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On January 22, 2012 Sebestyén Márta received this year’s Kölcsey Society Award. The society is dedicated to furthering the legacy and culture of Kölcsey Ferenc, the composer who wrote the Hungarian national anthem. Márta, her voice and personality have brought Hungarian folk song into the hearts of people not only in Hungary – but all over the world. Printed here is the award speech given by Jánosi Zoltán, president of the Kölcsey Society.

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The 16th Csángó Ball was held on February 10th at the Petőfi Csarnok in Budapest. The event was sponsored by the Pro Minoritate Foundation and Moldvahon Csángó Cultural Association. Traditional Csángó musicians, dancers, singers from Moldavia and Transylvania are brought to Budapest to perform in a gala performance celebrating the culture of this ethnic sub-group of Hungarians. A ball follows the gala performance. This year the Csángó Ball also honored the poetry of Lakatos Demeter (1911–1974) – a naive Csángó poet from the Moldavian village of Szabófalva/Săbăoani. This poet’s work was first published in 1935 in the Kolozsvár/Cluj publication Keleti Újság, and has since appeared in several volumes. He wrote his poems in Hungarian with Romanian phonetics. Report by Iancu Laura.

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New publication: Hoppa Enikő: [We speak csángó. The dialect spoken by the Csángó Hungarians of Moldavia]. Pro Pannonia. 2012. Pécs, Hungary. In Hungarian.
This book introduces the dialect spoken today by the Csángó people of Moldavia. Hoppa Enikő did collection work on language in seven different villages in Moldavia between 2000 and 2007. She is presently working on her PhD in linguistics at the Pécs University.

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Past and present of the dance house movement – By Diószegi László (dancer, choreographer, organizer, teacher).
As the dance house movement celebrates 40 years since the first Budapest event in the spring of 1972, more and more accounts come forth – each one bringing new insights and information on a movement that has nearly become an institution. The táncház has been dedicated to, and based on, preserving and popularizing traditional village music, dance and folk arts of this region. Its teaching methods have gained world-wide recognition. Today there are two large-scale yearly events in Budapest that have grown out of the movement: the National Dance House Festival (Táncháztalálkozó) at the end of March, and a traditional crafts fair held in the Buda Castle Area every August 20th. Departments at the Hungarian Academy of Dance and Liszt Academy of Music train talented young people to be professionals in folk dance and music. There are scores of camps, workshops, dance groups and bands that have grown out of, or embraced, this movement and provide social life and events including folk music and dance all over the region.

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New CD: Village Music from Kalotaszeg – Csűrös Band
With Lengyel László „Türei” (voice) and Varga István „Kicsi Csipás” (violin). 2012. Hungarian Heritage House, Győr Foundation. Members of the Csűrös Band are natives of Transylvania’s Kalotaszeg region and they play music of that area – especially from the villages of Türe and Méra. There will be a record release concert on March 31st during the National Táncház Festival in Budapest.

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New CD: Tüzet viszek; Fonó 2012 FA-274-2
Singer Herczku Ágnes has gathered some great musicians together for her new record. Two traditional singers from Transylvania, as well as a talented eleven year-old from Debrecen also join her on this recording. See announcement in Hungarian for list of musicians.

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The CD series Talpalávaló (for teaching folk dance and folk music), announces release of two CDs – the Zagyva Band: 1. Music of the Sárköz–Bogyiszló region and, 2. Music of the Kalocsa region. Produced by the Folk Dance Accessories Shop (Néptáncosok kellékboltja), which has already released DVDs on couple dances of the Mezőség region and the Molnár technique. There are plans for two more CDs on music from the Galga and Szatmár–Nyírség regions. See www.neptanckellek.hu.

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Photo Gallery – Dance house enthusiast  Nemes Zoltán ’mettor’ of Győr took these photographs in the Transylvanian village of Szék/Sic in the late 1970s. Commentary by writer Széki Soós János (born and raised in Szék) accompanies the photos.

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Beliefs and customs of Spain – Part IV. The wedding. A survey of Spanish wedding customs of the past. By Valter Linda.

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Food and Tradition Beans in Hungarian Cusine. Traditional cooking in Hungary uses beans in a variety of ways. Hungarian bean soups are amazing! Today many different kinds and colors of beans are grown here and used in Hungarian cooking. It is good luck to eat beans or lentils at the New Year. Bean dishes without meat are part of the diet during lent. Recipes here are for: bean and prune soup, bean salad, beans and cabbage, mashed beans. By Juhász Katalin.

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Part 2 – Collecting traditional music and dance in Turkmenistan. In April 2011 Hungarian ethnomusicologist Sipos János set out from the capital of Turkmenistan for his goal: villages in Balkan Province in the western part of the country along the Caspian Sea. He spent several weeks in this desert region and collected 400 melodies, 20 hours of video, with information on the region and customs – from 16 villages and 150 informants. Sipos’ field research along with other publications acquired on his trip provide a good basis for a detailed description of the traditional music of the Yomud tribe. He is already planning his next trip there to do more field work.

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Listing of 2012 summer camps and workshops in Hungary and surrounding countries.

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Conversation with singer Herczku Ágnes. Upon release of her second solo record, Tüzek viszek, Ági talks about her work, her career, the meaning of folk music in her life and modern life. “...Hungarian folk music fundamentally changed my life and my perceptions and that’s why I am involved and work with it. But at the same time, I have to accept the fact that it leaves some people totally cold...” By Rónai András – appeared at quart.hu on Februrary 24, 2012.

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Two folk tales: Kóka Rozália’s children’s column. The Happy Man’s Shirt – A tale from Somogy County. And a gypsy folk tale collected by Vekerdi József.

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New CD: Arany János daloskönyve [Arany János’ Songbook]. From the poet’s collection of songs. Dsupin Pál: voice, flutes, bagpipe, etc.; Csergő-Herczeg László: voice, guitar, hurdy-gurdy; Tinódi Public School Chorus – Eger. Produced and released by Dsupin Pál, 2012.

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Hortobágyi Gyöngyvér’s account of her own life as a professional folk dancer in Hungary starting in the early years of the dance house movement, through the various changes Hungary has seen from the 1970s to the present. Gyöngyvér is now head of the department of folk dance at the Hungarian Academy of Dance, the same place where she completed her dance studies in 1979. She danced in the State Folk Dance Ensemble for 10 years, then worked at the Hungarian Institute of Culture organizing courses for folk dance teachers, also taught college courses for primary school teachers on teaching folk dance, and directed an amateur dance ensemble. The next phase of her career was working as assistant to Novák Ferenc, director of the professional folk dance theatre the Honvéd Ensemble. Coming full circle, she is now back at the Dance Academy. By Grozdits Károly.

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Part II – the story of Bogdán Klára’s life – a Hungarian woman born in the village of Magyarfalu (Arini) in Moldavia in 1949. As told to Kóka Rozália – part of her series on the lives of Hungarian women.

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Orbán Balázs: (1830–1890) writer, ethnographer, baron from the Székely village of Lengyelfalva (Poloniţa) in Transylvania. In celebration the 140th anniversary of this revered Hungarian’s election to the Hungarian House of Parliament and 125th anniversary of when he became member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, on April 28th, 2012 a plaque in his honour was unveiled at the Calvinist Church in Budapest’s Kálvin square. Following the unveiling, lectures were given in the church remembering his life and work. Excerpts of the lectures are printed here. By Balázsi László.

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Report on the 2012 Spring gala program of the Muharay Elemér Folkarts Association held on March 17 at the MOM Cultural Center in Budapest, featuring tradition preserving dance groups from communities in Western Hungary. By Antal László.

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Hungarian folk kitchen: Edible roots, greens, nuts, mushrooms, fruits found in Hungarian forests and meadowlands. Some of the edible things found in the forest are common in Hungarian cuisine today: various wild mushrooms, chestnuts, sorrel and other greens. Other things mentioned here are more obscure and were eaten by shepherds or others whose traditional occupations caused them to spend considerable time in the wilds. Recipes are for wild pear soup and fruit vinegar. By Juhász Katalin.

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Part I – A discussion of the various artistic directions of the Hungarian folk dance movement. Begins with some background on folk movements that led to the 1970s, then discusses the “pure source”, and differentiates between folk dance choreographies that stress authentic presentation of folk dance and choreographies that use folk dance as a basis but (for example) use other creative ideas to tell a story. An essay written by choreographer Novák Ferenc in 1979.

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A report on the 25th Zala Folk Dance Festival for small, so-called “chamber”, dance groups. First prize for authentic choregraphy went to Varga János for his Gyimesbükk Dances danced by the Zalai Dance Ensemble. First prize for a folk dance theatre choreography went to Mr and Mrs Dudás Dániel for their piece danced by the Jászság Folk Dance Ensemble. Report by Kutszegi Csaba.

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Traditional Dances of Hungary’s Békés County. Research and collection work on the dance culture of Békés County began after WW II. A new wave of collection work and research is underway. Dances were documented on film in various communities in the region between 1948 and 1957. Present research is aimed towards publication of a monograph on the dances and popularizing local dances in schools in the region. The project is supported by the National Cultural Fund, Békés County and the Békés County Folk Dancers Association. Report by Mahovics Tamás (includes list of sources).

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Beliefs and Superstitions of Szék (Sic), Transylvania. Another selection from the writings of Kocsis Rózsi (born in Szék 1932/died 1999), published by Juhos Kiss Sándor, Juhos-Kiss János.

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In the spring of 2012 a new center for local culture and ethnography opened in the town of Várasfenes/Finiş located in Western Romania’s Bihor County. The center is named after the Hungarian ethnographer Györffy István who did extensive and groundbreaking research in the region 100 years ago. An exhibition of 100 of Györffy’s archival photographs was organized in celebration of the event. Report by Gebauer Hanga.

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Erdélyi Tibor celebrates his 80th birthday. Erdélyi grew up in the village of Uszka, up in the northeastern corner of Hungary. He moved to Budapest at the age of 16. Accompanying a dance group on his zither, he also started dancing with the group, and in 1951 was discovered by director of the State Folk Ensemble, Rábai Miklós who invited him to join the Ensemble. Erdélyi has been soloist in the State Ensemble, leader of the Duna, Vadrózsa and Tisza Ensembles. He has taught dance, choreographed, is also well-known for his wood carvings and holds numerous state awards in recognition of his artistry in all these areas. Congratulatory speech by Mihályi Gábor (current artistic director of the State Folkdance Ensemble).

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Dances of the Sóvidék region (Székelyföld, Transylvania). Lőrincz Lajos – former director of the Maros Dance Ensemble (the National Székely Folk Ensemble) and also native of the village of Korond – gives a beautiful description of the dancing in his village – mentioning not only steps, figures, posture, improvisation and relationship to the music, but the local customs, village people, various age groups, the relationships between people and much more. As told to Sebő Ferenc.

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Message to the past
In the form of a letter to the Transylvanian village musicians that have already passed away, this is a report on the 7th Meeting of Transylvanian Dance House Musicians. It was held on May 17–20, 2012 at the village skanzen (museum) in Borospataka in the Gyimes Valley, Eastern Transylvania. By Szász Lőrinc of the Üsztürü Band.

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On the village of Tavankút/Tavankut, located in the northern Bácska region of Vojvodina in Serbia, and the culture of the Bunyevác ethnic group that still lives there.Report following a dance workshop there attended by Szávai József.

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Part II of Artistic directions of the Hungarian folk dance movement – Continues with an engaging discussion of folk dance choreography that draws on the “pure source” or those two categories Novák refers to as “dramatic” dances and “symphonic” folk dance choreographies. “Our choreographers (...) never wanted to resign themselves to having folk dance serve merely as a curiosity to indulge (...) tourists”. An essay by choreographer Novák Ferenc – published in 1979.

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Traditional houses of Rajasthan
The Rajasthani Langa musicians live in the Thar Desert in northwestern India. This is a description of the traditional houses there. The houses are made of mud and are used primarily for cooking and sleeping. Photos and descriptions by Ábrahám Judit.

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The life story of Cseresnyés Magdolna whose parents were Hungarians from the town of Verbász/Vrbas, today in the Vojvodina region of Serbia. Her grandfather was one of more than 300 Hungarians that were executed there in 1944–45. Kóka Rozália’s series on fates of Hungarian women.

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Village Cain. This story is prefaced by a quote from the bible: Genesis 4, 10.– 11: “And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand.” Grozdits Károly

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“New Style” Folk Songs. An academic article that briefly discusses what Hungarian folk music researchers refer to as “old style” Hungarian folk songs, then goes on to describe the “new style” folk songs, their development, structure and two locations in Transylvania where the new style caught on later. Definitions of these two categories of folk song were developed by Bartók in the first half of the 20th century and based on his folk music research. In past years the focus of Hungarian folk music research has been mainly on the old style songs. Includes resources. By Almási István.

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List of dance houses, courses, folk clubs for the 2012–2013 season.

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Traditional Hungarian Foods. Three foods described in 1908 by Count Zichy István (1879–1951) on a trip to the herds in Bugac Puszta (Central Hungary): tarhó – a kind of yoghurt made usually from cow’s milk and eaten for breakfast by the herders; lebbencs is pasta made in flat sheets then broken, rather than cut, into smaller leaves. It is often used in soups. Kása is a polenta-like dish made with barley, millet, wheat, buckwheat or corn – depending on what was customary in the region. It was eaten either as a side-dish with meat, or as a main dish. By Juhász Katalin.

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When young men in Szék were called into the military... Kocsis Rózsi, born in Szék/Sic on August 7, 1932, remembers the events leading up to the moment when boys her age left for the army, how they looked, what they wore, what they sang, how they sounded, how they danced, what people said and how she felt... From her memoires in celebration of the 80th anniversary of her birth.

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Once upon a time there was the TÉKA News – remembering back to when and why they started the so-called Téka News. Forerunner to folkMAGazin, the Téka Újság was Budapest’s dance house movement periodical in the 1980s – a time when each issue had to be approved by the state censors. By Beszprémy Kata.

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Széll Jenő’s (1912–1994) memories of Hungary’s brilliant folk dance researcher Martin György (1932–1983). Széll, who had known Martin since 1951, describes Martin’s brilliant work in folk dance research, his affable and humble personality and the fact that Martin’s death was an incredible loss to international dance research. Appeared in Téka Újság 4. Budapest. 1985.

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Practical considerations in preparing music for Hungarian folk dance choreographies. 1.) Be careful in choosing melodies – know the difference between the real folk tunes and folk-like composed tunes; 2.) Be careful to use full melodies. Melodies recorded from traditional musicians are sometimes just fragments of melodies....; 3.) For choreographies that include singing by the dancers, be careful to choose keys that are comfortable for the men singers and comfortable for the women singers. Be careful of key changes in the music for a choreography; 4.) Consider the decorative interludes traditionally used in the music; 5.) The tempo of the music and the dance is an important aspect... By Árendás Péter – folk music instructor – Liszt Academy of Music.

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Szék Village Museum and dance house – Csipkeszeg 349. [Sic, Romania]. Dutch resident of Szék, Michel van Langeveld, took on the project of restoring an old house in this famous Transylvanian village. The restored house is a museum and dance house which opened in August 2012 with a permanent exhibition of Korniss Péter’s photographs of Szék. Choreographer Novák Ferenc opened the exhibition and museum on August 25th; his speech is printed here.

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The BorFolk Band – Four wellknown and well-seasoned folk musicians from the revival movement have gathered into this formation to concentrate on authentic style folk tunes and songs on their favourite theme: wine. This summer Borfolk Band released a CD: Kell ilyen bor! [We need this kind of wine!]. Members of the band: Szűcs Sándor, Olasz György, Kovács Géza, Nagymarosy András. Conversation with Nagymarosy András by Grozdits Károly.

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Announcement: new publication. Bolya Mátyás: Magyar citerás antológia II. [Hungarian Zither Anthology II.]. Available at www.dialekton.hu, and at A.Folk and Rózsavölgyi (stores) in Budapest. Bolya is both an active professional musician and an employee of the Folk Music Archive at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The volume (and recording) is meant for use as a resource for musicians, music teachers and students. It is a collection of traditional zither tunes collected in three areas of Hungary between the years 1916 and 1995.

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Lifestory of Mrs. Nyeste Zoltán (Bolyky Magda) – excerpts. Mrs. Nyeste’s husband, a Hungarian military officer who sympathized neither with the Nazis, nor the Communists, was one of those who was suddenly arrested by the Hungarian State Security Services (the „ÁVO”) in the dark period following WWII. This is an account of what it cost a wife to find her husband at all, and then to be able to see him. As told to Kóka Rozália – part of her series on the lives of Hungarian women.

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The ETNOFOLK Project has been established to develop a website that will make information on folk traditions of Central Europe available to the public. The project combines eff orts of: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Austria and Hungary; and five scientific institutions: Czech Academy of Sciences, Mátyás Bél University, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, with AiP Beroun s.r.o. The project began work in May 2011 and will finish in spring 2014. The severallanguage website is to be launched in spring 2014.

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Hungarian cultural anthropologist Vargyas Gábor turns sixty. Honoring this revered professor and researcher (main area of research: Southeast Asia), a volume of writings by his colleagues and students has been published (L’Harmattan, Budapest. 2012). Printed here is the volume’s introduction, summarizing Vargyas Gábor’s impact on this discipline in Hungary. He quotes Vargyas on the fate of an anthropologist: „...As he gets to know, understand and love another culture, he changes and realizes the relativity of values”. By Dr. Nagy Zoltán associate professor – Department of Ethnography and Cultural Anthrology, University of Pécs.

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Book review: Erdélyi magyar népművészek [Transylvanian Hungarian Folk Artists]. Ed: Szatmári Ferenc. Association of Romanian Hungarian Folk Artists. Csíkszereda [Miercurea Ciuc, Romania]. 2012. Available at the Hungarian Heritage House in Budapest. This is a beautiful presentation of 103 active Transylvanian folk artists and their work. Review by Halász Péter.

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Stories of Szék – Kocsis Rózsi (born Szék/Sic, Romania 1932 – died 1999), published by Juhos Kiss Sándor, Juhos-Kiss János. Rózsi remembers back to her childhood and practicing dancing in a barn with her friends.

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The Sebő Klub in Budapest’s 14th district was a key site of the early dance house movement. This is a conversation from 1976 with Selmeczi Olga the director of the small recreation center – the Kassák Klub – where the Sebő band’s dance house was held until sometime in the 1980s. This interview provides history on the beginning of the dance house movement, information on atmosphere of the time and the venue, and mentions Budapest intellectuals and artists that were key figures. By ethnographic researcher Hála József.

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Csányi Mátyás was the bass player of the band from Szászcsávás (Ciavaşu săsesc), a traditional Transylvanian village band well-known and embraced in dance house circles. This is a story about a time when Csányi Mátyás, who had been to Budapest countless times to play with the band, came to Budapest to play instead with some other musicians in a completely different style and in different attire. The writer here is aghast with the ‘modern Mátyás’ and his change of style and the lack of cohesion in the music – cohesion being one of the things that makes the traditional band from ‘Csávás’ so amazing. When playing with the traditional band Csányi’s music “…. ran through every particle of him, then resonated in his spirit, into his arms and arrived to his instrument with a blasting double-bass sound…He was inseparable from, and one with the music of the band…” By Szász Lőrinc.

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New publication: Molnár Zoltán: Fényerdők – Forests of Light. Budapest. 2012. ISBN 978 963 08 4729 2. Album of stunning photography by Molnár Zoltán – photos taken in Transylvania and Moldavia between 1996 and 2012.

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More on the history of the TÉKA news. The editor tells the story of this dance house movement magazine of the 1980s – from the beginning to the end. One of the main reasons it didn’t survive was that they weren’t able to break into the book distribution network, and therefore there was no way to get national distribution for the periodical. Téka újság was a ’labor of love’ since neither the contributors, nor the publication staff were paid. The printing expenses for the magazine were funded through sales of previous issues and inevitably also by the Téka Ensemble. Selfinterview by Téka újság editor and painter –
Molnár János.

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Like quicksilver... Memories of Martin György (1932–1983), Hungary’s brilliant, prolific folk dance researcher. Martin’s dancing and quality of movement is likened here to ’devil’s quicksilver’. This unique, giving, inspiring personality’s life was too short. Here described are three collection trips Martin organized – together with students of his – during the last three months of his life: to the Gorale people in the Polish Tatra Mountains, and to Inaktelke (Inucu) and Györgyfalva (Gheorghieni) in Transylvania. By Zsuráfszki Zoltán – dancer, choreographer, artistic director of the Honvéd Ensemble (appeared first in May 1992 in Téka újság, Budapest).

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New CD: Bárdosi Ildikó: Megjövendölve volt régen. Produced by: Dsupin Pál 2012 (DP4) A collection of traditional songs from all over the Hungarian language region for the Christmas season – including songs for advent, carolling, Christmas, seasonal name-day greetings, bidding farewell to the old, and welcoming the New Year. Announcements by Bárdosi Ildikó.

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CD recommendation. Oj, gajdašu... The Misina Band with guests: The Jasen Trio, Mohács Sokadija Band, Horváth Zsombor. Artistic direction: Csonka-Takács Eszter. Released by the City of Mohács, 2012. Sokác and Serbian music for a host of local customs, holidays and celebrations. Highly recommended by Eredics Gábor – director of the Vujicsics Band and teacher at the Folk Music Department of the Liszt Academy of Music.

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Girls’ spinning parties in Szék (Sic), Transylvania. Girls who had already been confirmed could go to the winter spinnning parties held every night of the week at a house in the village. A fee was paid ’in kind’ (beans, flax, helping the hostess) to the owner of the house where the spinning bees were held and money was pooled for lamp oil. Once married, a girl no longer went to these girls’ spinning parties. This writing has a wealth of information on flirtation, courtship, games, rhymes related to this custom. Another selection from the writings of Kocsis Rózsi (born in Szék 1932/died 1999), published by Juhos Kiss Sándor, Juhos-Kiss János.

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Traditional Hungarian Cuisine: Christmas Kalács is a sweet yeast-leavened egg bread – like the Jewish challah, or sometimes called brioche or milk-loaf in English. Traditionally Hungarians make kalács at Christmas, Easter, for weddings and other big celebrations. It is often a braided loaf and may have raisins or candied fruit in it. This article provides us with some history and regional differences, along with choreographer Foltin Jolán’s famous kalács recipe. By Juhász Katalin.

[Matyó Heritage and Falconry on Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Folk art of the Matyó, embroidery of a traditional community and Falconry, a living human heritage was added to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity at the 7th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, 5–6 December 2012, Paris.]

Sue Foy