Fashion, movement and representation of Romani women

Interview with Kali Musa

Abstract

Kali Musa, a Portuguese Cigana/Roma dancer and model with a transnational trajectory, was interviewed about the ways in which fashion and movement become instruments of identity affirmation. Drawing on her training in New York and her engagement with ballroom culture and vogue, Kali describes a bodily language that brings flamenco dance into dialogue with contemporary forms of expression, without diluting her cigana/Roma identity. She also reflects on the limited presence of Cigana/Roma women in the arts and fashion, the diversity of Cigana/Roma communities, the erosion of Romani, and art as memory and resistance in the face of processes of racialisation.