Dance and Music Material 2019

Dance and Music Material 

The 2019 dance and music material will be from the areas of Magyarpalatka and Magyarbőd

Magyarpalatka

The settlement of Magyarpalatka lies in the central area of the Transylvanian Plain (Mezőség) about 30 kilometres from Cluj (Kolozsvár).  It is close to the highway that connects Kolozsvár and Szászrégen, passing through Vajdakamarás.  It’s one of the music centers of the Inner-Mezőség and the band from Magyarpalatka is nowadays world-famous, passing the mastery of the music from father to son and conserving the authentic sound characteristic of the village.  The village’s inhabitants are mixed, consisting of Hungarians, Romanians, and Roma.

This ethnic mixing or melting together is characteristic of the dances as well.  Within the Hungarian dance movement, the couples’ dancing from within Magyarpalatka is the best known and best loved dance with couples’ turning and with turning of the woman, although, notwithstanding its popularity, many master only superficially its lovely motifs.  The former and present members of the band of Magyarpalatka dance the most familiar motifs, but many beautiful figures can be seen danced by other local dancers in old films.

Characteristic of men’s dancing are the ritka and sűrű magyar (’thin’ and ’thick Hungarian’ dances).  The korcsos (’half-breed’) is a favorite in the dance house.  We often see the Romanian-like bota as well.

The lassú cigánytánc or akasztós (’slow Gypsy dance’ or ’limping’), the csárdás, the szökős (’leaping’), sűrű csárdás (’thick csárdás’) are the most characteristic couples’ dances, but they dance to the korcsos tunes as well.  The dance forms for neighboring settlements are quite similary, say, those of Vajdakamarás and Mezőkeszü, so they become blended together in the world of the dance house.

See the music and dance here

Magyarbőd

Magyarbőd is a settlement in the ethnically Hungarian highlands around Kassa in what is today Slovakia.  The settlement has a rich, living culture that is popular among folk musicians, singers, and dancers.  The Hungarian folk dance movement has been drawn to the wonderful sound characteristic of its songs and to its evocative music and dance.  The folk costumes are as beautiful as the intellectual culture with their aristocratic brocakes, silks, their elegance of form, all radiating richness.

Among the dances that are known, the karikázó (’women’s circle dance’) has a special place and was danced for long duration.  The women combined csárdás steps with lovely songs and let the tempo build up gradually so that the karikázó might last, say, an hour.  In the songs, there occurs frequently the polyphonic ornamentation that is characteristic for this region.

Of course, the couples’ dancing is built of csárdás and friss csárdás (’quick csárdás’) motifs with up accent, elegant figures, varied and dynamic dance forms.