Hartmanice - Svojanov 2003

Your school of voice – the workshop – is a piece of hard work, isn’t it?

But also a nice one. This year, 60 participants came here from all around the world. Fifteen bands appeared here and two of them were from Slovakia. I wanted to present mainly the local bands because I believe it’s necessary to show that the professional quality of gypsy bands here is high. This is why I didn’t invite bands from abroad. We should begin at home. In order to make people aware of the local gypsy artists and the fact they are equal to world famous names. So that they respect also the local Gypsies after all. Of course, they don’t respect them…

You avoided the presentation of the festival in media. Was it an intention?

I hate to do things I’m not sure of. I didn’t feel like doing something I do for the first time on a large scale and promoting it as such. In this way, I had at least some control over the things because to organize something here is not “a piece of cake”. Not everybody I cooperated with are of the required professional level and I cannot afford to spoil my name and respect of the people around the world that I’ve acquired over the twenty years. I didn’t want to be ashamed for people who work with me and lapse, don’t keep promises and don’t work in the way they should, because their only interest is money. I would probably get a heart attack. But despite the poor presentation in media, we had 200 people here every day! And this a great success. Every night was really fantastic and the atmosphere was amazing. I’m so glad.

Your new CD is called Old Tears. Why? Do you have old tears?

I have many sorrows. Mainly, they come from my Mom who refused to confess to my Dad’s gypsy identity for all her life and Dad joined her in it later, so during my childhood, we didn’t speak about our gypsy origin at all. When I finally confessed to my gypsy roots, my Mom took it hard. And the problems are still here, she doesn’t like me speaking of the fact that my Dad was Gypsy. It’s kind of a painful relationship. It’s hidden deep inside of me and I always feel very sad when thinking of it.

Do you sometimes have the feeling that you don’t feel well in the company of non-Gypsies?

You can’t be put like this because thanks to my work, I’m in a company of various people. But my school of voice is about opening the hearts. And these hearts really open and they open to me with the best they have inside – they give me their love, support, and strength. So the answer is no, I don’t have this feeling. I think that through my work, I’m creating a world in which I feel free and independent. And this is also how people, who are at the moment with me, feel like. Both Gypsies and non-Gypsies. And at that point, I don’t see any difference in whether somebody is Gypsy or not. At that point, I can only see that this is a beautiful person.

During the breathing exercises, which are part of your “search” for the human voice, you prompt people to look for and express their deepest feelings. Would you manage it yourself?

When I sing I express the same as they do. And I feel exactly the same things they search for and feel during my workshop. I can help them to search for the journey to self-recognition and self-realization only because I found it in me myself. Otherwise, I wouldn’t dare something like this. I wouldn’t be able to communicate with them at all, teach them or inspire them. So I share with them the things I sing about when I appear on stage as a singer. At that point, I open all the feelings myself and feel exactly where it is because I know that everybody has pain, anger and sorrow inside of oneself. If I didn’t open, I couldn’t sing. This opening unblocks the energy and the voice has then much more space and can reach the audience with its energy. The same is happening during the workshops. People open and discover themselves. And at the moment their voices merge, a huge power, that the gypsy culture really possesses, emerges. Also owing to its thousands of years of history.

What do you feel like when everything is finished?

Of course, I feel a certain emptiness but when everything comes off well, I draw in the energy again and however tired my soul is, I feel happy to have managed it and made other people happy. I dare to speak about happiness because I know that everybody found in themselves the feelings that allow them to realize – through the opening – how this world can live in happiness, love, and safety.

Some people consider you as a kind of symbol. What is your opinion on this?

It’s fairly difficult… People sometimes see me in a different light. And I don’t like this. Because I’m a quite ordinary woman – with all the good and bad qualities – only with the difference that I’m more aware of what is good and bad. And I realize that I have to work with the “bad” somehow so as I could grow further. But even if some people see me “faultless and strong”, they are not veracious with me. And that I regret then because I don’t see myself as a mental guru. I’m pretty normal, like the others.