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English Table of Contents 2005/1
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Széki Soós János writes about „Farsangolás” in Szék – memories of the pre-lenten (carnival) season.
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Report on the Ifjúforrás Dance Ensemble's tour to Venezuela 2004 Nov. 14 – Dec.4. By Szigetvári József
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3rd CIOFF World Folkloriada 2004 August 12–22. Hungary 2200 Folk dancers and folk musicians from 72 countries were hosted by 1600 Hungarian folk dancers and musicians. The festival opened in the city of Pécs and then continued with 228 performances in 54 communities in Hungary. Closing ceremonies and performances were held in Budapest on Aug. 22nd. Excerpt from the speech given by Mádl Ferenc president of the Hungarian Republic: „... through the preservation of their own culture, the peoples of the world enrich not only themselves, but one another and all of humanity.” Report by Héra Éva – director of the festival, Hungary's CIOFF representative
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Tuticum is the name of a pub in Debrecen (in Northeastern Hungary). Every Wednesday is „folk-Wednesday” at the Tuticum. Though not a „dance house” as such, most often there is live music, space for 3–4 couples to dance should anyone be in the mood and an atmosphere where people who happen to be in the area and like Hungarian traditional music can drop by. Further information contact owner – Tóth Ottó 36-30-219-9111.
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Remembering the late Varga Gyula – former leader and choreographer of the Debrecen Folk Ensemble. Mr. Varga's funeral was on January 7th. Last year he celebrated his 80th birthday. He was originally from the town of Kismarja and was a leading force in traditional and cultural life of Debrecen and Kismarja. By Falvay Károly
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Yearly meeting of the Heritage Children’s Folk Arts Association – Held in Szászhalombatta on January 9, 2005. There were 98 members present for the two day meeting. This association is involved in organizing and supporting professional programs, camps and festivals for children with organization of the yearly Anthology of Children’s Choreographies Festival as one of the main events. The main focus of this year’s meeting was to adopt a new structure for the Association which was formed in 1990 with 30 groups as members; now there are more than 200 member groups. The members voted for the new structure which is to be implemented by April 30, 2005. Report by Szigetvári József
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Report on the Kalamajka Ensemble's concert at the Institute of Hungarian Culture in Vienna on January 14, 2005. By Henics Tamás
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Report on the September 2004 ethnographic study trip to Slovakia organized by the Hungarian Heritage House for 40 folk craftspeople (weavers, embroiderers, ethnic costume makers), lead by ethnographers Borbély Jolán and Mrs. Méry József. By Mrs. Sereg Mátyás, Mrs. Gulyás Antal
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The Hargita National Székely Ensemble from Csíkszereda, Transylvania performed in Budapest at the Millenáris Center on December 12, 2004. Christmas customs were included in the program of dances from Gyimes to the Alföld. Report by Záhonyi András
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Collection work in the Jászság region – Jászság verbunk An event summarizing the results of the collection project on the Jászság verbunk will be held at the Hungarian Heritage House in Budapest on May 28–29, as the final program in the the „Dance Heritage of the Carpathian Basin” series. Kocsán László
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Book on the costume of Hungary's Jász people – by ethnographer H. Bathó Edit Published Dec. 2004. 168 pages includes photos, drawings, historical development of Jász costume from the 13th Century settlement of the Jász people in Hungary, up to the present.
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Bárdosi Ildikó – concert 2004 December – in Debrecen Traditional Hungarian music, laments and ballads from her recording of music from the Kis-Küküllő region of Transylvania. Also performed at the concert (as well as on the record): Fábián Éva, Juhász Zoltán, Juhász Erika, Dsupin Pál, Molnár Miklós, Mester László, Pénzes Géza, Hetényi Milán and others. Report by György-Horváth László
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Announcment of publication: „Selected studies on folklore and tradition” Hoppál Mihály Gondolat Kiadó – European Folklore Institute Budapest, 2004. 193 p., 2.490,– HUF
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Announcing a new publication. Váradi Péter Pál: A photographic chronicle of Transylvania – Kalotaszeg region. In three languages (Hungarian, German, English). 2004. Abkarovits Endre
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Announcing release of a new Hungaroton Classic CD Other Side (Túlparton) – „Art Music and its Folk Roots” – Fonó Ensemble, Szabadi Vilmos (violin) and Gulyás Márta (piano). „This recording presents the melodic paralells between authentic folk music and Bartók's works, as well as the instrumental virtuosity characteristic of in both musical worlds...” By Agócs Gergely
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Part II. – Somoska village week in Hungarian Moldavia. 2004 August 1–8. Report by Bolya Mátyás
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Abdalla Bitar Dance Ensemble from Syria. When the Tabán Serbian Dance Ensemble participated in a festival in Turkey in July 2004, Avar Panni met and became friends with the Syrian Ensemble. When the group invited her to join them for 10 days on tour in Greece, she accepted their invitation and then one of the girls in the ensemble invited her to Syria. Some of Panni's observations about the group, on being amongst another culture and her time in Syria are summarised here. Photos of the Syrian ensemble are included.
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Darmos István muses on the ancient magic power in the old traditional New Years greetings and the „folklore” of New Year's messages sent nowadays by SMS.
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A collection trip to Gyulafirátót with folk tales researcher, Kovács Ágnes Gyulafirátót is a village near the town of Veszprém in the Bakony region of Western Hungary. By Kóka Rozália
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Part four: Halmos Béla's memories of Ádám István „Icsán” – prímás from Szék On the last visits with and recordings made of Icsán before he died in August of 1980, and about the funeral. Transcribed by K.Tóth László
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Interview: Árendás Péter – musical director of the Budapest Ensemble, viola (aka: kontra, brács) player in the Tükrös and Gázsa bands, teaches music, producer-musical director for recordings, music publications. By Abkarovits Endre
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A discussion of bagpipes with and without drone pipes – article takes into consideration bagpipes from all over Europe and beyond. Bibliography included. By Kozák József
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Part III: Digitalizing sound material. The third part of a technical description on the specifics of digitalizing recordings. Discussed here are: cables, shading, symetrical and asymetrical systems, types of jacks, sound cards, software, sound forges, etc. By ifj. Vitányi Iván
Sue Foy
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English Table of Contents 2005/2
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Kelemen László's explanation of why the Hungarain Heritage House is not moving afterall to the newly completed and opened Müvészetek Palotaja (Palace of the Arts) in Budapest. In short; the conditions of making the move there changed enough during the course of completion of the new arts complex, that the H.H.H. is much better off staying where it is. Printed in „Szinpad” 2005 1.1. March. p. 10.
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Missed opportunity. Naturally not everyone working in these dance house circles and related service institutions agree with the director of the Hungarian Heritage House, Kelemen László’s decision not to move to the brand-new arts complex in Pest as planned (see page 3). „I am convinced that we have missed the chance of the decades for the living folk arts to take their rightful place (at the arts complex) and become a focus of public attention.” Berán István
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Announcement for folkMAGazin's first special issue – dedicated entirely to the photographs, poetry and paintings of Endrődi Péter, an artist well known in these circles who has been greatly inpired by Transylvania and particularly the Gyimes region. Sándor Ildikó
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Hungarian Zither Anthology II. Second CD in the series presents original recordings of traditional Zither players from Borsod County, Hajdu region, Hungarian communities in Moldavia. Selections from the collections of Dr. Várnai Ferenc, Mrs. Benze László, Dr. Mező Judit, Balogh Sándor, along with a recoding made in 1916 by Kodály Zoltán in Nagyszalonta. Announcement by Bolya Mátyás
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Critique on the Fonó Band’s new recording „Túlpart” – with guest artists, classical musicians Szabadi Vilmos and Gulyás Márta. The CD includes Bartók duets and two rhapsodies for violin and piano in tandem with the authentic music and melodic variations (Hungaraton HCD 32297). „What can be done? Here is a nice record of good folk and classical music. Each of which I like seperately, but for me, the ensemble of these components does not create a new mixture.” Tóth Péter
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CD-ROM – Traditional crafts 2nd of a series intended for educational use, released by Hungarian Heritage House. Nagy Mari, Vidak István, Tüskés Tünde, Bárány Mara on traditional crafts made with reed, straw, and corn husks. Photographs, video, drawings, demonstratioechniques, historical information, bibliography.
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Zsók Béla: Édesanyám dalai (My Mother's Songs) Kriterion Könyvkiadó, Kolozsvár, 2004 Mrs. Zsók János, was born in 1908 in Déva (in southern Transylvania's Hunyad County). Her parents moved there from Bukovina in 1892. Mrs. Zsók had an amazing repertoire of traditional songs which her son Zsók Béla began documenting in the 1970's. This is the story of Zsók Béla's collection work which culminated in recent publication of his book. Article by Kóka Rozália
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Formation of Association of Folk Dance Masters Members can be traditional and /or folk dancers who have received any of following awards: Master of Folk Arts, Young Master of Folk Arts, Golden Spur/ Pearl, winners of Legényes Competition or Verbunk Competition, Fülöp Ferenc. Award and anyone else who accepts the rules of the association, submits their request to join the association in writing and pays the membership fees. The first meeting: during the Dance House Festival 2005 on April 3. Announcement: Busai Norbert
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Singer and ceramics artist Petras Mária was born in 1957 in the Hungarian Csángó village of Diószén in Moldavia; she emmigrated to Hungary in 1990. She offers a few thoughts on her native Moldavia; „...Before a holiday, there was always lots of preparation. The people cleaned out their spirits, their lives, their houses, their stables, their animal pens, their gradens, their village, they forgave and reconciled, they went to mass in their beautiful holiday clothes, and then went visiting in the afternoon...."
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Easter prayer A story of Christ's fate during Easter Collected by Kóka Rozália from Mrs. Simon Ferenc József – Mekényes–Lészped–Moldavia
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Magyar Zoltán: (Kalotaszeg folk myths) A collection of 1,450 texts. 610 pages. Balassi Kiadó See announcement in Hungarian for ISBN number
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New CD: The wedding of Tőtszegi András and Kelemen Tekla – Méra, Kalotaszeg. Includes traditional local musicians and singers many of which are no longer living. Recorded 21 years ago at the event by Fekete Antal „Puma” Released by FolkEuropa
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On February 18th, 2005 in Pomáz (just outside of Budapest towards Szentendre) – there was an event on the folk culture of Transylvania's Kalotaszeg region with slide presentation by ethnographers dr. Fülemile Ágnes and dr. Balogh Balázs, performance by Berecz András, followed by táncház with Téka Ensemble. Report by Záhonyi András
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On February 18th, 2005 in Pomáz (just outside of Budapest towards Szentendre) –there was an event dedicated to the folk culture of Transylvania’s Kalotaszeg region with slide presentation by ethnographers dr. Fülemile Ágnes and dr. Balogh Balázs, performance by Berecz András, followed by táncház with Téka Ensemble. Report by Záhonyi András
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A listing of people from these or related artistic circles, who on March 15, 2005 were awarded state honors and official recognition for their work.
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Kiss Ferenc' new CD Etnofon Records ER-CD 054 „...approaching the age of 50, I began to think, what happens if I loose the ability to feel? What if I forget what it was like to be in love? In my fear, I began writing these songs – from my own experience, with the help of everything from archaic folk texts to Eastern and Christian mythology to... wine..."
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New CD: Ágoston Béla: Ágostones. Etnofon Records ER-CD082 Nice blend of jazz, Hungarian traditional music, Balkan influences, references to pop. Report by Kovács Gaborján
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Conversation with Szomjas György– film director – 2005 recipient of Kossuth Award.
Szomjas has been making films about popular culture for 30 years. Some of his films have become cult films. Much of his work has dealt with Budapest city-folk life; from rock music to tavern folklore to the Budapest dance houses. He also made a series of documentaries on village musicians – the masters that the dance house musicians and singers have learned from. „...(In Hungary) something is either „popular” or „culture".....the practice is, if we consider culture to be of quality, then it doesn’t often coincide with the „popular".... What has interested me is how popular culture can be developed.....Hungarian traditional music is not a museum object but a usable culture which has certainly proved to be appropriate entertainment and inspired interest in life for the city youth....” Interview by K.Tóth László
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Announcing: VIII. Carpathian Basin Verbunk Competition. To be held in Zalaegerszeg on Saturday, 2005 May 7. Dance material to be mastered by competing dancers: verbunk of Murguly Lajos; Nagyecsed, Northeastern Hungary. Contestants must dance 2 minutes of Murguly Lajos' magyar verbunk and then 2 minutes of improvised verbunk learned from other Nagyecsed traditional dancers. See Announcement in Hungarian for contact info. Zalai Dance Ensemble Association
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The Hargita Ensemble performed a new choreography – a full length program of local carnival customs – on Febraury 8, 2005 in Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc) in Transylvania . Choreography – Orza Calin. Music – Orza Calin, Dr. Szalay Zoltán. Director – András Mihály. Review – Nyulas Ferenc
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New CD: Festeres – Mandache Aurel – fiddler – II Traditional Moldavian fiddler accompanied on the recording by young musicians living in Budapest. 2005. DialekTon. Announcement by Bolya Mátyás
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New CD: Gombai Tamás and his band: Tízhúros (ten strings) – Traditional Kalotaszeg Hungarian music. Etnofon records ER-CD 081 Gombai Tamás – Violin Eerdei Attila – three stringed viola Szabó Csobán Gergő – bass
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Széki Soós János: Valaki fogja a kezem (Somebody hold my hand) Published by: Bartók Néptáncegyesület, Budapest 2005. 119 pages, 19 photographs Soós János is a writer from the village of Szék in Transylvania. He has been living in Budapest since 1990. His stories of Szék offer us a little taste of this village, some of its unwritten rules, a bit of Transylvanian spirit, daily family life, his father's good advice. Report by Zachar Viktor
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Interview with Borbély Jolán The saying goes, „Behind every great man there is a woman"; „Joli néni” was the wife of the extraordinary dance researcher Martin György. Joli néni herself is great. Here she talks about her life, her work, her opinions on folk dance choreography, doing collection work with Martin, the táncház movement, dance research/ field work. Interview by Paluch Norbert
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A Palóc woman’s autobiography. Tőszér Kapcsos Anna of the village of Kazár (in Northern Hungary near the border town of Salgótarján). Published by L’Harmattan–European Folklore Institute Budapest. 2004. In Hungarian. Title: „Palócul tanitott imádkozni anyám” (My mother taught me to pray in Palóc).
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Our Bagpipe. Kozák József rants about how neighboring ethnic groups and other Europeans have appropriated the Hungarian bagpipe, now happily call the same bagpipe their own."It seems that unlawful appropriation of valuables doesn’t pose a moral problem. They take what they see....” Kozák suggests that travellers bought their goat headed, contra-piped bagpipes from Hungarians, then took them home and conveniently forgot who they had gotten them from. „The possibilities of our bagpipe’s sound and playing technique far surpass the capabilities of the European traditional types. The chromatic, melody pipe’s octave range, the rhythmic pulse of the contra pipe filled out by the two-octave-lower drone pipe, approaches musical perfection. The instrument in and of itself encompasses a unity of melody, harmony, and rhythm."
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Kása Béla's speech that opened Henics Tamás' photography exhibit in Budapest at Marcibányi Square Cultural Center.
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Tamás Henics: Measuring Sheeps Milk in Visa – a book of photographs with text describing a Transylvanian St. George's Day tradition. Text in Hungarian and English. Published by Etnofon Records
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Listing of summer camps, workshops – 2005
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An in-depth discussion of the 17th Solo Dance Festival in Békéscsaba on January 14, 2005 Nagy Zoltán interviews jury member Lévai Péter and 4 of the awarded dancers: Dudás Dániel, Mosóczi Lívia, Molnár Gábor, Zsuráfszki Zoltán jr.
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Dance Camp in Külsőrekecsin (Fundu Racaciuni) – Moldavia, Romania. Next camp in this Hungarian Csángó village south of Bákó (Bacau) in Romania: 2005 July 24–31. See article in Hungarian for contacts. By Tündik Tamás
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Printed here are transcriptions of 7 legényes dance tunes from the Transylvanian villages of Méra, Vista, Inaktelke – recorded by Molnár István in the 1930's on phonograph cylinder. The transcriptions were done by violinist Balogh Ferenc when he was a music student. Article by Falvay Károly
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Interview with Béres János – on his 75th birthday. Originally from a village in Hungary's Cserehát region, Mr. Béres' still active career in the folk arts has included: dancer in the State Folk Ensemble, performing musician, music teacher, foundation of two folk music schools (including the one in Óbuda), director of radio programs, TV programs. By Hollókői Lajos
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Celebrations and Everyday Life in Hungarian Moldavia Double CD released by Etnofon. The prayers, songs, incantations, sayings, holiday greetings of two Hungarian Csángó women from Pusztina – a Hungarian village in Moldavia. Includes dance music played by the traditional musicians who play for dance events in Pusztina.
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Traditional music and dance on the website (www.zti.hu) of the Institute of Musicology at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences: Felföldi László discusses the Institute's collections, archives and archival methods for preserving the collections and the website.
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Part two of a report on Százhalombatta’s Ifjuforrás Dance Ensemble’s tour in Venezuela in late 2004. By Szigetvári József
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Majorosi Marianna talks about the process of making her first solo recording, growing up in Békéscsaba in Eastern Hungary, dancing, her work as former assistant dance director for the State Folk Ensemble, being a singer with the Csík and Bekecs Bands, and teaching. Interview by Abkarovits Endre
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Majorosi Marianna – singer – solo CD. Selection of traditional songs reflecting the joys, celebrations, sorrows and bitternesses of a women's fate. Label: Folk Europa
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"Bozsó” Krizsics Tivadar – Accordion player from the village of Németi – a predominantly ethnic Croatian village in southern Hungary’s Baranya County. Born in 1936 of Croatian descent, by profession he was a construction foreman, not a musician. He was not generally considered to be the best in the region (Kovács Toncsi was considered the best), nevertheless he was very popular and was regularly hired to play all over the region for all manner of traditional events. This article contains information on his special rapport with the people which contributed greatly to his popularity. By Avar Panni
Sue Foy
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English Table of Contents 2005/3
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Critique – 2005 Dance House Festival. Szász József’s comments centered around the overbearing presence of the Sport Arena’s security guards and a general lack of warmth in those attending, performing and organizing.
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Next to the town of Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc) in Transylvania there is a Catholic church in a place called Csíksomlyó. Hungarian Székely and Csángó people traditionally make a pilgrimage to this church at Pentecost. 2005 marked the 438th pilgrimage – a religious event attended by tens of thousands of Hungarians. This year a group of celebrated guests travelled onward from Csíksomlyó to the Hungarian Csángó village of Rekecsin in Moldavia (Romania) for a ceremony laying the first foundation stone of a Hungarian school to be built there. In this area of Romania there have been very strong efforts towards assimilation of the Csángó Hungarians into Romanian society. Hungarian schools have been prohibited for many, many years. Now finally with Romania on the threshold of the European Union, they are obliged to show deference to minorities in their country and a Hungarian school can be built. By Kóka Rozália
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15th Csángó and Hungarian Minorities Festival. 2005 Aug. 4–9. Jászberény. Invited guests include traditional musicians and dancers from: 3 Hungarian Moldavian villages, 3 villages in Gyimes, 3 Csík villages, 5 other Transylvanian villages (and more). Festival is as usual preceeded by the International Dance and Music Camp (this year’s is the 24th annual). Jul. 30th – Aug. 6th. Announcement: Kocsán László
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Kallós Zoltán – dr. Martin György: (Gyimes Csángó dances and dance life). Printed here is an introduction to this publication which also includes audio recordings of traditional musicians from 1962–1990. 35 kinds of dance events and 30 different dances are known from this region. D’sing Kft. 2000. Szentendre, Hungary.
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Vujcsics Ensemble– specializing in traditional music of various Southern Slav ethnic groups – celebrated their 30th birthday in April in a 3 hour concert to a full house at Budapest’s new National Concert Hall. Reknowned musicians in the Hungarian dance house movement along with the Söndörgő Ensemble – a young band made up largely of the Vujcsics Ensemble’s offspring – were invited to share the stage for this event. A sentimental and symbolic gesture during the performance was presentation of a flute once owned by Vujcsics himself, to the youngest member of the Söndörgő Ensemble. Report by Tóth Ferenc ’Vuk’
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New Publication: Wagner Péter: „Feneketlen a múltnak kútja...” (The unfathomable well of the past) Documentation of traditional architecture of the village of Szék – photographs and survey drawings done in the beginning of the 1970’s by architect Wagner Péter (during his student years). The life and culture of this village has changed enough over the past 30 some years, that most of the traditional homes in this book are no longer standing. Europrint Kiadó, Nagyvárad (Oradea, Romania) 2005. Announcements: Wagner Péter
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Kricskovics Antal – choreographer, dancer. Born in 1929 near the village of Gara in the area of northern former Yugoslavia known as „Bácska". He danced professionally with the SZOT, LADO Ensembles, became director of Central Yugoslav Ensemble, danced in the Építők Ensemble, was director of the Budapest Ensemble 1976–1989 and is still active with the Fáklya Ensemble. He did field collection work the length of Hungary’s southern border with Vujicsics Tihamér. „Perhaps the most important thing is to love the culture, its people, and the region of the dance you are involved in. Get to know the people and their customs personally by eating, drinking and sleeping with them.” Interview by Paluch Norbert
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Textile Exhibit Exhibition of Ardai Ildikó’s work will open on July 7th, 2005 at the Herman Ottó Museum in Miskolc. Ildikó graduated from the Hungarian College of Arts and Crafts in Budapest in 1968 with specialization in weaving. She has studied in Finland and has done extensive field research on the rug weaving of the Csík, Kászon and Gyimes areas in Transylvania. All of her work is and has been influenced by Hungarian traditional weaving. The exhibition will be open until September 2005. Report by K. Tóth László
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Interview – Irish musician Andy Irvine. Irvine has been playing music since the 1960’s in famous Irish bands such as Planxty, Patrick Street, Mosaic and others. Here is discussion and comparison of the Irish traditional music scene and revival movement and the Hungarian authentic peasant music and dance house revival movement. „Tradition is the kind of thing that must change...if no one writes anything new...it’ll become a museum object. This may sound sad, but tradition must be fed, it must be carried forward. And hopefully the musicians have enough good taste to keep the music within the framework of the tradition". By Abkarovits Endre
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9th Legényes competition. April, 2005 – Budapest Material performed by competitors: Pontozó dance of Vincze Ferenc, traditional dancer from Magyarszentbenedek (Sinbenedic), Küküllőmenti region of Transylvania. First prize went to Balla Zoltán. Fügedi János, member of the jury, reports on the event with a discussion of authenticity in dance, also exploring concrete aspects of the movement motifs that characterize this particular men’s dance and provided the basis for his opinions.
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New publication: Balogh Balázs – Fülemile Ágnes: (Society, landscape structure, identity in Kalotaszeg). (Ethnographic studies) series. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest. 2004 This monography publishes the results of methodical ethnographic research conducted in both Hungarian and Romanian villages in the Kalotaszeg region of Transylvania since the beginning of the 1990’s. Chapter headings are: Patterns of marital connections in the Kalotaszeg area Examples of regional network problems History of the region in the Middle Ages Ethnic stress between Hungarians and Romanians ...originating from the period of 1940–44.
Sue Foy
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English Table of Contents 2005/4
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Szentendre’s Village Museum announces the June 23, 2005 opening of new permanent exhibition: The Southern-Transdanubian region. This expansive village museum already has permanent exhibitions presenting authentic traditional architecture and interiors from four other regions of Hungary. All buildings have either been dismantled and then reconstructed on the grounds of the museum or are replicas of structures existing in their original locations. The new Southen Transdanubia exhibition includes 40 buildings, 45 other structures, and some 4500 original traditional household objects from 8 smaller regions within the area. More information: www.skanzen.hu
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Use of authentic recordings of traditional song and instrumental music to supplement singing and music instruction and develop listening skills in elementary school. Farkas Annamária recommends use of authentic recordings of traditional music in the classroom, a list of her song teaching material and listening material is provided.
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New CD – Folk Music from the Bodrogköz region (I live on the banks of the Tisza) Produced and released by the Cultural Center in Sárospatak, Hungary. Music collected in villages of the Bodrogköz region in northeastern Hungary, performed by the Szeredás, Morotva, Dűvő bands and Hunyádi Péter and friends. By Darmos István
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Heritage Children’s Folk Arts Association – has reorganized. After January’s decision to recorganize, this organization held a general meeting on April 27th, 2005 to elect new officers and reaffirm the new structure. Regional committees had been formed prior to the meeting. President: Csasztvan András from Szarvas. Professional Vice President: Mrs. Kapási Matók Julia from Szekszárd. Regional Vice President: Szigetvári József from Százhalombatta. Special committees are: Education, Communication and Contact, Professional, Legal. See article in Hungarian for regional officers. Report by SzigetváriJózsef
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The Szászcsávás Band played at the Saint Donát’s day Bikavér (Bulls Blood) wine festival in the town of Eger on July 8th, where the crowd was tough to draw in at first,butt he amazing music of this Transylvanian village Gypsy band ended up totally taking in and entrancing the crowd. Other bands to perform at the festival performed American music. The comment of the writer was: „what is this music doing at the Bulls Blood event? Don’t we have our own music, which is better than anything else?...What’s the point of this eternal worship of the foreign....?.” Report by Kóczián János
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Ifjú Szívek is the name of a professional Hungarian dance ensemble based in Pozsony (aka Bratislava, Pressbourg) in Slovakia. Director of the ensemble is Hégli Dusán. This article critiques and applauds the work of the ensemble and a performance on May 16th, 2005 at a venue in Pozsony called the Astorka. The group works withaut hentic material focusing mainly on dances of the so-called „Felvidé” region (northern Hungarian language area, situated in Slovakia). The May 16th performance marked the 100th performance of that program – the ensemble travels continuously throughout Slovakia performing for school children. By Sebők Géza
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Critique on Hungarian State Ensemble’s new full length program entitled „Pannon Freskó”. This is a mixed review of the new work. While there was praise for the work („successfully attained the goal of presenting the Pannon fresco.... the members of the ensemble have aside from folkdance an amazing and rich movement culture...” etc), the main criticism here was, „no matter how beautiful, almost perfect...” (the author of this article) „didn’t find the cathartic experience– that shine from which one can go home self-assured, re-charged, full of joy....”, which he attributed to the „lack of folkdance and (therefore) lack of life” in the performance. By Szász József
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Moldvahon – Hungarian Moldavian Csángó Cultural Association. Bolya Mátyás reports on the history and activities of the association established in March of 2003, the goals of which center around support, preservation and study of the traditional culture of the Hungarian Csángó minority in Moldávia. For contact info, see article in Hungarian.
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Part I. – Conversations on the pontozó of Magyarszentbenedek with Varga Zoltán (choreographer, dance teacher and director of an institution for artists teacher training) and Fügedi János, Ph. D. (dance notation expert, dance researcher at the Institute of Musicology at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) – both were members of the jury at a men’s dance competition featuring this dance in April of 2005. These conversations bring out a wealth of information on this Transylvanian dance through discussion of specific aspects about those who performed this dance at the competition and the jury’s evaluation. Also brought out specific differences between this dance and the legényes, information about research done on this dance previously, etc. By Nagy Zoltán
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Dr. Barsi Ernő celebrates 85th birthday – June 28th, 2005 Nationally reknown for his teaching, performance, research and publications, Dr. Barsi holds degrees in theology and music and a doctorate in ethnography. He was a student of Kodály Zoltán. „A humble, modest ambassador of Hungarian culture.” An event at the Hungarian Institute of Culture at Corvin tér in Budapest was held in his honor on June 10th, 2005.
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9th Csűrdöngölő Children’s and Youth Folk Dance Festival – Spring Folk Dance Celebration – held in Csíkszereda’s main square on May 13, 2005. Children’s dance groups from some 40 Hungarian communities mainly in Székelyföld, Csík and Gyergyó regions of Transylvania performed. The event was heldin tandem with a folk crafts fair, the day before the Csíksomlyó Pentecost pilgrimage. The decision to hold the event on this date was deliberate – in the words of an organizer, „People from all over the world came for the Whitsuntide pilgrimage. Thus people attended the event that hadnever seen anything like it... it was entertaining, interesting and gave the news that our people living at home here (in Transylvania) are both busy and active.” At some point during the performances, the entire audience in the square spontaneously began to dance. Report Nyulas Ferenc
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Fonó Music Hall and Civil Rádió – celebrated 10th anniversary in September. Conversation with Hollókői Lajos – Managing Director of the Fonó since April of 2004. Following a period of serious financial crises, the Fonó tries to stay afloat, resurrect its record label and continue doing business providing a venue for traditional Hungarian folk, jazz and other musics and dances of the world. Hollókői describes something of this process. Interview by K. Tóth László
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Folk musicians on the rock stage. Members the Kormorán Band have gotten together with fiddler Salamon Beáta (Méta Ensmeble) and player of various wind instruments, Csávás Attila (Honvéd Ensemble, Bekecs Band), plus Barvich Iván (Sebő Ensemble) to form the KMB Band. KMB toured in Hungary this summer, in July they began recording for a record and will be playing at the Fonó Music Hall on Oct. 11th, Nov. 8th and Dec. 13. Announcement by Kolbe Gábor
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Cérna Miklós – Hungarian 86 year old story teller – from Oromhegyes (Tresnjevac), Serbia. Mr. Cérna recieved the Hungarian Master of Folk Arts award on August 20th, 2005. Here he tells a little bit about his life. „He has helped a lot of people, young and old with his tales – he is history.” Tómó Margareta – first appearedin „MagyarSzó” 2005 September 1.
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Europeade 2005 – conversation with Varga Edit – newly appointed as Hungarian Europeade senator. This year the 42nd Europeade was held in the French town of Quimper – a four day meeting of folk tradition preserving groups of dancers, musicians, singers, costume, arriving from every country of Europe. Varga Edit – a tireless, unique figure in the Hungarian folk dance movement. For her: Life is folk dance. Folk dance is life. How many generations of folk dancers have grown up with her, how many groups has she delegated for performances abroad, and how many years has she been serving folk dancers with unbelievable love and humility? Here she discusses the Europeade. Interview by Szigetvári József
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Székely Folk Ensemble was on tour in Spain, Portugal, Canary Islands for 38 days in 2005. They gave 24 performances and also visited the French Riviera and Italy, arrriving back to their home in Transylvanian town of Csíkszereda (Miercurea Ciuc) full of new experiences and perspectives. Tour manager: Miklós Kata. Support for the tour came from the hosting festivals along with the Budapest Székely Circle and four private Hungarian supporters who escorted the group on tour. Report by Director of the Ensemble, András Mihály
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Conversation with Novák Ferenc – Folk dance choreographer, ethnographic researcher. „Tata” was born in Transylvania in 1931, he founded the Bihari Children’s Dance Ensemble in Budapest in 1954. He has been artistic director of the Honvéd Ensemble since 1983 and is the recipient of numerous state honours for his life work. „...There are 5 professional folk dance ensembles in Transylvania, 4 in Hungary. For now. Amongst those there are some whose survival is questionable. Thanks to the present cultural politics, there are some cultural institutions that will be unable to pay their employees by the end of the year. The present government is completely...i llegally withholding support funding from culture, this will put us out of business... ...I’m not crying back the government of before 1989, but at that time, a good deal more money was spent on culture. The powersat that time, compensated for their tomfoolery by supporting the arts... ...if things keep on like this, I’m moving back to Transylvania.” Interview by Szucher Ervin
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Poetry by Széki Soós János, initiates a new arts column in FolkMAG. This new column plans to focus each issue on the work of a different artist from the dance house movement circles.
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Reports on five folk dance-music camps in Transylvania – Summer 2005 – in the villages of Gyimesközéplok (Lunca de Jos), Kalotaszentkirály (Sancraiu), Kommandó (Comandau), Vajdaszentivány (Voivodeni) and Mezőtelegd (Tileagd). Záhonyi András
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Authenticity and re-creation. Conversations about the Pontozó (men’s dance) from Magyarszentbenedek – part II. In the wave controversary following the outcome of the 2005 Legényes Competition held in Budapest in mid April, here are conversations with jury member, Farkas Zoltán „Batyu” and first place winner, Balla Zoltán. Discussionof many aspects of the competition, this particular pontozó, dance and movement in general, communication with the musicians, performance style and of course what is involved in re-creation of the dance of a traditional dancer. Recommendations of the interviewer: the doors to such competitions must be opened up somehow to a wider circle and the dance material to be performed in the competition should be announced and made available to the competitors earlier. Dr. Nagy Zoltán
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Our Flute – part one. Kozák József discusses the wooden flute foundin the Hungarian langauage area. It is unique from European flutes and flutes from other parts of the world in that as a six holed flute, the wind opening rather than being on the same side as the sound holes – is on the back side of the flute. This aspect makes it possible for the flute player to change the position of his lower lip to produce additional sounds in a parallel octave or 5th. According to the tradition, the flute player also more or less growls into the flute,the resultant sound accompanies the rhythm of the tune.
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Conversation with cymbalom player, Balogh Kálmán. Includes information about Kálmán’s family, childhood, his musical training, preferences in music, bands he has worked with, toured with and made recordings with. Interesting observations on cymbaloms of other parts of the world in comparison to Central and Eastern European cymbaloms. Presently he is a full time member of the Budapest Dance Ensemble’s band, while also leading his band, the Gypsy Cymbalom Band. Interviewer: Abkarovits Endre.
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’Bethleheming’ – the Hungarian tradition of going from house to house at Christmas time celebrating the birth of Christ in a pagent play. This is a personal account of how this tradition is practiced still in the Hungarian community in Cleveland, Ohio, USA – a tradition which has died out in many (or most!??!) places in today’s Hungary. The story poignantly communicates the meaning of this tradition and the Hungarian Christmas spirit. By Szentkirályi Endre (Cleveland, Ohio, USA)
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Csángó Christmas celebration – December 17th , 2005 To be held in Budapest at Almássy Square Recreational Center. The event will highlight Moldavian Csángó Christmas customs. In addition to performances by all the revival Hungarian Moldavian bands, there will be guests from Hungarian villages in Moldavia, dancing, photo exhibit, round table discussion with leading ethnographers and collectors of Moldavian tradition. By Bolya Mátyás
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On November 19th, 2005, the Sültü Dance House at the FMH in Budapest hosted guest traditional musicians Tímár Viktor and Tímár János from Hidegség in the Gyimes region of Transylvania. Report by Benkő András
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The 10th Vajdaság Dance House Festival and Market was held on October 1st, 2005 in Újvidék (Novi Sad) in the Voivodina region of Northern Serbia. The event was organized by the Vajdaság Hungarian Folklore Center and the Csűrdögölő Dance Ensemble. This year’s festival, gala performance and party afterwards were more successful than last year, bringing many people and groups together from Hungarian communities in the region. Report by Raj Rozália
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Report on the First Cymbalom Camp in August of 2005 in Abaújszántó in Northeastern Hungary. The camp was held from August 19–21 and offered instruction for beginning and advanced folk cymbalom and beginning and advanced classical cymbalom. The camp was attended by 28 people from Hungary, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Greece. The camp culminated with the 4th Cymbalom Festival held in the same town. The organizers hope to be able to organize a longer camp in 2006. By Unger Balázs
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The Óbuda Folk Music School celebrates 15th anniversary with release of two records. This music school located in Budapest’s third district is dedicated to educating children in traditional Hungarian music; currently there are 250 students. The recordings are selections played by present students. Announcement by Bolya Mátyás
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Dr. Németh Kálman was priest of the Roman Catholic church in Józseffalva, Bukovina from 1932 until 1940. He was a key force in helping the people of the five Hungarian Székely villages of Bukovina to escape bad conditions getting worse as a result of the Second World War. The Szekely Hungarians were able to leave Bukovina to resettle in Hungary in 1941. As a result of the chaos of the war, dr. Németh had to leave Hungary in 1947. He spent the rest of his life in Western Pennsylvania where he died in 1966. On September 24, 2005 his remains were brought back to Hungary and placed in the cemetery in Bátaszek. Article by Kóka Rozália
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Four poems by Transylvanian poet Kenéz Ferenc, with introduction by Széki Soós János
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A summary of the Kalotaszeg region of Transylvania and its three sub-regions known as ’Felszeg’, ’Alszeg’ and ’Nádas mente’. The article discusses some history, mentions various geographical attributes, villages, religion, traditions, general observations on costume, decoration, dance etc. of each area. By Eplényi Anna
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The hit cello. The instrument of the Gyimes women Basically this instrument looks like a cello hewn from a log with a chainsaw. It has three thick gut strings which are hit with a thick wooden stick and one not-as-thick string which is plucked with the other hand. In most cases the wives of the Gyimes traditional fiddlers play the hit cello. The fiddler usually tunes the hit cello for his wife. The strings are tuned to D, one or two octaves lower than the violin. The traditional Gyimes band has two members: a fiddler and a hit cello player. Article by Endrődi Péter
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The late Fodor Sándor Neti, the Kalotaszeg fiddler, performed for the last time at the Fonó in Budapest’s 11th district on March 18, 2004. The Fonó is releasing a recording of that evening. Announcement by Hollókői Lajos
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The Kállai Kettős Folk Dance Festival was held in Nagykálló in Northeastern Hungary on October 7–9, 2005. This juried festival for amateur dance groups is held every two years, this year for the 22nd time. Twentyseven ensembles performed; the Jászság Ensemble took first prize. Kocsán László offers comments on making a distinction between thematic and authentic choreographies.
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Conversation with singer Herczku Ágnes. Presently one of the most soughtafter singers in Budapest’s folk movement. She grew up in the town of Sátoraljaújhely, went to college in Miskolc, wanted to dance, so auditioned for the Honvéd Ensemble in Budapest. Dancing in the Honvéd, they soon discovered her talent for singing and then more and more opportunities to sing came along. Today she sings with the Fonó Band and the Hungarian State Ensemble, often working with many other bands as well – both traditional and related world music. She is also attends university in Budapest and participates in collection work when her schedule permits. Interview by Abkarovits Endre
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Men’s dance competition. Since the 2005 legényes competition held in Budapest in April, folkMAGazin has printed several articles regarding the decision of the jury and opinions of some competitors. The discussion has resulted in some very interesting commentary on dance and healthy argument. In this issue the dance notation expert, Fügedi János, continues the discourse„...I’m not interested in dueling over the sociological role of dance and its unfathomable profoundnesses, ...(instead I’m interested) in a professional level objective exchange of opinion on folk dance forms, modes of execution, their value and preservation...."
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