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The Hungarian State Folk Ensemble (MÁNE) has successfully completed a one-week tour in China, and will return home on Sunday to perform at the Hungarian Heritage House.
The tour started on February 20, and the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble returned home from the Asian country on Tuesday. On Sunday, they will perform together with children’s dance groups from Ghimeș (Gyimes, village in eastern Romania) and Szekszárd (town in southern Hungary).
We performed twice in Beijing and twice in Hebei, northern China, with our Hungarian Rhapsody in front of almost 8,000 people.
A Chinese pianist, Claudia Yang provided some of the music. Three choreographies in the second act came to life thanks to her playing. Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15, and the piano cycle of Dreams of Love were performed, and Béla Bartók’s Allegro Barbaro concluded the piano accompaniment,” said Gábor Mihályi, head of MÁNE.
He said that the aim of the program was to introduce two of the greatest figures of Hungarian classical music to the Chinese audience, in addition to folk dance.
On March 2, the performance series “Under the Common Sky”, which is now in its third season, will be shown again on the stage of the Hungarian Heritage House. The creators of the program, the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble and the “Örökség” National Children and Youth Folk Heritage Association, always give the opportunity to perform in the capital to excellent children’s and youth dance groups from across the border and beyond. The performance “Under the Common Sky” is a conscious talent education, as the soloists of the selected groups can prepare a joint production with the dancers of MÁNE.
“It will be exciting to look at this Ghimeș dance culture, to see how the memories of their parents and grandparents are brought to life on the feet and bodies of young people by dancing.
The performance will be enriched by two youth groups from Szekszárd, presenting the colorful dance and music traditions of Sárköz (region in southern Hungary) and its surroundings,”
Gábor Mihályi added.
Norbert Busai, the professional manager of the Hungarian Heritage House responsible for folk dance, said that the 35th anniversary performance of the “Örökség” National Children and Youth Folk Heritage Association’s Children’s Folk Dance Anthology program, will also take place this week, and one of the highlighted regions will also be Ghimeș. The House of Traditions will host Ghimeș performers from three municipalities: Lunca de Sus (Gyimesfelsőlok), Ghimeș-Făget (Gyimesbükk), and Trei Fântâni (Háromkút, villages in Transylvania).
In the third small Transylvanian village, the dance ensemble is led by Norbert Didici, who previously worked at the Hungarian Dance University and as a member of the Szentendre Dance Ensemble and then of the Dezső Fitos Company, before teaching the forgotten dance skills of his ancestors to the children in Háromkút.
Via MTI; Featured picture: MTI/Bruzák Noémi