Hungarian Folk Dance

Dancing provided the primary source of recreationreturning from town built the elements of civil fashion
for village people before the electronic entertainmentdances in their homeland's dance choreography.
forms of the modern world penetrated filtered intoDance traditions of the neighbouring countries have
the lives of the tiniest settlements.also shaped Hungarian folk dances. In Transylvania,
The captivating motions accompanied by music andwhere Hungarians, Romanians, and Saxons lived
or singing is a spectacular visualization of thetogether, adoption of each other's dances was
Hungarian people's rich emotional world which theyinevitable. The dance heritage of Bukovina in
strive to preserve in spite of the unstoppable spreadTransylvania reflects several ethnic influences
of modern lifestyle.(German, Romanian, Russian, Hucul).
Singing folk songs and dancing enlivened not justIn terms of regional aspect three main dialects
country people's holidays but it brought somedeveloped in Hungarian dance culture:
cheerfulness in their workdays, too. Dancing was also- The characteristic dances of the Western or
an integral part of a wide range of social occasions. ItDanube dance dialect are the shepherd and jumping
provided an effective forum for group and coupledances, verbunk, leánykarikázó
interaction including courtship.(women's cicle dance), slow and quick
In order to get along in a village one had to havecsárdás and the colourful palette of wedding
good dancing skills. A lad with skillful dancing abilitydances.
tended to be more popular with lasses and vice- The Central or Tisza region preserved many old
versa. Parents and the elderly members of the villagestyle dances along with a wide range of new style
community prompted youngsters to acquire anddances: shepherd dances, stick dances,
preserve folk traditions as means of strengtheningleánykarikázó, jumping dances, verbunk,
social integrity.slow and quick csárdás and the
Hungarian folk dances can be divided into two mainosztótánc from the wedding dances.
categories:- The Eastern or Transylvania region has the most
1. Old style dances dating back to the Middle Agesversatile and archaic dance heritage due to the
Jumping dances (ugrós): solo or couple dancesisolation of this area from Western influences.
accompanied by old style music, shepherd and otherCommunism didn't oppressed folk dancing, on the
solo man's dances from Transylvania, and marchingcontrary the era added new impetus to the
dances along with remnants of medieval weapondevelopment of dances. The dance house movement
dances belong in this group. Karikázó, a circlestarted in the 70ies became very popular with young
dance performed by women only accompanied bypeople living in towns in no time. Bands and
singing of folksongsensembles formed, amateurs set out to collect the
2. New style dances developed in the 18-19. centuriesremaining traditions of folk dance and music in the
Verbunk, a solo man's dance evolved from thecountryside while looking for their roots.
recruiting performances of the Austro-HungarianThe choreographies were resurrected in dance
army. Csárdás the national couple dance ofhouses where anybody could learn the basic steps
Hungary which seems deceptively simple with its tothen practice them by joining the other enthusiasts
steps to the right and two steps to the left,on the dance floor. The dance house phenomena
followed by turning the woman around choreographyevolved into a movement acknowledged and known
however numerous regional variations haveall worldwide enriching the world of folk music and
developed since the 19th century.dance with talents like Márta Sebestyén,
Couple dances formed the core of communityor the Muzsikás Band.
entertainment because of their lively step patterns.The fact that the Hungarian name of the movement
The most popular couple dance is thewithout the accents (tanchaz) rooted in the English
csárdás which became known as the nationallanguage demonstrates the popularity of the
dance of Hungary all over the world. Besidesmovement the best.
csárdás and its variations the so-calledThe political changes started in 1989 facilitated the
jumping dances, twirl dances from Transylvania andpreserving of folk traditions even more. Folk dance
other old style slow dances were also favoured. Soloschools were founded, folk dance lessons became
man's dances existed as integral part of dance lifepart of school lectures, and the Hungarian Dance
until the I. world war.Academy launched a folk dance course. Today many
Only the most talented lads were able to learn andcivil associations, festivals (National Tanchaz Festival)
master some of the dances that required outstandingand countless folk ensembles (both professional and
skillfulness (verbunk, jumping dances). Some man'samateur) cultivate folk dance traditions in Hungary.
dances became part of the dance repertoire inThrough the performances of the three most
certain parts of the country even after the I. worldsuccessful representatives of Hungarian folk dance
war (Rábaköz: verbunk, karéj, dus,culture (Hungarian National Folk Ensemble, Danube
Northeast Hungary certain verbunk varieties:Folk Ensemble and the Rakjó Folk Ensemble)
sarkantyús verbunk, magyar verbunk).you can learn about and became a fan of this
Along with entertainment dances, certain rituals,colourful art form. The 3 ensembles look back to
customs (weddings, harvest, vintage) had their ownmore than 50-year professional past. They conquered
characteristic dances, as well. Weddings werethe heart of their audience in numerous countries
regarded as prominent social happenings in villages,evoking and making memorable to them the rich
the events of which lived vividly in people's memoriesfolklore treasures of Hungary. The ensembles'
for long.versatile repertoire has preserved many precious
External influences had significant impact on evolutiondances which would have been forgotten otherwise.
of countryside dance life. Craftsmen, soldiers, maids