The Greek Union of Romania has lined up 14 dance ensembles and two choral ensembles for the ProEtnica Intercultural Festival in Sighisoara, being the largest presence in the festival of approximately 300 people, write Agerpres..
Beyond this, artists want to show quality in the perpetuation of customs and traditions, Chairman of the Greek Union of Romania (UER) MP Dragos Zisopol told AGERPRES on Friday.
„Beyond our presence, we want to demonstrate quality. We have 14 dance ensembles, two choirs and a concert tonight with the presence of Ionut Galani. On average, there are over 300 people in this wonderful Citadel Square of Sighisoara at the ProEtnica Interethnic and Intercultural Festival, where we have never been absent, because it is a great joy. We have 55 ensembles in the portfolio of the Greek Union of Romania, including 22 members of the UNESCO International Dance Council.
I have managed, as chairman of the union, to register at OSIM an ensemble from each territorial community that is a member of our national organisation. All the ensembles that wanted to come to Sighisoara today received the support of the UER, because it is an extraordinary moment for us, the national minorities”, said the UER chairman. Zisopol added that the ProEtnica festival was, is and will remain a wish of every dancer within UER, because it is a place where they meet dear friends whom they have known for years; generations change, it is a festival that, he says, is an event of excellence.
„There are extraordinary things happening here and the merits are special for the organiser, Mr Volker Reiter, who is a man that you cannot describe in words, a man who fought for the good of this festival, a man who had our suppoert – I speak on behalf of UER, which I have coordinated as chairman and lawmaker since 2008. This event is an excellence event, as evidenced by the large number of young people who participate, of the chairs who have joined hands for this festival to continue, through our numerous presence and through the respect we have for the culture of all the national minorities who carry out their activities extensively in such a beautiful country as Romania, which above all is very welcoming,” said Zisopol. He added that the Greeks have „the deepest roots planted here in the soil of Romania from the 6th, 7th century before Christ.”
Currently, the 55 ensembles of UER are made up of people of all ages, from children up to and including elderly, thus perpetuating customs and traditions. At the same time, there are many Philo-Hellenic people who love Greek music and dances. „We do not discriminate between those of Greek ethnicity and Philo-Hellenic, so within our local communities those who want to listen to Greek music and dance are welcome.
In early September, new groups are formed for Greek dances, for the Neo-Greek language, for creative workshops. Everything that we carry out at UER branches is done free of charge. We, UER, have succeeded in introducing the Neo-Greek language as a mother tongue and modern language in all schools in Romania. We have teachers paid by Greece, without putting pressure on the Romanian Ministry of National Education. We look forward to seeing you at the 8th edition of the Neo-Greek National Olympiad, which takes place every year in the Romanian Parliament, the Education Committee of our forum, between September 8 and 11, with 12 participating countries. This is how the work that we carry out day by day, together with these wonderful people, has paid off.” Zisopol added that Romania has not and will not take advantage of this diversity, but Romania has enjoyed and will enjoy it. „It is a very important thing, because we are Romanian citizens, regardless of our ethnicity. We know what the Romanian people mean and the Romanian citizens of Greek ethnicity have been on these lands for millennia. We have built together with the Romanian citizens and we will continue to do so , as long as it will exist. So Romania was, is and will remain Romania for all of us.” Chairman of the Greek Community of Roman Dan Dimitriu is a promoter of Greek traditions and customs who came to ProEtnica with artists of the Meandros choral ensemble. „Our message from the Greek community as well as from the Roman community, and from me personally, is that we will do everything possible to expand, increase our area and highlight both the folk dance and the whole ensemble of dances, of Greek language songs. This is tradition. The vast majority are children of Greeks, but we also have other contributing minorities and sympathisers of the Greek community who have something to learn and are also satisfied, in their turn, that they are making a useful contribution to society. And so the traditions are passed on. Nothing is easy, but everything can be solved through work and will,” said Dimitriu. Twenty national minorities from Romania met on Thursday in Sighisoara for the 19th edition of the ProEtnica Intercultural Festival 2023 – the largest interethnic festival in Romania, which ends on Sunday.
