Track in music and theater/ Vaskë Niço, the moving icon of the city!

2023-12-18 15:12:00, Qyteti im CNA

Why do they call Vaska the moving icon of Korça? Because he is a wonderful artist, part of many fields of kor?ar art, in theater, music, carnival organizations, i.e. a variety of genres that make him the most famous man in the city. Almost 43 years of career, filled with emotions, with fatigue and difficulties, but which has managed to become one of the most beloved artists for the Korcars.

CNA TV brings to the viewers the profile of Vaskë Niço, which tells very beautiful and special stories from his life. But how did Vaska's career begin?

"It's very difficult to talk about Vaska because I have to talk about myself and "boast", which I don't have the talent for and I hope to speak the truth about who I am. There have already been almost 43 years of debuts on stage and in all the genres that I represent. A beautiful jeweled crown cannot be complete without one.

My career is very early in art and culture, I can say since kindergarten. I had the gift of learning poems and rhymes very quickly and reciting them. I played in the theater, with the role of a commissar, I remember a very beautiful event in the house of the pioneer, at the end of the performances we took out the portraits of the bureau. The role of Haki Toska fell to me, and I raised his portrait upside down. Perhaps I have been an unwitting dissident ever since. I loved democracy and free things, I didn't want man to remain a slave to others, but to do what he knows best himself."

Track in music and theater/ Vaskë Niço, the moving icon of the city!

Part of Vaska's career was the puppet theater, with the main role of a wolf, a role he played so skillfully that he even got the nickname of this animal.

"Later, I continued my genesis with poems, I wrote but I didn't publish anything. I was then assigned to the puppet theater in 1979, and there I have a very beautiful constellation with the director Drita Kallamata, and I have filmed over 13 parts and I had the main role, they called me "Vaskë ujku" because I always played the wolf, I was full voice. Later, I may have over 180 premieres given but only 13 are shot. The most beautiful thing was that apart from variety shows, we also did parodies, and by using my vocals we managed to be the first in this genre."

The innovation for the beautiful city of Korça was the creation of the Carnival. An organization that takes place every year since 1994. One of the contributors to this organization was Vaska, who played the role of Chaplin. But this was only the beginning of a long journey of Vaska's career, which then moved to the drama genre, winning the first prize in Russia.

Track in music and theater/ Vaskë Niço, the moving icon of the city!

"In 1994, after the creation of the new municipality with mayor Gjergji Gjinko, we gathered artists from all over the city to create carnivals. There were some contributions, I was also one of the main artists, and I was involved a little with the management. After democracy, carnivals started for the first time. We did the first carnivals with high schools, there I played the role of Charlin Chaplin for the first time, one of my most accomplished roles.

After that, I also moved to drama, with very good directors, with Llazi Sërbo and Dhimitër Orgocka, we have made very beautiful shows that have even gone beyond the borders. It is worth mentioning that in 2007, when we went to St. Petersburg, to the Balkan theater festival, it was a very extraordinary event for us. All the languages ??of the Balkans were spoken there, and we won first prize with a triptych "Gost in Cholera Time", expertly placed by Llaz Serbo. He was a school of registrar, that anyone just listening to him, learned. This event is remembered because after 45 years a theater troupe goes to Russia."

In addition to the Carnival and the theater, Vaskë Niço's focus remains on music, and more specifically, Korça serenades.

He learned the guitar in a self-taught way, not knowing the note. He has created about 42 songs and 2 albums which were made together with his son Marion. But the great passion and desire to sing and keep the serenade alive led them to create a musical group that developed the activity for 6 years in a row.

Track in music and theater/ Vaskë Niço, the moving icon of the city!

"I know that I play the guitar, I learned it myself in a self-taught way, by ear, I don't know the note. I have about 42 songs of my own, I made 2 albums with my son Marion who is in America today, and I hope we will get together soon and do something beautiful together.

In the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Independence, Mario and his friends took the initiative to create our own group of young serenadeists, and we created it, naming it "Dream Serenade". For 6 years we have done many concerts shaving the song of the Korça serenade, singing it as the songs were, and this made a lot of noise. We became almost 100 people in the group, and from these came 6 other groups that sing in bars. I am heartbroken that this young man took up the serenades. With the reconstruction of the palace of culture, I wrote the group because we had no place to rehearse and we didn't continue because of the conditions."

The creation of the Dream Serenade group has also brought benefits for Vaska and his son. They started singing in the bars of Korça, and today, Mario is in America, while Vaska continues to sing serenades in one of the city's restaurants. At this stage of his career, Vaska feels more satisfied, especially with the applause of the visitors who choose Korça every weekend. Vaska says that the fact that he is a bit of a comedian, being an actor, and creates a warm atmosphere in the evenings so that every visitor feels like a family and social environment remains positive.

Track in music and theater/ Vaskë Niço, the moving icon of the city!

"With the creation of the Dream Serenade group, we started singing in bars, I also took my son. I've introduced Mario since he was 17, we continued but along the way I saw that you don't just have to sing in bars. In addition to singing and beautiful materials that I still shave today, I have a talent for dramaturgy, and here at O2 Boutique when we work we currently turn it into a spectacle. We make fun of all the regions, tourists from Tirana, from Elbasan, Vlora, but the basis is the serenade. Why don't we make fun of them. A very beautiful song that is humorous, I call it that because it is like an erotic tragedy, which is called "lying butterfly". I always tell them before I start the song "Now I'm going to sing a song with a song, beware all the men who have women around and all the women who have men around" and I sing it.

At this moment, insinuations are created between couples who have passed jealousy, there are also those who enjoy themselves. We have reached the stage where we are in great demand, the immigrants are endless and we have a lot of orders for Christmas and New Year."

Track in music and theater/ Vaskë Niço, the moving icon of the city!

Many years of career, but surely something has remained hostage in Vaska's life. And he tells us this himself, a little regretfully but also convinced of the word he said many years ago.

"I have a pledge because being one of the main protagonists in the years 1979-1982, in 1983 I competed for dramaturgy together with a friend of mine, Emil Bibollin, who is no longer alive. Some material we both had in common, and it is strange that we who had more praise sheets, we could not win. There were many reasons but I used my own way, my father left me when I was 8 years old and I grew up with my mother alone. They begged me again, they admitted that they made a mistake. And the next year they asked me to compete again, but I declined. The artist is challenged by the stage and you will see if those who were chosen in that competition will be on stage. And that's where I am today, in dramas, in the professional show, with serenades, with carnivals."

Vaskë Niço can rightfully be called a "moving icon of the city", and we saw this best in his life story. A very special character who has left and is leaving traces in Albanian art, in music and theater, staying close to the numerous organizations of the city. Vaska can be found every Friday and Saturday near the O2 Boutique, performing with his band. CNA TV made available the phone number in cases of interest in having the artist near family organizations or beyond.

069 237 2353