(VOVworld) - Hungarian folk dance probably dates back to the Middle Ages. The dance often draws compliments and praise for its free-style and extraordinary rhythms. Yet in the modern era when young people are crazy for the international pop culture, how can Hungarian folk dance survive?
 |
Members of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble perform a classic Eastern European folk dance
Souce: Three Rivers College |
Sándor Timár, one of the founders of the Hungarian táncház or “dance-house” movement, once said that learning Hungarian folk dance was comparable to learning a foreign language. First you learn words, then phrases, then whole sentences. Once fluent, you can construct sentences in any manner to express yourself.
The most important stylistic feature of Hungarian folk dance is personal improvisation and creativity, which makes it very difficult for scholars to generalise it into rules. The dance typically involves large groups of people at celebrations and village events. Girls dress in tops beautifully embroidered with traditional Kalocsa patterns and large pleated skirts. A small flowery bonnet to cover the hair and a pair of red shoes completes the feminine costume. For the male, the costume is much simple: black vest, black boots, and a white shirt of typical Hungarian cut with Kalocsa style embroidery on the front, collar, and cuffs.
But as is true of many other cultural features around the world, the survival of Hungarian folk dance is under threat from the mass invasion of international pop music and dance culture. Confronting that fact, in 2006 a group of four men in Hungary formed a dance group which they named 4forDance to try to preserve one of the most renowned dance styles in the world by bringing it closer to the younger generation. Kristóf Báráni, a member of the group, joined us for a brief interview after their recent show in Hanoi.
Q: Hello Kristóf Báráni! Thank you so much for joining us on “Cultural Rendezvous” today. Congratulations on your great performance. First of all, can you say a little bit about your group for our listeners?
A: 4ForDance is a Hungarian group. It is a very interesting unique dance group because we mix the traditional Hungarian folk dance with other dance styles such as tap, and hip-hop. This is not the typical authentic Hungarian folk dance. This is dance theatre with a lot of humor.
Q: That sounds really interesting! I hear loud, endless applause each and every time your group dances. Would you mind sharing with me what motivates all of you to dance, or rather, to form this group?
A: Our parents danced and we studied at a special dance high school, the Hungarian dance academy. 10 years ago, we shared a big dream, the 4ForDance group. With this group we wanted to show what the real Hungarian rhythm is, what real Hungarian humor is, and what real Hungarian new style dance is.
 |
4ForDance performed on stage.
Source: Official 4ForDance |
Q: I saw you dance. The men’s dancing involved complicated slapping and footwork not found elsewhere. I wonder if that’s what distinguishes Hungarian folk dance from the dances of neighboring countries, because otherwise they seem very similar to me.
A: Hungarian folk dance is a mixed dance from Central Europe. I think we are really fast. Our legs and our arms use big movements, and there are a lot of voices, a lot of sounds. Those are rhythmic sentences that we use while dancing. They are all very interesting, but I think the dance is like our neighbors’.
Q: As you mentioned, and from the performances I have seen, your dance style is indeed very unique. I can see the Hungarian folk dance, some tap and hip-hop moves that I really enjoy. But what about the reaction of audiences from other countries?
A: I think our style is more modern. It’s very new even in Hungary. The young people like this dance style better. We’ve danced in a lot of countries around the world and I think people everywhere like this dance style.
The 4ForDance group from Hungary
Source: Official 4ForDance
Q: I bet you’ve been travelling a lot to introduce your unique dance moves to people all over the world. Would you mind sharing with us some of your achievements?
A: We danced at a very famous competition in Montreal in 2009. There we won 3 gold medals in the Dance World Cup. We danced in China a few years ago. That was a dance festival. We danced in Australia, we danced in Africa, and we danced in all the countries of Europe.
Q: One final question: What do you think of the Vietnamese audience and Vietnam?
A: It’s the group’s first time in Vietnam, but we think Vietnam is a very interesting country. The people are very nice, very kind. Two days ago we were in Ho Chi Minh City. Now we’re here in Hanoi. Both cities are very beautiful. We love Vietnam.We really hope that this won’t be the last time. We would like to come back again in the future.
Thank you very much for the lovely talk. I hope that 4forDance will continue its success and will keep bringing traditional Hungarian dance closer to the people through its high quality performances.
For more information about Hungarian folk dance and the 4forDance group, please visit 4fordance.hu.