Latest news with #TarafulFrunzelor
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Japan Today
Teacher fights discrimination against the Roma people, one Elvis song at a time
Tudor Lakatos, who goes by the stage name Elvis Rromano, strikes a pose while getting ready for his performance with the Taraful Frunzelor band at the Terasa Florilor restaurant, in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, June 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda) By VADIM GHIRDA and ANDREEA ALEXANDRU Tudor Lakatos is fighting discrimination against the Roma people, one Elvis Presley song at a time. Decked out in a rhinestone shirt and oversized sunglasses, with his black hair slicked back into a 1950s-style quiff, Lakatos swivels his hips and belts out his own idiosyncratic versions of hits like 'Blue Suede Shoes' at venues throughout Romania. But don't call him an Elvis impersonator. Lakatos prefers to say that he 'channels' the King of rock 'n' roll's global appeal to break down stereotypes about the Roma and provide a positive role model for Roma children. 'I never wanted to get on stage, I didn't think about it,' Lakatos, 58, said after a recent gig at a restaurant in the capital, Bucharest. 'I only wanted one thing — to make friends with Romanians, to stop being called a Gypsy,″ he added, using an often derided term for people belonging to the Roma ethnic group. The Roma, an ethnic group that traces its roots to South Asia, have been persecuted across eastern Europe for centuries and are still associated with high rates of poverty, unemployment and crime. They account for about 7% of the population of Romania, where a fifth say they have faced discrimination in the past year, according to a recent survey by the European Union. Lakatos' quest to change that began in the early 1980s when he was an art student and Romania was ruled by the hard-line communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu. At a time when anti-Roma discrimination was mainstream, Lakatos found that singing Elvis songs was a way to connect with ethnic Romanian students while rock music was a symbol of rebellion against the oppressive government. Four decades later, he's added a new audience. A school teacher for the past 25 years, Lakatos uses his music to show his students that they can aspire to something more than the dirt roads and horse driven carts of their village in northwestern Romania. 'The adjective Gypsy is used everywhere as a substitute for insult,' Lakatos said. 'We older people have gotten used to it, we can swallow it, we grew up with it. I have said many times, 'Call us what you want, dinosaur and brontosaurus, but at least join hands with us to educate the next generation.'' But Lakatos still crisscrosses the country to perform at venues large and small. On a hot summer evening, that journey took Lakatos to Terasa Florilor in Bucharest, a neighborhood joint whose owner takes pride in offering live music by local artists who perform on a stage made of wooden beams painted in vivid colors. The audience included those who came for the show and others attracted by the sausages, pork roast and Moldavian meatballs on the menu. A few danced and others took selfies as they enjoyed Lakatos' trademark 'Rock 'n' Rom' show, a mix of Elvis songs delivered in the Romani language, Romanian and English. The eclectic mix of languages can sometimes lead to surprises because there isn't always a literal translation for Elvis' 1950s American English. For example, 'Don't step on my blue suede shoes' doesn't make sense to many of the children he teaches because they are so poor, Lakatos said. In his version, the lyric Elvis made famous becomes simply 'don't step on my bare feet.' It's a message that Elvis — born in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi, during the Great Depression — probably would have understood. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
A double hat and a Tbilisi monument: photos of the day
Cars are positioned in the staging area during the Southern California Timing Association's Speed Week on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The event has resumed after a driver was killed after losing control of his car during a speed-record attempt. Photograph: Brian Cahn/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock Tudor Lakatos, who goes by the stage name Elvis Rromano, gets ready for his performance with the Taraful Frunzelor band. Photograph: Vadim Ghirdă/AP People take part in a tribute to artist Frida Kahlo with 24 Mexican dancers and a 10-piece mariachi band to mark the launch of Billingham international folklore festival of world dance, which celebrating its 60th anniversary year. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA A stranded stray dog stands on the roof of a submerged house along the banks of the Ganga in Uttar Pradesh after heavy monsoon rains Photograph: Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP A western pygmy marmoset at an enclosure in the city's zoo. The pygmy marmoset ( Callithrix pygmaea ), which is found in the northwestern Amazon rainforest, is the world's smallest higher primate and can leap as far as five metres. Photograph: Slávek Růta/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock Stuffed toys are displayed below a balloon game at the Ventura county fair. The fair is held each August at Seaside Park and includes an agricultural show, carnival rides, food booths, and nightly concerts. Photograph: Allison Dinner/EPA Smoke rises from a wildfire in the Aude prefecture just north or the Spanish border. Almost 2,000 firefighters are tackling the fire, which tore through an area the size of Paris overnight. Photograph: Olivier Chassignole/AFP/Getty Images People visit the Chronicles of Georgia, a monument consisting of 16 massive columns on Keeni Hill. Designed by the Georgian-Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli, construction of the monument began in 1985. The upper sections of the columns depict kings, queens, and national heroes from Georgian history. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images A student takes part in a Hiroshima Day peace rally to mark the 80th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of the city. Photograph: Divyakant Solanki/EPA Rafael Lisboa of Portugal in action during a basketball match against Spain at the José María Martín Carpena sporting arena. Photograph: Joaquin Corchero/AFP7/Shutterstock Naghma al-Aidi, a four-year-old Palestinian girl is cuddled by her mother as they shelter in a tent at the Nuseirat refugee camp. Children and elderly people are the most vulnerable as Gaza famine deepens, experts warn as aid agencies and others report evidence of worsening starvation, particularly among the under-fives. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images A view of anti-drone nets installed over a road in the frontline town in the Donetsk region as the the US envoy Steve Witkoff and Vladimir Putin hold talks in Moscow Photograph: Oleksandr Ratushniak/Reuters A Karen elephant keeper plays with a calf at the Elephant Freedom Village. Karen elephant keepers work to preserve traditional hill tribe methods of human coexistence with animals. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images An officer of Penitentiary N13 looks outside as supporters of the banned pro-Russia Șor party stage a protest opposite the prison. On Tuesday, a Moldovan court sentenced the leader of the autonomous Gagauzia region, Evghenia Guțul, to seven years in prison for funnelling Russian funds to the party between 2019 and 2022 Photograph: Dumitru Doru/EPA The Glen Rosa, a car and passenger ferry, is inspected at a dry dock operated by the ship repair and maintenance company Dales Marine. Delivery of the vessel has been put back until next April to June, nearly eight years after it was originally due Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA A girl drinks water from a hand pump at in a district of Badakhshan province. Afghanistan, is facing its fourth drought in five years Photograph: AFP/Getty Images An person arrived for the Anne Sofie Madsen show during the city's fashion week Photograph:
