The word Gypsy is still widely used in music, cinema, and everyday speech, but you’ll often see the community describe itself as Roma. Whatever label appears in interviews and playbills, the women below share a dazzling blend of stage presence, musicality, and unmistakable charisma. Rather than ranking faces alone, this list celebrates talent and the cultural sparkle each artist adds to Romani heritage.
11. Lyalya Chernaya
A fierce stage name (“Black Lily”) for a powerhouse performer. Born Nadezhda Kiselyova in 1909, Chernaya grew up around her mother’s Gypsy choir and danced onto Moscow’s Romen Theatre stage at just thirteen. Over five decades she shaped the theatre’s look and stamped her fiery footwork on Soviet cinema, securing the title Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Her angular features, proud carriage, and expressive eyes still leap from vintage film reels.
10. Diana Savelieva
Listeners call her the “new Valentina Ponomaryova.” Savelieva, born in 1979 into a celebrated Romani family, switches effortlessly from jazz phrasing to age-old romances and even starred as Esmeralda in Russia’s Notre-Dame de Paris. Awards from Romansiada to the Gypsy Arts Festival line her résumé, but fans mostly talk about the warmth in her smile and the crystalline clarity of her high notes.
9. Rada Rai
Magadan’s icy port seems an unlikely cradle for a chanson diva, yet Elena Gribkova—stage name Rada Rai—turned her Romani father’s lullabies into radio gold. Her 2008 debut album You Are My Soul rocketed up Russian charts, and she later won the 2016 Chanson of the Year prize. Big almond eyes, waist-length hair, and a velvet contralto make her concert videos hypnotic.
8. Maria Shashkova
Real name Cleopatra, forever nicknamed Maria, this Moscow dancer blends Turkish hip drops with Romani spins. Born in 1980 to folk-musician parents, she racks up international belly-dance trophies and teaches in her own studio. Online clips of her “Shik Shak Shok” solo (nine-plus million views) show why audiences fall for her magnetic grin and whirl of multicolored skirts.
7. Mariska Veres
The voice of Shocking Blue’s “Venus” came from The Hague but carried Romani soul. With a Hungarian-Roma violinist father and high-cheek-boned beauty, Veres struck 1960s TV screens like an exotic thunderbolt—kohl-rimmed eyes, jet-black mane, and a three-octave range that slid from rock growl to lullaby. She fronted the band until her death in 2006, leaving fans chanting “Yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah!” long after the amps fell silent.
6. Raya Udovikova (Raya Bielenberg)
Born on the Soviet steppes in 1935, Raya danced her way to Norway, married journalist Tore-Jarl Bielenberg, and became a champion for Roma rights. Critics recall her 1967 Norwegian-TV performance: swirling scarlet dress, tambourine aloft, vocals full of longing. Offstage she founded cultural festivals and mentored young artists, proving beauty glows brightest when paired with activism.
5. Leonciya Erdenko
Daughter of legendary singers Nikolay and Rozaliya Erdenko, Leonciya absorbed harmony at home, joined her family band Djang, and soon headlined world-music festivals. Born in 1972, she mixes classical piano training with Roma throat slides, her expressive hands punctuating every trill. Onstage, she favors embroidered velvet gowns and a half-smile that promises an encore.
4. Rada Matvienko
Kazakhstan’s pop scene gained extra sparkle in 1991 when Rada was born into a Russian-Romani family. A semifinalist in the global Avon Voices contest and champion Latin-dance competitor, she juggles television hosting with flamenco-jazz gigs. Bright costumes, mermaid-length curls, and eyes that flash in rhythm make her a photographer’s dream.
3. Soledad Miranda
Cinema’s eternal dark star. The Sevillian actress of Romani roots shot over 30 films before a tragic 1970 car crash ended her life at 27. Director Jesús Franco cast her as hypnotic heroines in Vampyros Lesbos and She Killed in Ecstasy, and audiences couldn’t look away from her alabaster skin, raven hair, and glint of mischief behind long lashes. Her cult following only grows.
2. Rita Hayworth
Born Margarita Cansino in 1918 Brooklyn, the future “Love Goddess” danced in her father Eduardo’s flamenco troupe—he hailed from a Romani village near Seville—before Hollywood restyled her as Rita Hayworth. Technicolor close-ups of Gilda reveal luminous brown eyes and a smile half coy, half unstoppable. Years later she spoke candidly about the discipline behind that glamour, adding depth to the legend.
1. Lyalya (Olga) Jemchuzhnaya
Carrying a family name that means “pearl,” Olga Jemchuzhnaya sparkles across Russian theatre, film, and songbooks. Born in 1969, she joined the Romen Theatre at sixteen, earned the title Honored Artist of Russia, and headlined TV dramas like Karmelita. Her commanding soprano, expressive storytelling, and regal stage presence place her at the pinnacle of contemporary Romani artistry—and, for many fans, the very picture of classic Gypsy beauty.
Closing Thoughts
Beauty, in every culture, is partly about features and partly about the stories those features tell. From flamenco stages to rock festivals, from Moscow’s snowy avenues to Barcelona’s sun-drenched sets, these eleven women carried Romani flair into the world and added fresh colors to its artistic palette. Their songs, dances, and on-screen moments remain an invitation to explore Romani creativity—and a reminder that true radiance always shines from talent and heart.
