HUNGARIAN STUDIES 22. No. 1-2. Nemzetközi Magyarságtudományi Társaság, Balassi Intézet. Akadémiai Kiadó Budapest [2008]

2008 / 1-2. sz. - László Diószegi: Historic Moments of Hungarian Folk Dance: From the Gyöngyösbokréta to the Dance House Movement

HStud 22 (2008)1-2, 3- 8 D01: 10.15566/HStud.22.2008.1 2.1 HISTORIC MOMENTS OF HUNGARIAN FOLK DANCE: FROM THE GYÖNGYÖSBOKRÉTA TO THE DANCE HOUSE MOVEMENT LÁSZLÓ DIÓSZEGI Hungarian Dance Academy, Budapest Hungary At the outset of the dance house movement, Sándor Csoóri, a prominent figure of contemporary Hungarian poetry, wrote that there were two outstanding events in the history of Hungarian folk dance. The first was when it got to the stage and the sec­ond when it got off the stage. This article expands on this poetically concise but per­tinent thought, offers a short analyses of the defining periods of Hungarian folk dance, and gives some discussion of its main trends and representatives. Keywords: Dance House, folk dance, staged dance, Hungarian, ethnography, folk music Hungarian folk dancc made its way to the stage relatively late, only in the first half of the 20th century, and it was then that it became widely known and ac­knowledged. This does not mean that isolated attempts to bring it into the lime­light had not been made before, but what is certain is that earlier folk dance had not been known or appreciated by the Hungarian social elite. Certainly, this statement does not go against the fact that at the time of our na­tional culture's genesis, in the 18th and 19th centuries, during the eminent period of Hungary's history, the Reform Era, enlightened members of high society had already turned their interest to the folklore and thus also to the dances of the coun­tryside. However, they were not terribly willing to view village life in its reality, but rather saw it in an imaginary and idealistic way. What they really wanted to show the public was not the alarming reality, but what they wanted to see in the art of the Hungarian people. In fact, it was only in the 20th century that urban citizenry discovered the au­thentic life of the village. The "díszmagyar" raiment, (ceremonial attire) and the "palotás" (a dance of the nobility sensitive to national culture), thought to be tra­ditional Hungarian costume and dance, turned out to have little to do with the gen­uine culture of the Hungarian village. The performances of the Gyöngyösbokréta movement offered the first occa­sion for the public in Budapest to see authentic Hungarian folk dance. This rnovc- 0236-6568/S20.00 © 2008 Akadémiai Kiadó. Budapest

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