Dénes Zoltán is a Hungarian photographer and cinematographer who has been visiting Transylvania and involved in the dance house movement since the mid 1970s. These photographs are from his travels to Transylvania over 40 years.
This Special Issue focuses on photographs which are supported by minimal text and quotes from notable personalities, participants of the dance house movement. The quotes and texts are from: Dénes Zoltán, Sebő Ferenc, Szomjas György, Domokos Pál Péter, Nagy László, Kallós Zoltán, Katona Imre. Also included are excerpts of folk songs from the Transylvanian villages of Magyarózd/Ozd and Visa/Vișea, a poem written for Kallós by poet Lakatos Demeter from Szabófalva/Săbăoani (Moldavia), and a Csángó folk song.


"Kallós’ life bears witness to amazing determination, perserverance and belief in the power of tradition. In his old age he has been able to see the next generations acknowledge the soundness of endeavors. His foundation has become internationally known. The dance house center he built in Válaszút/ Răscruci welcomes hundreds of young people every summer who want to learn, and provides a home and place to learn for Transylvanian Hungarian minority school children. His museum makes it possible for anyone to view the huge collection of folk art objects he accumulated; it also houses his extensive Transylvanian folk music collection. Hungary first knew of him as a collector of Transylvanian Hungarian ballads at the beginning of the 1970s. He was our guide on our first trips to Transylvania and tireless promoter of the traditional instrumental and vocal music of the Mezőség region. He coaxed us over mountains on dirt tracks to traditional village events that were then still a natural part of everyday life. Through him we had experiences we will never forget. At the time we could hardly believe that this world still existed and that we could take part in it. All that one heard back then [in Hungary], was that Bartók and Kodály had already collected everything there was to be found in the villages.” Sebő Ferenc


"In the Transylvanian villages the dance house was the place where the young people went to have fun – there was live music [from the area], they met there to sing and dance on weekends and holidays. Forty years ago some young people from Budapest discovered this music and form of recreation. Folk music and folk dance used like this soon became popular [in Budapest], and even became a movement.
Tradition and contempory come together the dance house – making it a valid answer to one of the basic questions of our time. Collection work and documentation in the field were organic parts of the dance house movement. The city youth went looking for traditional musicians, dancers and singers in villages that for the most part were outside of Hungary’s borders. Their collection work on those trips to the village was only truely accomplished when they were able to become closer acquainted with the people and their life-style.
Dénes Zoltán was one of those who took part in this important process - first as a musician, later as a photographer and cameraman. He has been a constant colleague of important figures of the movement such as: Kallós Zoltán, Sebő Ferenc and Halmos Béla. His photographs bring the village people and culture we were amazed at forty years ago closer again – and become the live connection to a dissapearing past." Szomjas György