Performing tradition through transition in Romania : folk ensemble performances at Festivalul Inimilor, Timișoara, Romania

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This paper uses the Festival of the Hearts (Festivalul Inimilor) that has taken place in Timișoara, Romania, annually since 1990 as a window to examine the range of performative strategies employed by the folk ensembles participating in this festival. This post-communist festival is organised by the city culture house and was inaugurated to commemorate the heroes of the 1989 Romanian revolution. The discussion focuses around a case study of the Ardeleana, a couple dance found in south west Romania, which is included in the choreographies performed by many of the participating groups. It concludes with a consideration of the extent to which these twenty-first century performances are framed within the various groups’ histories in the communist and transitional period.

Mellish, Liz; Green, Nick (2009). “Performing tradition through transition in Romania: folk ensemble performances at Festivalul Inimilor, Timișoara, Romania.” Velika Stoykova Serafmovska (editor), First Symposium of the ICTM Study Group on music and dance in Southeastern Europe: 4–8 September 2008, Struga R. Macedonia:75–87. Struga, Republic of Macedonia: Macedonian Composers Association – SOKOM. ISBN 978–9989–801–08–2.