The Dance House movement, emerging in the 1970s, brought a fresh perspective to the Hungarian folk dance scene. It drew younger generations to the traditional rural culture of the Carpathian Basin and transformed centuries-old dance and music into modern community entertainment. The ethos of a "pure source"—an authentic, stylisation-free approach to folklore—transformed both community dance life and the mindset of stage folk dance.
Sándor Timár and the renewal of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble
After Miklós Rábai's death, the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble struggled to find its path forward. During this period of uncertainty, Dezső Lévai—who had collaborated as director-choreographer with Rábai since 1968—assumed artistic leadership.
Létai later recalled this period as:
"Rábai was an artist, a leader and a titan that could not be replaced. After his death, we felt paralysed ... we knew that life shouldn't stop, but we could not move.”
By the end of the 1970s, with interest in renewal growing, the influence of folk dance research and the Dance House movement became more pronounced. These developments led to a consensus that stage folk dance should reconnect with authentic folklore.
This shift gained momentum in 1981, when Minister of Culture Imre Pozsgay appointed Sándor Timár as artistic director of the ensemble. Timár’s mandate was to reshape the company's artistic vision by drawing on the new approach already employed by the Bartók Dance Company.
Underlying this change in leadership was a broader cultural debate. In a conversation that became known as the "Rózsadomb coup," significant intellectuals—such as László Nagy, Sándor Csoóri, and Géza Körtvélyes—urged a move away from the stylised 'folk revue' towards more authentic traditions.
Over more than a decade and a half of the Timár era, the ensemble was fundamentally transformed. This transformation benefited further from György Martin's scholarship on folk dance. Building on these foundations, Timár's choreographies focused on the individualism, diversity, and improvisational character of authentic folk dance.
The difference between the two creative approaches could be described as:
- Miklós Rábai emphasised the dramatised, theatrical effect of folk dance and the ensemble's overall influence.
- Sándor Timár, by contrast, cultivated reverence for original folklore and embraced the personal expressiveness of each dancer.
While Rábai was one of the creators of stage folk dance, Timár brought authentic folk dance language back to the stage, opening a new chapter in the history of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble.
