In recent weeks, the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble has shared a remarkable and unique point of view over their social media accounts. The structure of the videos show archive footage and newly recorded routines under lockdown next to each other, on a shared screen. They wrote: “We would like to show our favourite recordings: how we reached certain moves under a certain influence.” We asked Gábor Mihályi, Ensemble Director of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, about dance, traditions, and the survival of past and present times.
As Ensemble Director and the Head of the Hungarian Society of Dance Artists, being also an active performer, how do You approach the diversity of dance? Is it a field issue, a cultural matter, or a multi-disciplinary question?
As there are so many disciplines, culture plays a crucial role in them. Dance art has a specific way of telling a story, as non-verbal expression can easily become international, just like music, literature or theatre. As Head of the Hungarian Society of Dance Artists, every discipline is important and worth supporting, and I appreciate each and every artist, whether they are dancers or creators. Naturally, given my career path, folk dance, other dances and disciplines inspired by traditions are closer to me. Not only the Hungarian folk traditions of the Carpathians, but it is important that these disciplines stem from tradition in one way or another. Meanwhile, I can also appreciate a more urban and individual field just as much. The bottom line is: dances need to be near perfect. Whatever the thought, the spectacle, the “magic” - if the dancer isn’t ready to shine, there would be no sparkles, as László Nagy would say.
The spectacles of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble do not only display elements of folk dance, but also those of other disciplines, including music and routines shown in the performances. Does this diversity contribute to perfection, or is it about showing the true power behind dancing?
Since I have led the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble for more than two decades, I can see that this period led, among other things, to a creation of a very diverse repertoire. Naturally, apart from showing clear references to tradition on stage, there are also more philosophical, more abstract performances as well. It is complemented by the fact that the rural culture gets a new meaning, or that the performance is inspired by elements from other related disciplines of dance arts. It’s partly because of my inner motivation to express myself in a colourful and broad space of thoughts and movement; beyond that, I also find that it meets the needs and interest of the audience, too. The audience is not uniform. There are people who incline towards a certain discipline, while others enjoy a different style. The Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, as one of the leading representative of Hungarian folk dance tradition, has to target the largest audience possible. Whether we may speak of the aforementioned interest, or if we take a close look at generations, we can see that young people see the world in a completely different way. I’m not saying we have to follow his or her view, but we shall try to adjust to it, in order to meet them halfway. It is extremely important to get them visit the institute, and establish their spiritual or cognitive connection with traditions. From their point of view, traditions represent something else: something more contemporary and more up to speed; therefore, we try to introduce modern, fast-paced elements on stage.
Have You ever spent so much time away from the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble before?
Not yet; it is a unique and very unfortunate situation. Every community is suffering a lot in these times. Our inner circle, that is, the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, but also the wider audience, our followers find it difficult, as the magic behind live connections and performances have ceased to exist for the time being. That’s why we try and attempt to meet through other channels, for instance, in writing or mostly over the Internet, to try and rekindle the magic of getting together, even if it has to be across the screen and the not-so-ideal world of virtual reality.
The most recent videos show archive footage, that is, collections. What’s considered archive footage, how do dancers take inspiration from those?
I believe - and I think I’m right to do so - that if someone wishes to have a great command of Hungarian, whether he may be a poet, a writer or an actor, he needs to explore the depths of the language. Dance is our language, and the world we offer to explore is the universe of rural tradition. Unfortunately, rural societies we got the chance to learn from have already disappeared; options of meeting in person are very limited, and so archive footage is the library that gives us a wealth of valuable lessons. We owe a lot to our elders, who have produced mute and motion pictures already during WW2. After the war, there was such a scientific and world-class collection effort here in the Carpathian Basin, led by György Martin, that connected distances of thousand miles and more.
As my dancers, including myself, would like to learn this language, it is natural that we turn to archive footage, as it is a great starting point. While that serves as a source for our performances - including on-stage spectacles -, this peculiar situation of lockdown gives us a chance to dive deep into these memories of the past. What’s our favourite dance? Who’s our favourite storyteller, who might appear in this world through us, dancers? As that’s what happens: past and present dance together on stage.
Performance arts are unique because they present a process of instant and volatile moments. Is it even possible or desirable to copy the moves of dancers, or is such footage more of a way to pay respect to others?
Definitely a way of paying respect. To my knowledge, composers studying at the academy have to learn the art of composing from the Middle Ages, Baroque, Renaissance and Classicism, even though they don’t have to make Baroque or Classical music here in the 21st century. This stems from the nature of tradition: there would never be a dance that is the same twice, as it is always influenced by the venue and the feeling of the moment. Dances of folk artists are different when being recorded by a film crew from Budapest, and yet again different at, let’s say, the wedding of his daughter. The starting point is to learn about the dance as much as possible. The structure, the characteristics of the routine, the chemistry between the man and the woman. But everyone has to dance it out in their own style, which resembles the original, but also carries the individual footprint of the dancer and the storyteller. I think that it is natural for the Hungarian folk dance community to return to these roots for inspiration and knowledge; these recordings are essential in that regard. One could perhaps argue that these points of view run parallel, which is - in my opinion - a phenomenon in itself not only for the professional field, but also for a wider audience, possessing the feeling and interest for learning a little bit more about traditional culture.
Was there a topic when making these recordings? If so, what was it about?
There were two parallel storylines, and both of them unravel gradually. One storyline focused on the dances of Golden Spur (Aranysarkantyús) and Golden Pearl (Arangyöngyös) dancers. Those are the members of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble that have received awards of Golden Spur (Aranysarkantyú) and Golden Pearl (Aranygyöngyös) for gentleman and ladies respectively at the Solo Dance Festival in Békéscsaba; some of them earning eternal awards as three-time laureates. They constitute the first sphere. And then there is a second sphere which is not related to this competition, but stems from an emotional background. Everybody selected their favourite collection to be presented to the audience.
As of now, we have no idea when that might happen; should we be optimistic while thinking about the future, what will be Hungarian State Folk Ensemble put on stage once the Hungarian Heritage House opens its doors again?
First of all, we have tons of debt that we have to repay, as we are unable to operate our permanent passes; we would like to perform as much from our repertoire as possible to the holders of these passes, as well as the wider audience. Here in our institute, or anywhere across the country where we would be invited. Of course, there is a lot of work going on in the background. We are also planning to surprise the audience with a new spectacle, which would have premiered in May; it has been postponed to October. It’s a very unique adaptation of Songbird (Énekes madár), a Transylvanian folk play by Áron Tamási, in which my dancers would not only appear in dance routines, but also show their outstanding skills in singing, drama and acting. Therefore, it is my opinion that though this spectacle will feature strong traditional and, of course, urban beliefs of Tamási, we, the youngsters from the 21st century - including myself, the “youngster” -, shall also make an appearance, showing that tradition comes naturally for us, and also conveying our wider interpretation of traditions. Inspired by the beautiful and magical play by Tamási, celebrating the everlasting superiority of love, we shall put on a dance spectacle about that.
