The "Queen of Albanian Dance", Liljana Cingu, dies

2024-02-05 21:09:00, Kulturë CNA

Liljana Cingu

The icon of the National Ensemble and Queen of Albanian Dance, Liljana Cingu, has passed away.

For years, she was the image of the Ensemble of Folk Songs and Dances, giving life to more than 200 dances danced by her.

Lili Cingu belongs to that constellation of artists, who took the Albanian dance to the biggest stages of the world, showing another Albania, with rich culture and folklore.

Who was Lili Cingu?

Cingu was born in Tirana, and like dozens of other artists, Lili's talent was noticed from childhood. She chose the latter between sport and art.

Since the age of 12, he represents the school "11 Janari" in a sports competition, where he wins a medal by qualifying first.

Enrolls in the dance group near the Palace of Pioneers and later in 1963 attends a four-year dance course at AKKVP, under the direction of Gëzim Kacel. She devoted herself entirely to the dance and was not disappointed.

The "Queen of Albanian Dance", Liljana Cingu, dies

He finished high school at the "Jordan Misja" artistic high school, majoring in choreography.

In 1967, she was accepted as a professional dancer at AKVP, alongside other dancers. In the beginning, she performs as a simple dancer in the dance group in the dances "Dance of the mountains", "Dance of the turkuza", etc.

Since 1969, after a tour in Turkey, she became one of the most prominent soloists of the AKKVP, who for more than 30 consecutive years managed to perform about 200 dances in her repertoire, from the simplest to the most complex. achievements such as "Albanian dance", "Albania has a big party today", "Chestnut harvesting", "At the competition", "Dance with motifs of Labëria", "Dance of Tirana", etc.

An important role in the long artistic life of Lili Cing has also been played by choreographers, those who entrusted her with the pearls of choreography, starting with Panajot Kanaçi, Gëzim Kaceli, Agron Aliaj, etc.

Lili Cingu is noted for a dignified interpretation, elegance and finesse, as well as a high musical culture, as a connoisseur of the folklore of all regions. These qualities gave her the opportunity to better express her ability to perform lyrical, but also epic dances. With a light dance full of beauty, she performed with taste the dance of the South, Çameria, Dropulli, Korça, Kolonja, Central Albania, as well as the epic dances of the North (Shota and Azem Galica), "Sup mì sup me mountains", "Oshëtima e maleve", etc. And of course, in this dignified interpretation of her, we cannot fail to mention her partners in AKKVP Besim Zekthi, Bashkim Braho, Rexhep Çeliku, etc.

The "Queen of Albanian Dance", Liljana Cingu, dies

The successes of AKKVP are also connected with the soloist of this ensemble, Lili Cingun. In every country of Europe, Asia, America and Canada where the Ensemble has been and presented, Lili Cingu has also been present, participating in many international festivals, where she has revealed with her interpretation the values ??of Albanian choreographic art. Lili Cingu is one of the Albanian dancers who has created a typical personality of her own, not only on stage but also outside it. She worked at AKKVP until 1997, the year in which she left for Canada along with other artists at the time, where she practiced her profession. He created a school where he trained the new generation of Albanian folk dance. With her hands, as if she were a designer, she sewed the costumes of the dancers for different events, especially during the flag celebration. And Lili herself as a soloist, has performed several times in concerts in Canada, where the attendees have expressed: "With her movements and dance, the small Albanian country seems big to us".

The "Queen of Albanian Dance", Liljana Cingu, dies

In 2003, at the Folk Festival in Tuz, Montenegro, as a guest with the dance group of Albanians in New York, she was awarded as the best group of the festival. Even after returning to her homeland, Lili did not stop her artistic activity. She participated in the recitals of her partners Rexhep Çeliku and Besim Zekthi and in 2011 she organized her own recital "My dance, my life".

The great stage artist, Lili Cingu, has been praised by world art critics as the "Goddess of Dance". Lili Cingu holds the title of "Honour of the Nation", but during her artistic activity with AKKVP she has been honored with many awards, orders and medals, with the Republic Award, "Naim Frashëri Order". "Honored Artist" etc. About the talent, work and success of Liljana Cing, dozens of TV shows, reports, hundreds of pages of the press written in the country and abroad talk about it./ CNA