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English Table of Contents 1996/1 
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Kallós Zoltán, the respected and reknowned collector of folk song, music and dance in his native Transsylvania for more than fifty years, has received the esteemed Kossuth Award (Kossuth-díj); Hungary's highest honor for contribution in the arts.
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Our Traditions Novák Ferenc writes about tradition and the significance of history and an open mind. He says „If we are able get to know another culture, then we can see that they are just as rich of a blend (of influences) as we are.....what we see and what we experience is what has filtered in amongst the traditions of a culture through history... As the twentieth century draws to a close, it becomes more and more important (to realize) that each culture enriches all other cultures through its own intelligence and spirituality ... our traditions help us to survive."
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Tálalóba tálalható A report on a sale and exhibit of antique, pine, Hungarian peasant furniture which was held in the Budafok–Tétény Cultural Center. Interview with Knopp János partner of DistriBútor Kft., the furniture restorers whose work was exhibited.
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Asyrnetric Rhythms Sipos János writes about asymetric rhythms in music, giving specific examples from the Turkish folk music which he spent six years collecting.
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Interview with Szántó Ferenc, musician from Magyarbece. This 60 year-old, Hungarian man from Transylvania began playing flute when he was eight. His first fiddle came from a Gypsy man as payment for some work his father had done. Szántó Ferenc, fiddler, flute player, singer, dancer, was in Budapest in December when the Téka Ensemble issued a cassette of this extraordinary man's music. By K. Tóth László.
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From Dance to Dance Review of an exhibition which was on display from January 22 – March 31, 1996 in the Buda Castle Palace. This was an exhibition which documented the Hungarian ballroom dances from 1867 to 1940. In addition to reporting on the content of the exhibit, the author expresses dissatisfaction with choice of theme for the exhibit as sadly overlooking the richness of Hungarian traditional peasant dance and the importance of the unique dance and music movement which has sprung from it. By Kaposi Edit
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The Duda, part II. Karácsony István writes a description of what Hungarian bagpipe looks like, how it works, what it's made of, how to prepare the skin for one and how to put it together. He also talks about the duda and the devil; and why there is a mirror on most Hungarian bagpipes.
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Report on Balkan music and dance festival which was at Almássy Square in late November 1995.
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Information and historical background of the traditional crafts workshop in Magyarlukafa, a small village in Baranya County of southern Hungary. See Article in Hungarian for address and tel. no.
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Announcement for XII National Folkarts Exhibition to be held in Nov. 1996 at the Ethnographic Museum.
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Announcement for a new folk music series to be shown every fourth Sunday on Duna TV. The first program will be broadcast on Easter Sunday (April 7). The second program will be on Sunday, May 2.
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XV. National Dance House Festival and Market. April 7, 1996. Programs, organizing staff, producers, participants.
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The Dance Tradition of Vlach Gypsies in Nagyecsed, By Balázs Gusztáv, 1995. Announcing the publication of this 144 page volume, which is in both Hungarian and English. A significant ethnographic work on the Gypsies of a village in northeastern Hungary. Published by Magyar Néprajzi Társaság (The Hungarian Ethnographic Society), Budapest.
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Announcement for the Student's Arts Festival (dance, folk dance, crafts; performances and demonstrations) to be held on April 27–28, 1996 at theTabán in Budapest's I. district.
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The Téka Ensemble's 20 th Birthday Concert, April 28 th, 7:00 pm, at the Tabán, Budapest I. District.
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Music, dance and handicraft summer camps.
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Világfalu Festival June 20–23, 1996 at the Tabán in Budapest, a festival of folk dance and rnusic performances of other ethnic groups residing in Hungary, Hungarians living outside the borders of Hungary, with traditional and amateur groups from Hungary.
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Vasmalom Ensemble is 15 years old. A history of the ensemble, its various members, forms and work through the years.
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Watch out! Berán István writes about the Protecting the rights of the folk performer.
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A few thoughts on the inescapable, hard-to answer question; But why exactly balkan (music)? By Vitányi Iván Jr. (A Hungarian who plays balkan music).
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Folk Music of the Southern Plain Though there aren't any recordings in existence of such bands, historical information tells us that in the last century and even up the the 1940's; hurdy-gurdy, bagpipe, and clarinet played together at celebrations in the Dél-Alföld. Here Maczik Sándor, clarinetist from Szentes, and Bársony József, hurdy-gurdy player from Tiszaalpár, remember the bagpipe.
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1995 Recipient of the Király Zsiga Award: Borbély Jolán. A tribute to the life and work of this prolific, reknowned and respected ethnographer. By Dr. Bánszky Pál.
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Review of the book published in Bucharest (Kriterion) in 1994 by Balázs Lajos: Az én első tisztességes napom. Hailed as the richest and most extensive monograph of the village wedding, based on twelve years of fieldwork by the author, this book is about the courting and wedding traditions in Csikszentdomokos (a village in Hargitha County of eastern Transylvania, Romania.) By Kaposi Edit.
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Folk Dance Festival in Western Canada A personal account of the preparation of the choreography of a Kalotaszeg wedding which Lévai Péter and his wife Kiss Zsuzsanna did for 250 dancers, as the finale of the festival in early October, 1995 in Calgary, Canada.
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Folk Dance Festival in Western Canada A personal account of the preparation of the choreography of a Kalotaszeg wedding which Lévai Péter and his wife Kiss Zsuzsanna did for 250 dancers, as the finale of the festival in early October, 1995 in Calgary, Canada.
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Review of the new cassette by Bodza Klára and Tátika. By Fehér Anikó.
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Announcement of publication of a book by Balogh Sándor on Hungarian Moldva Csángó melodies. The book is published by the Folk Music School in Óbuda.
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Announcement of the possibility to pre-order a book by Csókos Varga Györgyi on use of the computer in teaching weaving
By Sue Foy
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English Table of Contents 1996/2
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Interview with sculptor, Péterfy László, on how the Mesterségek Ünnepe started ten years ago. On August 20th 1987, the first Festival of Folk Arts was held in the Buda Castle. The tenth one will be held this year in the same place at the same time. By Ledniczky Márton.
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Novák Ferenc muses on the meaning of dance and how those movements in daily life may have evolved into that movement which we have come to know as dance and why.
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Review of this year's „Kaláka Festival". A two day music festival which happens in mid July every year in the castle ruins in Diósgyőr, near Miskolc. This year Hungary's best, performed along with musicians from Finland, Macedonia, Italy, Transylvania and more. By Fogarasi Lajos.
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The prímás from the Mezőség village of Palatka, Kodoba Béla, talks about his life, his music and playing for the various communities in the Palatka area, with particular comments on playing in the village of Magyarkeszü. From an interview by K. Tóth László.
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Review of Ratkó Lujza's book, „ Nem úgy van most, mint vót régen...” about the dance traditions of the Nyírség region of northeastern Hungary. By Bankó András. Forward from the new reprinting of Martin György's book, Magyar Néptánchagyományok (Hungarian Folk Dance Traditions).
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The Téka Ensemble is twenty years old. A history of this band from their christening by Sipos Mihály to their present day thoughts and activities as one of Budapest's most long standing and active táncház bands, committed to the music, their audience and their art. By K. Tóth László.
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Táncház-es and folk clubs
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List of those awarded the Master Craftsman, Outstanding Folk Artists and the „Tree of Life” awards for excellence in folk craftmanship and folk arts, 1996.
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XVI Táncház Festival Th e sixteenth annual Táncháztalálkozó, the biggest Táncház event of the year, is planned for Saturday and Sunday, March 22 and 23, 1997, at the Budapest Sportcsarnok.
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Internet and Táncház, by Berán István Under the address: Népzene, Néptánc, Kézművesség /Folk Music Dance and Handicraft in Hungary (www.tanchaz.hu): One can find information and announcements or communicate with the Táncház Egyesület in either Hungarian or English.
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Szerényi Béla's Hurdy-Gurdy Series – The „Pátria” recordings The Pátria recordings were the first recordings made of hurdy-gurdy music in Hungary. They were made in 1939 as a result of the combined off ort Bartucz Lajos, anthropologist of the Ethnographic museum in Budapest, Csallány Gábor, director of the Szentes Museum and Hungarian Radio in Budapest. The musicians were called together by means of an ad in the Szentes newspaper and they were invited to Budapest to do the recordings.
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Lacemaking Hungary's Queen Beatrix (the Italian wife of King Mátyás) is credited with introducing the art of lacemaking to Hungary some 400 years ago. Although it is well known that the most beautiful laces come from Belgium, Holland and parts of Germany, the laces of Selmecbánya and Körmöcbánya were mentioned as exceptional in the XVII century. Today Gervai Mária (folk artist) is one of the people still practicing this craft in Hungary.
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Review of an amazing Romanian brass band called Fanfara din Zece Prajini. By Bankó András. Comments on other recent recordings by Bankó András.
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Bankó András comments on the Téka ensemle's new CD, „Ha te húzod...” Egyszólam's newest recording, „Fa szülte ágát” of music from Somogy (Southern Hungary) and Gyimes (Eastern Transylvania). Review by Bankó András. „Túl a Tiszán” Szerényi Béla and Friends' recent recording of hurdygurdy (tekerő) and friends. Review by Bankó András.
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Review of the Duna menti Folklorfestival which took place in 1996, in last week of June. It is an international festival which was organized by the three hosting towns, Kalocsa, Szekszárd and Baja, in conjunction with the hosting county, the Folklorefestival Association, the Hungarian chapter of CIOFF, the Hungarian Institute of Culture and European Folklore Center (ECTC). By Dr. Kürti László.
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Review of the Muzsikás and sebestyén Márta tour of the USA in March 96 (in English and Hungarian). By Paula White and Dan Talmo.
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Review of the Muzsikás and sebestyén Márta tour of the USA in March 96 (in English and Hungarian). By Paula White and Dan Talmo.
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Juhász Katalin's thoughts about the role of history in folksong and references to historical people, events and time in folksong, an article inspired by this year's 11:00th anniversary of the arrival of Hungarians to the Carpathian Basin, the Millecentenárium.
By Sue Foy
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English Table of Contents 1996/3
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Fehér Anikó's thoughts about family, being a mother, the Christmas season and the joy of making, giving and recieving gifts.
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Halling Pesovár Ernő on his 70th birthday. For more than 40 years, Ernő Pesovar has been activly researching and writing about Hungarian dance. Dr. Dienes Gedeon's celebratory speech given on November 20th at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences' department of music.
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Announcement of this year's recipients of the Király Zsiga award for contribution in the folk arts: Dr. Bánszky Pál, Mr. and Mrs. Bereczky Kálmán, Galántfi András, Skrabut Éva, Vajda László and the Yurt Building group of Zalaegerszeg and Zala County.
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Novák Ferenc writes about use of folklore in theatre. The ageless stories, characters or themes in folklore have served as the basis for the most famous theatre works of all time. „Any area or branch of folklore, if well used, has a place on the stage today as well."
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Book review by Kaposi Edit. In 1995, a book of Zsigmond Erzsébet's memoirs, was published by the Kriza János Ethnographical Group of Kolozsvár (Cluj) Transylvania. This book, written in Hungarian, gives Zsigmond Erzsébet's personal account of the hardships, as well as the rich social structure and customs which constitute life in a Transylvanian village.
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The Netherlands was the first country invited as guest at the Festival of Folk arts and Crafts on Castle Hill in Budapest in August 1996 on St. Stephens Day. Dutch craftspeople arrived to demonstrate traditional crafts from cheese making to wooden shoes. A very successful start of a new tradition of inviting a different country every year to share in this festival. Report by Gyulay Mária.
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"Living Folk Art 1996” is the name of an exhibit at the Ethnographic Museum (Néprajzi Múzeum) in Budapest. The exhibit will be open until March 1, 1997. This is an exhibit of juried works by the most outstanding folk artists working in Hungary today, covering crafts from weaving to traditional honeycake making. By Beszprémy Katalin
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Announcement of the formation of a three member research group on the Tancház Movement and folklorism. Seminariums have been held during this semester in the folklore department of ELTE BTK. See article for contact persons and addresses. By Juhász Katalin.
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Kóka Rozália writes a description of the fifth annual dance camp in Gyimes (Gyimesközéplok, Transylvania, Romania). In 1996, almost 600 people from all over Transylvania, Hungary, Europe and even from the USA attended the camp. This article includes both personal reflections on the camp as well as quotes from interviews with participants which she conducted during the camp.
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Announcement of publication of a book on the art of Erdélyi Tibor, wood carver. Erdélyi Tibor (b. 1932) is an artist. He danced in the Hungarian State Folkdance Ensemble as soloist for some 25 years, wood carver, choreographer and teacher. By Kaposi Edit.
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The Ministry of Education has requested that a set of goals be written for tekerő (hurdy-gurdy) teaching instruction. Excerpts from the goals written up by Havasréti Pál, folk musician and folk music teacher. Part of the series on the hurdy-gurdy, by Szerényi Béla.
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A short history of braided horse-hair jewelry by horsehair craftsman, Németh György.
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In January of 1996, the „Hungaraton Classic” label released a CD of folk music collected by Bartók Béla on his last trip to Turkey in 1936. by Keresztessy Klára.
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Nagy Balázs gives advice and suggestions on buying and repair of musical instruments, recommending the services of the Hungarian Musical Instrument Association (Magyar Hangszerész Szövetség).
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Juhász Katalin writes about Regölés; a Hungarian custom with ancient roots in myth, orthodox, catholicism and pagan seasonal fertility rites. For a week, starting on Dec 26th, the regös goes from house to house, greeting the people for the holidays and New Year with song, verse and pagentry. In Hungary, the custom, for the most part, survives in people's memories, but it is still practiced as a custom in more remote parts of Transylvania.
By Sue Foy