Concert night

 There is a saying that Hungarians can be found all over the world. During its tours to several part of the world, the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble had made the experiment of opening the local phone directory and searching for Hungarian names there. There were always at least a few to be found. This might be a reason why the song "I left my sweet Homeland" has become widely popular in Hungarian folk culture. The theme of this night is this heart-wrenching act of saying farewell to the homeland and to loved ones.

Concert night

The "pop" musicians of 19th century were mostly Gypsies. These musicians had the extraordinary talent and skill to play different kind of music, thereby entertaining urban and rural audiences alike.

Being our corporeal "mother tongue," folk dance is one of the bases of our national culture. This production of the Hungarian State Folk Dance Ensemble interprets the traditional forms of folk art and expression in a new way. The audience's attention is directed to our earthly existence and to the heritage of our forefathers through the abstract language of dance.

This performance presents the historical process of the birth and survival of our Hungarian dance heritage, from our most ancient folk customs up to the period of the dance-house movement of the 1970's. Ancient Hungarian life and colorful history come to life, but instead of wars that can be learnt from history books, social gatherings and ancient celebrations are presented.

Several centuries of European culture and history have disappeared in the mists of time and myth...

After Antiquity, waves of great migrations came, followed by centuries of Christianity creating a unified, but still diverse culture in this part of the world.

In a dance-language inherited from our ancestors, this performance tells stories of human emotion, chronicles of magnificent battles between love and death, all through the characteristic colors of Spring (birth), Summer (consummation), Autumn (loss) and Winter (dance macabre).