44th National Táncház Festival & Fair • 4–6 April 2025
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Starting page: 6
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Interview/conversation with Magyar Kálmán. Kálmán talks about the Pontozó Festival recently held in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and about the American-Hungarian folk dance movement. For decades Kálmán, his wife Magyar Judit, his children and more recently his grandchildren have been key figures, key organizers and inspiration in US Hungarian communities for upholding Hungarian tradition and culture. Kálmán – an articulate, introspective and realistic interviewee – talks about the history of the Pontozó Festival, the Hungarian Symposium, and dance groups in the New Jersey and New York area, discussing camps and events in the USA and his own reasons for his longstanding dedication. He says that "…in America the McDonald’s culture is too strong and it will easily absorb a person’s identity – unless a person makes a conscious effort to maintain it…”. Magyar Kálmán immigrated to the US with his parents at the age of 18. After spending much of his adult life in the USA, some years ago he returned to Hungary where he lives with his family. At the age of 78 he is still an active promoter of Hungarian culture. By Antal-Ferencz Ildikó published May 3rd, 2023 at 777blog.hu