Roma roots - changing your paradigms through singing!

In modern societies we have very weak links to our cultural roots. The leak is maybe even more alarming among Romas who are often subject to discrimination, rejection or forced assimilation. As singing and dancing have been for centuries the common way of building communities, and transmitting cultural knowledge, we propose to reuse these methods to getting in contact with the deepest level of the Roma culture and vision. How does it work?: We invited Ida Kelarova for the training. Ida’s method is based on emotional opening of the artistic and healing effects of singing. Opening and finding the depth of the human voice doesn’t focus on acquiring technical perfection. Singing and feeling the song is the only prerequisite needed to find the inner voice that no one else will ever hear. The voice, that leads us to our emotions. Above all this is where Ida found the basic source of life and human creativity. Complementing Ida's process we'll use outdoor, indoor and bodywork exercises to deepen the experience and get closer to ourself. Target group: The expected participants are trainers, teachers, or social workers, especially those who work with Romas or have Roma background, or are unemployed. Our goals are through the 6 days of the training provide our participants with: - a paradigm change - new insights on their work - widening their professional tool case - increased adaptation potential And through guided personal experiences and by providing theoretical and practical knowledge about non-formal education methods (in our case music, singing and dance) - we inspire our participants to understand the roma culture deeper and to develop the way they work in their community. Topics and activities: - singing traditional Roma songs - learning traditional Roma dances, rhythm exercises - sensibilization to Roma culture: how and what to learn from Romas - working with stereotypes - how to use non-formal methods to support youth/social work - street performances Methods: - experiential learning, working in a group context - coaching (personal, group) - a chance to try out the new tools in a mini project still during the training - reflections (with diverse mthods – drawing, painting, movement) - outdoor team building tasks - singing, dancing, playing music - yoga, bodywork