Articles by Initial Letters

A retrospective folk dance performance celebrating the 80th birthday and life work of choreographer Varga Zoltán was held on November 24, 2024 at Budapest’s Hungarian Heritage House. Also celebrating 60 years of work in his field, this portrait program presented a selection of Varga’s best choreographies including: Szegényes, Zempléni karikázó, Héjsza, Keménytelki táncok, Turáni induló, Skandálás, Táncszók, Regölés performed by members of groups he has worked with. Varga Zoltán started in 1964 as a member of Budapest’s Bartók Béla Folk Dance Ensemble; first he was a student of, then assistant to Timár Sándor and Vásárhelyi László. From 1981 for 10 years he directed the Bartók Ensemble, then he went on to develop the folk dance program at the school for the arts in Fót, Hungary. He and his wife Lőrincz Beáta founded and directed the Cédrus Folk Dance Ensemble and established a related school for the arts in Solymár, Hungary. He is known as one of a so-called ’3rd generation’ of Hungarian folk dance choreographers along with Zsuráfszky Zoltán and Farkas Zoltán Batyu. Varga has done extensive folk dance collection work in villages in Hungary, Slovakia and Transylvania and has been dedicated to presentation of authentic folk dance for stage. Varga’s "stage compositions avoid loud, shrill colors and moods; rather they are sensitive, lyrical, and thoughful; his is always a respectful statement of the archival material…containing important personal points of view". Report by M. Nagy Emese.