Karikázó, 1981. július - 1982. április (7. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
1981-07-01 / 1. szám
FEKETE FÖLD of TORONTO GIVES PROGRAM On Sunday afternoon, March 29th the "Fekete Föld" Ensemble presented a concert in the York Quay Centre of the Harbour Front Complex in Toronto.A combination of limited seating space, mild spring weather and some loyal fans accounted for a packed house. The performance took place in an open cafe and people were free to come and go as they pleased, however most stayed for the entire one and - a-ha 1f-hour show. The group presented five sets of dances and a number of musical selections featuring a variety of different folk ins trumen t s . The performance opened with dances from Domaháza. (choreography by Sándor Tímár, adapted by Diana Rush). The small group of dancers walked onto stage singing "Ködellik a Mátratető... " to the accompaniment of live music. Live music by the way is a trade mark of the group. The lively verbunk and couple dance as well as the striking Palóc costumes were well-liked by the audience. (Incidentally, all costumes used were made by Fekete Föld members). This was followed by a musical duet from Szlavónia performed on hurdy-gurdy and violin. Next came Zoltán Varga's choreography of Csángó Verbunk and Héjsza from Gyimes, performed by two of the male dancers and one of the girls. This number was accompanied by violin and "ütőgardon" or beaten cello. The audience was then entertained with two instrumental solos, the first on hurdy-gurdy and the second a medley of folk songs played on the zither. The first half of the program ended with a lively girls' dance from Kalocsa, which included a difficult bottle dance, (choreography: Diana Rush) Although things didn't always go perfectly smoothly, the audience was very receptive and frequently showed their appreciation of the difficult nature of the dance. This time the musical accompaniment featured the mandolin as a reasonable substitute for tambura, which was often used in this region. Another musical number opened the second half of the performance. The song "Lora csiko's, lora..." was played as a violin solo and then joined by cello and three stringed viola to present the tradtitional "Mezose'gi" band. Our cellist for this concert, by the way, was a pretty first year music student at the University of Toronto, Music Faculty: Wendy Tunrmon. We were fortunate to have Wendy play the cello since our regular cellist was involved in four of the dances performed that day. Following this, Diana Rush's version of the traditional Széki Dance Cycle was presented and then another musical number from Kőrispatak done also in Mezoségi format. Finally, the audience delighted in a well executed couple solo: Diana Rush and Gábor Verseghy performed an impressive exhibition of Mezósegi dances (choreography by Diana Rush) including Légényes, Lassú cigányt anc, Ritka csárdás, Szökős and Sebes. Many hours of hard work were clearly evident in the high quality of their pe r formance. 4 Kalocsai Leánytánc (Photo by Conrad Stenton) This was the first "Fekete Föld" concert since the arrival of our new choreographer, Diana Rush in July, 1980. Diana started out as an important member of the International Folk Dancing Group in Ottawa. Last June she returned from an intensive two-year sojourn in Hungary where she studied Hungarian and Transylvanian folk culture at the Ballet Institute in Budapest. Diana had the opportunity to go on numerous field trips, attend many Táncház-es and learn laban notation. Diana was still In Budapest when our group first approached her with regards to becoming our choreographer. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have such an eminently qualified instructor. Diana also teaches the London Hungarian Folk Troupe and we are now in the process of planning a joint concert with this group, in June. Miss Rush attends the University of Toronto as a post-graduate student on a geography scholarship from the National Research Council. Somehow she finds time to study jazz and ballet, too. Besides the many hours of work that go into being a choreographer, for our group, there is the added task of finding, arranging, writing out and learning appropriate music. This job is primarily the responsibility of our musical director, Árpád Verseghy, whose.work is greatly appreciated by the group. cont'd. on p.4