The Romany song and dance group Romane Chave will perform for Dutch Queen Beatrix during the celebrations of her birthday in April, Vsetin City Hall spokeswoman Eva Stejskalova told CTK today. Vsetin City Hall contributed 7,000 crowns to the group's trip. The group will leave on April 28 with members of Romprojekt. "The participation of the Romany group is not just a presentation of Romany culture, but also of the city of Vsetin. It is better for all of us that young Romanies spend their spare time practicing dance than bothering clinic visitors or other negative things. That is why we decided to financially support this interest," Vsetin Mayor Jiri Cunek said. The group was founded several years ago by Koloman Gadzor. It has performed across the Czech Republic and Slovakia since then. As part of Romprojekt, a joint project of the Vsetin employment office, Vsetin and near-by Valasske Mezirici city halls, and the Office for Ethnic Minorities in the Netherlands, the group presented itself to the Dutch partners in October. "They were so impressed by the group, that they invited them to the Netherlands," Stejskalova said. Gadzor said that the group is hard at work preparing a new number that it will perform.
($1=27.171 crowns)

Foto: CTK