43rd National Táncház Festival & Fair • 5–7 April 2024
Issue:
Starting page: 18
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Interview with double bass player Mohácsy Albert ’Berci’. Berci has been a part of the dance house movement for 35 years. He moved to Budapest in 1989 when there were dance houses every night of the week. He describes his life as a professional folk bass player, first with Méta Ensemble, now with Dűvő. He was also a founding member of Heavy Méta and Magyar Vista Social Club – doing Hungarian folk-based rock. He worked at the Hungarian Heritage House for 10 years as a folk publications coordinator and editor. He teaches music, judges at folk competitions and counts himself amongst the fortunate to have been able to meet, learn directly from, and play with some of the master traditional village musicians – many of whom have already passed away. Amongst his comments on the dance house movement: „...[in the 1980s] the whole thing had a sort of ’opposition undertone’– today it’s more of a form of entertainment...now there are folk pubs instead of dance houses...” He wonders what sociologists might say on how „... a mainly intellectual layer of urban [Hungarian]society took 20th century village culture and made it their own – and how the whole thing became a city sub-culture...” by Gőbölös Gábor (amozgastorvenye.blog.hu 2020 May 20.)