Gypsy.... er, Romani Spirit

A week or two ago, I went to see the Budapest Ensemble's travelling music-and-dance extravaganza, Gypsy Spirit. Sadly, I'm not really knowledgeable enough to know whether the music was "authentic" or not, nor to competently evaluate the "artistic merit" of the dancing. I can say it was an enjoyable show -- the music was lively, the songs and choreography were clever, and the dancers were agile and energetic as the men rhythically slapped and stomped the rhythm while the women twirled colorfully around the stage, with rainbow-hued skirts swirling about their waists.

I couldn't help noticing a few things that seemed curious, though. There was a noticeable difference in personal appearance between the musicians and the dancers. The musicians, with the exception of one or two players, appeared dark-haired and dark-complected. I've often been told that the Gypsies (who reportedly prefer to be called Romani) are almost universally dark-haired and dark-complected, and are said to have originated in India. Several of the dancers, though, had noticeably blue eyes and light-colored hair. Curious. (The most captivating of the female dancers, though, had jet-black hair and eyes....)

I bought a CD and a copy of Ian Hancock's book We are the Romani people while I was there. In reading it later on, I came upon the following passages:

p. 3. (caption to a picture showing a female dancer with her skirt whirling above her knees:) The clothing depicted is not Romani, and showing the legs above the calves is taboo in Romani culture.

p. 102. Romani morals are in fact excessively strict by non-Romani standards; showing the legs, for example, is gadzikani forma, or non-Romani behaviour, and neither men nor women should wear shorts. The dancers who lift their colourful skirts on the state of the Teatr Romen are all non-Romanies, since the Romani members of the troupe will not do this.

Now even accepting that Dr. Hancock may be generalizing somewhat, this does seem to cast some doubt on the authenticity of the "Gypsy" dancing in the show.

I suppose it would not be surprising if the programme presented by the troupe were tailored to what audiences expected to see, and were presumably paying to see. After all, tourists are famously unconcerned about the cultural or ethnic authenticity of the entertainment they consume, and the same is presumably true of cultural "tourists" who partake of travelling presentations like this. (Does Silver Dollar City , taken as a whole, accurately reflect the lifestyles of 19th-century Ozark farmers? HA!)

Does it matter whether the dancers are actually ethnically Romani or not? Does it matter whether the dance moves are actually drawn from any real Romani tradition, as long as it's a good show? And does wondering about the authenticity of "Gypsy" music and dancing performed by non-Romanies put one in the same category as those who think that Caucasians can't play jazz or blues, or that blacks make good musicians and dancers because they have "natural jungle rythym"?