2026

English Table of Contents 2026/1  

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Guests at the Kassák Club – Sebő Ferenc’s column. This article is about the time when Hungarian poet Illyés Gyula came to the dance house at Kassák Club in May 1978. He was interviewed there by Czakó Gábor. Here Sebő relates some of the interview questions and Illyés’ answers interspersed with his own commentary. Illyés had been living in France and Czakó asked if he knew of any movement like Hungary’s dance house movement that was going on in France. Illyés mentions brass bands that existed in every village and amateur folk theatre groups of 4-5 people which performed humorous plays that included folk dance and had the goal of making audiences laugh. Conversation went on to discuss Hungary’s genre of poetry set to music and Tersánszky Jenő’s role in that genre. Sebő and Halmos – alongside their dance house repertoire – also played poetry set to music.

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Ratkó Lujza: Woman’s Roles in Hungarian Folk Dance Tradition – Part 1. This is part one of a lengthy, academic style Hungarian dance ethnography study which originally published in a professional journal. It begins: “Hungarian folk dance holds a special place amongst the folk dance traditions of Europe… with the mixture of ethnic groups in the Carpathian Basin, the characteristic development of the folk culture there, the unique blending of older and newer layers of dance…. an unusually rich dance and music culture has flourished in the Hungarian language area where line and circle dances originating in the Middle Ages live alongside turning couple dances from the Renaissance, and the [so-called] ‘new style’ csárdás of the 18th, 19th centuries….”…..“Amongst the dances that survive, most have been preserved as social dances, or dances with an entertainment function (both couple and solo forms exist); but there are also a number of dances which had a role in ritual such as the circle dances (the women’s karikázó done during lent) and other dances connected to the wedding, May tree/May pole and fire at Saint Ivan’s Day, etc. So, there are secular dances and those once related to ritual, cult, magic or had some other sacred connection.” Following a brief discussion of how couple dances are not necessarily included in the sacred, cult layer of dances because the poles of the male-female relationship represent a more profane level in Hungarian traditional dance, she goes on to give a brief overview of the areas to be discussed at greater length later on within the article: women’s role in Hungarian dance tradition – in the solo dances, the couple dances, and in the women’s circle dance – the karikázó. Published first in: Studies in Dance Research Tánctudományi Tanulmányok 2002–2003 pp 157-177 (2005).

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Poems by Bágyi Bencze Jakab – Literary coulumn by Széki Soós János

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Publication review: Gáll Timea: Kölcsönkért kovász…[Borrowed starter] 2016. Old and new dishes from Csíkmadaras (privately published). A book on the food, cooking traditions and recipes handed down from the author’s family who ran Zsigmond Mill in Csíkmadaras/Mădăraș, Transylvania (RO) which now functions as a guest house. In Hungarian, the book passes on atmosphere through local dialect with information on surroundings, infused with aesthetic, ethnographic and sociological information regarding the old mill and the family that ran it. The reviewer praises Ádám Gyula’s photography whose photos provide the perfect mood for the publication. 230 pages, hardbound. Review by Lokodi Imre.

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The 2026 Moving Picture Photography Award in the ethnographic film category went to Dénes Zoltán – whose work is well-known in many films related to the dance house movement. A Life-Time Achievment Award was given to Papp János (born 1940) whose photography and directorial work for the Hungarian Museum of Ethnography included films on the Hungarian hurdy-gurdy, the Hortobágy hats, the craft of horse-drawn cart making, and many, many more. Announcement by Csorba Judit Dorottya – first published on ethnofoto.neprajz.hu

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New exhibition: Hungarian Museum of Ethnography Feb. 12 – July 5, 2026 – English title: "Uncropped – Fragile Photographic Realities". The exhibit presents photographs from Hungarian countryside photographers and studios of the 1910s. These are photographs made with old “glass plate negatives”. The exhibition presents selected photos from the museum’s vast collection numbering more than 25,000 items. The photographs portray newly recruited soldiers, soldiers with their families and friends, women with their families and themes consistent with the WWI period. Announcement by the Museum.

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Johannes Brahms’ Hungarian Dances: Sources, traditions, parallels, repercussions – from a book by classical music researcher, historian and musicologist, Sziklavári Károly (Hungarian Heritage House, Budapest 2025).

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PUPEK examines the complexities and details of Central Europe. With eight dancers, musicians and performers, it points out, in Milan Kundera’s words, the weary wisdoms and lazy generalizations. We all love our nation, but there have been and are moments when our European identity breaks through the borders of national identity. The piece was presented eleven times at the La Luna Theatre in Avignon, where it achieved outstanding critical and public success. Thanks to the published professional reviews, it received invitations to the Švanda Theatre in Prague, the National Theatre in Bratislava and the Studio Theatre in Warsaw.

Forgive me for having been a bad youth sometimes. I want to live, but now I am needed. So that truth may triumph, so that humanity may prevail, so that lies and hatred may die. By now existence may seem unbearably light and meaningless. Somehow we have managed to crumble into our own destiny, like Kundera’s protagonists. Forgetting renders much of human effort pointless, but our struggle is precisely this. This, the struggle of memory against forgetting, here at the navel of Europe. Please, do not cry! It would be a waste of energy. My message is: without an idea, man does not live, he merely exists.

Programme of House of Music

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Conversation with musician and zither player Helka (Debreczeni-Kis Helga). Helka is her chosen stage name. She is a young musician who successfully connects the world of folk music and tradition with the restless, constantly changing digital times. She has an active online presence with her own website (including English version), Facebook, blog, Tik Tok and so on. She graduated from the Hungarian Academy of Music where her instruments were zither, violin and coboz. Today she performs and teaches music. In 2017 she was a contestant on Hungarian Television’s Páva folk talent contest and says the exposure on the TV talent show gave her career a nice start. When she was 11 years old, she found her first zither on her grandfather’s shelf – it was covered with dust and the strings were rusty. At the beginning of her career, she played strictly traditional folk music. Nowadays she also uses an electric zither and has gone on to do improvisation, arrangements of traditional tunes and her own music – for which she uses looper pedal, reverb, delay, and harmonizing pedals. She plays with the band Új Gereben, has worked with saxophonist Szokolay Balázs Dongó and Békés Banda. Last year released a CD entitled “Tündevény”. Interivew by Grozdits Károly.

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Exhibition announcement – Budapest’s Hungarian Heritage House announces two new exhibitions celebrating 25 years since it’s establishement. The exhibitions shall run between February 5th and November 29th, 2026 at Corvin tér, in Budapest’s 1st district. "Tulip and Sage – gardens, periods in time, folk art" Curated by Dr. Czingel Szilvia. Flowers in the garden, flowers in Hungarian embroidery, memory of flowers. "Soap – a cultural history of Hungarian cleanliness" Curated by Dr. Czingel Szilvia and Keszeg Anna. The exhibition is the result of cooperation between Hungarian Heritage House, Hungarian Museum of Industrial and Folk Arts, and Moholy-Nagy University of the Arts. It presents the culture of cleanliness in the past, along with contemporary problems in sanitation, overconsumption and conservation.

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New film: “Hungarian Wedding/Magyar menyegző” (director: Káel Csaba). Filmed in Hungary and Transylvania, a romantic Hungarian folk dance and music film telling a story set in the end of the 1970s and working with the strength of folk tradition and culture. Its world premiere was at the Tallinn Film Festival fall, 2025; it opened in Hungary January 22, 2026. The director describes the film as a ‘Rom-Com’. Here is printed an interview with “Hungarian Wedding”/”Magyar menyegző” director Káel Csaba. The film is centered around the folk music and dance of Transylvania’s Kalotaszeg region. The director hopes to reach beyond the small sector of those already interested in folk music and dance with a story about youth that any person can relate to. In part he wanted to relay his own experience at a Transylvanian wedding and the life energy he felt there. He describes himself as a film director that is fussy about his work, for example if he’s making a film about music, nothing should get in the way of the music. He also mentions that he wanted to portray the amazing Kalotaszeg traditional costume as an organic part of life, rather than as a museum attraction. When not directing films, Káel is director of Budapest’s Palace of the Arts. By Horváth Bálint – first published Jan 28, 2026 at magyar.film.hu.

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Review of the new film: Hungarian Wedding/Magyar Menyegző – After familiarizing us with the plot of the film the reviewer comments: “In long scenes full of movement, rhythm and many people, Kalotaszeg folk dance comes alive – sometimes without any particular dramaturgical function – at other times developing an important turning point in the story. “Hungarian Wedding” makes its point mainly through dance scenes when director Káel Csaba lets the film breathe, here the story line isn’t rushed, rather we see a rhythmic montage develop through the great choreographies which work even when they don’t necessarily move the story along….”Hungarian Wedding” is a film made mostly to please the Hungarian general public – or it can be recommended to Hungarians just getting to know folk culture, especially if they have foreign friends that are interested in seeing how Hungarians have fun.” By Pauló-Varga Ákos – first published Jan. 22, 2026 at magyar.film.hu.

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New recording: Király Dávid: "Országjáró" – traditional bagpipe music of the Carpathian Basin. Király’s first recording is a result of 15 years of study. He plays 13 arrangements of bagpipe tunes – or compilations of tunes – from today’s Hungary and present day Slovakia. The bagpipe traditionally played in this region is the so-called ‘kontra chanter bagpipe’ known for its double-bored chanter. Most of the cuts on this recording are played on solo bagpipe, though a few are played with accompaniment. The project received funding from the Halmos Béla Program. Announcement by Király Dávid.

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Series – Old writings still interesting and/or relevant today: Kalotaszeg: a cultural concept. By Kós Károly – from “Kalotaszeg” 1912. The Kalotaszeg Region [of Transylvania, today in Romania] is described here as a completely closed area in terms of ethnography; most of which is also closed geographically. "…Kalotaszeg is the most Hungarian, the most intelligent, the most cheerful group where decoration is lush but not garish – like a hillside covered in wildflowers before mowing… Seen from the train the countryside is bleak and bare, with low, rocky, treeless hills…and an occasional steeple-less, old Gothic church surrounded by lilac bushes…. the air is wonderfully clear. It is not possible to live from the land here; they work in nearby factories, or do brick laying, stucco or masonry work, carpentry. They don’t eat too much, but spend a lot on clothing and home decoration. The last large landholder in the region was Count Bánffy whose lands fell prey to land reform… Not many folks from Kalotaszeg joined the waves of people immigrating to America…”

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New publication: The legacy of Csókos Varga Györgyi – edited by M. Nagy Emese published by the Etyek Workshop Foundation, Etyek, Hungary, 2026. The volume is a tribute to the work of artist and craftsperson Csókos Varga Györgyi (1926–2012) upon the 100th anniversary of her birth. Csókos Varga earned her diploma from the Hungarian Academy of Art in Budapest. She and her husband eventually settled in Etyek, Hungary and established a family workshop there. She worked with classical techniques as well as more experimental methods. They followed the modern European movements in art of the time, and later became involved in the folk arts revival that began in Hungary in the early 1970s. Csókos Varga Györgyi’s work in folk traditions influenced Hungary’s ‘Nomád Generation’ movement. Csókos Varga and her husband were involved in creative arts and crafts workshops in Hungary in Tokay, Hajós, Velem and so on. She worked with every imaginable craft and medium – from weaving to mosaic. Anouncement by M. Nagy Emese working under a grant from the Hungarian Academy of Arts.

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14th Nationwide Youth Solo Folk Dance Competition – a summary of the final round of the solo dance competition for youth held on January 17thth in Eger, Hungary with statements by members of the jury. Contestants had to compete successfully first on regional levels in order to be able to continue to the finals where they danced specified compulsory material and a dance of their own choice. Boys aged 15-16 solos compulsory material: Szilágyság cövekelés and zsibai. Couples aged 15-16 years: Szilágyság csárdás and ugrálós. Boys aged 17-18 years solo compulsory material: Szatmár solo Gypsy dance. Couples aged 17-18: Szatmár couple Gypsy dance. 57 dances made it to the finals level of the competition. The jury awarded 15 ‘pearl necklaces’ to outstanding girl dancers and 24 ‘silver buttons’ to outstanding boys. Members of the professional jury were: Demarcsek György, Sikentáncz Szilvester, Fitos Dezső, Kácsor-Ignácz Gabriella, Fundák-Kaszai Lili. The jury members all have extensive background, experience and training as dancers, instructors, ensemble leaders and jury members. The competition was organized by Eger’s Lajtha László Folk Dance and Folk Music Association, the Heritage Children’s Folk Dance Association, Martin György Folk Dance Association, with support from: Csoóri Sándor Program, Hungarian Heritage House, and Assistant Minister Novák Irén. Report by Bécsi Gyula.

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Dance review: On November 12, 2025 Zsuráfszky Zoltán’s Magyar  Nemzeti Táncegyüttes [Hungarian National Dance Ensemble] performed a special evening program looking back on Zsuráfszky’s career and body of work – at the  Nemzeti Táncszínház in Budapest. Choreography was by Zsuráfszky Zoltán and his wife Zsuráfszkyné Vincze Zsuzsa with by Kiss Ferenc, Rossa László, Szarka Tamás. “Zsuráfszky’s evening explored the connections between the art of dance and literature, and brought about, in the meantime, a ‘poetry of movement/body language’…. The danced association to poetry is even more effectual and absorbing than the message of the poetry – with unsaid content appearing in the movement. We were witness to the creative transformation of a form and language within the framework of a retrospective performance.” By Lénárt Gábor from tánckritika.hu.

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New series: Hideg Anna’s folk tales. A native of the village of Ördöngösfüzes/Fizeşu Gherlii, Mezőség region, Transylvania, RO – this year Hideg Anna celebrates her 90th birthday. From Magyar Zoltán‘s book of tales and other stories from Ördöngösfüzes – Mentor Kiadó, Marosvásárhely 2007. This is the tale an old King and Queen’s three sons. They finally had to tell their sons it was time to see the world, find wives and get married. The sons set out, and soon found themselves in the city of the Red King who was said to have a very beautiful daughter. The sons asked the Red King for her hand in marriage. The Red King said, ‘there are three of you; but I have only one daughter!’ He told them to go out for a year and find gifts. ‘The one who brings the most valuable gift can marry my daughter and will get half my kingdom.’ The three sons each set out alone to search for gifts. One son found a spyglass. One found a special cloak which would take a person wherever they wanted to go in a blink of the eye. The youngest son found an orange that could bring the dead back to life. After a year they met at the crossroads. They tried out the spyglass and saw that the beautiful princess had died. They used the special cloak to go quickly to the Red King, the youngest prince used the orange to bring the princess back to life. The princess would marry the youngest son because he brought her back to life. They held a wedding so big that wine flowed on the streets from Hencida to Boncida. The two older brothers were sad because they didn’t have brides. They looked in the spyglass and saw two princesses hurrying to the wedding. They used the magic cloak to go pick up the princesses – daughters of the White King. They all went to the wedding. All’s well that ends well, and three weddings were held at the same time. The sons went to introduce their wives to their parents and everyone lived happily ever after.

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Commemorative Year on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Zoltán Kallós – announcement by Transylvanian Heritage House.

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Hungarian customs for washing dishes to oral hygiene – after several years addressing Hungarian food and tradition, this column now moves on to peasant customs surrounding personal hygiene and household cleanliness. After eating, the next step is cleaning up, including related hygienic practices such as washing hands and brushing teeth. This series (and also a book edited by Juhász Katalin) comes out of a 2006 exhibition at the open air village museum in Szentendre, Hungary. The book publishes studies on tradition, cleanliness and personal hygiene. Covered in this article are: customs for washing dishes, handling left-overs and waste and oral hygiene. By Báti Anikó.