Karikázó, 1986. július - 1987. április (12. évfolyam, 1-4. szám, 13. évfolyam, 1. szám)

1986-07-01 / 1-2. szám

Continued from p.1 The "Táncház movement" can be described as Hungary's revivalist or "preservationist" folk music and dance movement that started in the early 70's. It has been based on research done in Hungarian villages in music and dance. The Táncház movement was a reaction to stylized folk ballet choreographies which had been the style in folk ensembles. It was a "back to the roots" movement. Choreography and material have changed in Hungary's folk ensembles in both amateur and professional groups, as a result of this Táncház movement. Also the dance cycles of the villages are now being danced by the youth in city Táncház-es. The dances of the Táncház movement have only been popular in the U.S. since the very late 70's and early 80's and have been slower to be accepted on a wide scale amongst the Hungarian community dance groups. This year, the symposium hosted, from Budapest, Béla Halmos, Zoltán Zsuráfszky, and Zsuzsa Vincze. From Debrecen, Cin eastern Hungary) came the Délibáb folk band along with a dancer, Erika Rigo, her partner, a member of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, from Jászberény, Gábor Mihályi. Bela Halmos plays violin, viola, bass and sings. He and Ferenc Sebő did folk music research in villages of Transylvania in the early 70's. Together they formed the Sebo-Halraos band and were instrumental figures in starting the Táncház movement. Currently, Bela works at the National Academy of Sciences on the research staff in the folk music division. Zsuráfszky and Vincze are both professional dancers, teach, choreograph, and have done original research on dance in Hungarian villages in Transylvania and Hungary. Zsura is the artistic director of the Kodály Chamber ensemble and is one of Hungary's foremost choreographers and dancers. Whether in class or during the evening Táncház, Zsura and Zsuzsi danced with an energy and technical excellence that made them truly great role models! What was perhaps the most enjoyable part of the symposium for me personally, was watching the way Halmos' music inspired this already naturally inspired couple to dance, resulting in some of the most amazing dancing I've ever seen anywhere. I was alternately driven to my feet to dance and then to sit and watch musician and dancers drawing off each other's energy and spurring the other on in true dynamic improvisation. The Délibáb ensemble, along with Halmos, played music for the dance classes, taught music and played every night for the Táncház (dance party). They are all talented musicians and gave the symposium a week of great music. The Délibáb consists of Viola Szabó ("primás", violin, singer), Sándor Sallai (cymbalom, bass), Béla Roskó (viola, bass), Béla Mészáros (viola, bass, recorder). The supporting staff from North America included Stephen Kotansky and Susan Snyder-Kotansky of New York. Stephen and Susan have both spent many years doing research on dance in Eastern Europe and have just returned from six months in Hungary. Kálmán Dreisziger, the long-time artistic director of the famed Kodály Ensemble from Toronto was translator extraordinaire. He translated for all the dance classes taught in Hungarian and for the lectures given by Halmos and Zsura. Öcsi and Ildikó Magyar also played music at selected dance classes and during the tancházes occasionally. This was the first time that the symposium was held at Buffalo Gap in West Virginia. Buffalo Gap is a summer camp facility nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains complete with dining hall, dance halls, bunkhouses, a lake for swimming and canoeing, tennis courts, and sauna. The camp facility was a departure from the college campus atmosphere where the previous symposia have been held. Buffalo Gap was an experiment that the organizing committee feels was basically successful in that the beautiful surroundings lent themselves well to the theme of the symposium and the secluded spot added neatly to the community spirit of the week, these attributes highly outweighing any drawbacks the summer camp facilities might have had. The week's program included a full schedule of dance classes, music classes, singing, embroidery, separate men's and women's dance classes and táncház every evening. The schedule was such that it was impossible not to miss some of the agenda. If you attended all the sessions, there was approximately one and a half hours free time left during the day to relax, swim, canoe, play tennis or take a sauna. The main emphasis of the teaching was a back-to-the-basics, in depth took at the dance cycle from the Mezőség region of Transylvania. Dances of the Palóc region of Hungary were also taught. The Szatmári and Széki dance cycles were taught in less intensive sessions. Review sessions of the Mezőség material were also offered. Music classes were geared to the needs of the individual music students. Songs that complimented the dance material were also taught. Highlights of the week included a staff concert, lectures given by Halmos and Zsura, a Mezoségi Ball (with a blindfolded Mezőség dancing competition), a talent show and a lamb and pork roast outdoor picnic dinner. All of this was for the benefit and fun of the 150 or so folks who attended. The crowd was made up of approximately 60X people of Hungarian background - that is to say either born in Hungary or Transylvania or are Hungarian-Ameri can or Hungarian-Canadians. The remaining 40X of the crowd were people of a variety of heritages who are international folk dancers - that is people who teach or do folk dances from all over the world, mainly for recreation. Most, but not all of the people who attended either are now or have been involved in the performance of Hungarian folk dances and/or music. The participants' ages ranged approximately from nine to fifty-five. One of the most exciting parts of the symposium this year was the number of young folks; teenagers and younger, who were actively involved in all aspects of camp. Many were on scholarship which meant that they did chores each day in exchange for half of the tuition. Not only was this conducive to a warm, almost family camp­­or symposium-for-all-ages atmosphere, but a comment heard repeatedly during the week was that the future of Hungarian dance in North America lies within these kids. After the symposium, the teaching staff travelled to California to teach at "Barátság,” another Hungarian dance and music workshop. Continued on p.3.

Next