designer. When the designer
offers Margherita a modelling job (a way for the designer to gain publicity
through the reality show) and asks her to lose a little weight for the purpose,
Viorica – blonde, slightly overweight and in her late thirties – tells her daughter:
‘Yes, make sure you do not end up like me. Once you’ve gained weight, it’s hard
to lose it.’ Then she turns to the camera: ‘Thank God I did not make my living
that way. I succeeded through hard work, through my voice.’ Viorica expresses
her relief at being successful because of her musical abilities when most female
artists in Romania are evaluated for their image and appeal as sex objects. She is
one of very few female Roma musicians to have enjoyed success in a field where
Roma men reign. And yet, despite their success and prosperity, famous Roma
musicians such as Viorica are not considered part of the nation in Romania;
indeed the reality show trod a fine line between admiration and mockery of
Viorica and her family.
The final quotation in the epigraph is from a discussion between a non-Roma
moderator and a Roma activist during a 2007 talk show on Romanian national
television. The moderator refused to refer to Roma as Romanian citizens, even
though most Roma in Romania have Romanian citizenship. Two Roma activ-
ists – a man and a woman – were the only Roma on this talk show, which
focused on the question ‘why is there tension between Roma and Romanians?’
and featured five other guests. The moderator, a non-Roma woman, did not
seem to understand why the activists were insisting that Roma were Romanian
citizens, and she proceeded to call them ‘Ţigani’ even after the activists had told
her that the term was not acceptable and she should use ‘Roma’ instead.
