44th National Táncház Festival & Fair • 4–6 April 2025
Issue:
Starting page: 3
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Philosophical introduction
"…in considering the recent past of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble we search for keys to the deeper layers of the artistic practices and work of choreographer Mihályi Gábor.
…aesthetic formation of imitative movement inspired by tradition - folk dance… as an energetic bodily activity would remain indefinable without back-up from phenomenology and hermeneutics..."

Preliminary notes, hypothetical statements
"…In my experience, since 2000…under Mihályi Gábor’s artistic direction, the State Folk Ensemble instead of focusing on a motionless static past (based on the folk dance documented by the researchers), focuses on its own existing present - thus on the memories within that, and on awaited horizens - …over the last fifteen years the ensemble has searched and is searching for tradition…."
"…many of the performances have been collaborative works with other choreographers…nevertheless when we look back over the variety and richness of the ensemble’s last fifteen years of activity - it can be seen as one process. Mihályi Gábor’s name is the emblematic and creative name I shall use as coordinator of all the group work and leader of the ensemble…"

The fate of tradition, or its fatelessness
"…the present question becomes: what does tradition mean in our actual world? How can we make the summonable, danceable past our own, and organically build upon that in the present?…"
"…the [State Ensemble’s] repertoire is made up of neither authentic nor dramatic performances, [Mihályi] allows for dance (yes, folk dance ) to freely stand out with its unbridled emotional content as the embodiment of reality…"

Unmarked presence
"The State Folk Ensemble is professionally related to the past, they build on folk dance material documented by the researchers…"

The body of folk dance, or the body’s folk dance
"…Mihályi Gábor’s choreographic world is comparable to that of Merce Cunningham, who while discovering pure dance also ventured close to the source…"

In summary
"…in Mihályi Gábor’s choreographic world, folk dance has become one of the definitive forms of contemporary dance, in such a way that neither its historical embededness nor its community nature has been lost in the meantime."