Log-book: 13th August

Long evening, ended up chatting till late, in spite of sleepiness. Now everybody is sleeping, and I am pretty sure about this, since the toilet is free! We had two new entries today: Coral and Javier, actor and technician, from Chile and Spain. I had no time to gather with them, but they seem to match they average madness of the group. They are sleeping in my room, which is getting pretty crowded (you must keep in mind the three/four people always queuing for the toilet).

There is another person, who finally arrived in Roşia Montană, to help organizing the Hey Festival. It is Stephanie, the girl we saw in the New Eldorado movie, who spent part of her life here, fighting against the Corporation. She is a really direct and strong person with clear ideas, that she has no hesitation to express.

So this Hey fast began this afternoon at 3 o’clock. It means that the square of full of parked cars, there are tourists everywhere, and a policeman every ten meters. I really don’t like it, I preferred the silence and the emptiness we had during our days here. By the way, I didn’t go up to the lake, so I have no idea about what the festival is, and how it will develop during the next days.

The day went this way: after physical training in the Unitarian church, Bálint divided us in three groups. My group (I was together with Kálmán and Zita) had a wonderful task: build a Music House! We started to search sounds... creaking doors, tinkling windows, clicking light triggers... So after and entire morning’s work we ended up with: a unique nail-xylophone, another xylophone made from beer bottles, hanged on a rope and filled with water at different levels, a bottle-flute, synchronized with the bottle-xylophone (which took us a lot of time), a kind of light-percussion made sliding an old broken liner over the wooden ceiling. The house was getting alive with sounds. But something was missing, so we added the Devil’s Dance, a traditional Csángó dance that filled the rooms of the empty house with and evil rhythmic stomping.

So more or less that’s it for today, or not? Let me see... I played with the children and Zita in the playground... I had a late improvisation session with Morten and Bálint after dinner... and yes, that’s all, time to sleep now, good night.

Pam pa ram pa pam pa ram pa ra pa pa

This is the Devil’s Dance, and I’m dancing.

Pam pa ram pa pam pa ram pa ra pa pa

This is the Devil’s Dance, and Kálmán and Zita are dancing with me.

Pam pam pa ra pa pam pam parapa

Nails are playing the Devil’s Dance, and we are dancing.

Pam pam pa ra pa pam pam parapa

Ceiling and floor are playing the Devil’s Dance, and new people come to join us.

Pam pam pa ra pa pam pam pam

This is the Devil’s Dance, and together we dance in the Music House.

Here everything is alive and singing:

glass jars for the wind,

wooden sticks in the ceiling for the water,

howling bottles for the wolves, tinkling bottles for the bones,

a nail xylophone for the melody,

so come with us and dance the Devil’s Dance!

And if someone asks you about it,

you haven’t seen nor heard anything,

it’s just an empty house

with beautiful ironworks in the windows.

And if you see the children coming,

let them come, invite them in!

They will dance as well,

and join the Devil’s Dance!

And if you see the sunset approaching,

run away, fly away,

‘cause he is coming to dance his dance.

(Andrea Pegoretti)