The Bartók Dance Ensemble was established in 1958. Our ensemble looks upon Béla Bartók and György Martin in collecting, refining and spreading folk music and dance traditions; we even try to follow the workmanship of these two outstanding personalities of Hungarian culture and folk culture.
Our music and dance repertoire concludes the folklore tradition of the whole Carpathian basin. We perform and introduce the different Hungarian and ethnic dances, dance customs of each ethnological region, always striving for an authentic appearance on stage. Our costume collection is composed of “made to measure” pieces and original ones. Our costume collection is always in accordance with our repertoire; thus always growing.
The dances are always accompanied by live music. Responding to various invitations, we hold up to 50 performances yearly, under both indoor and outdoor circumstances. Our most complete performance is a non-stop folklore programme consisting of two parts.
The ensemble also takes part in Hungarian professional programmes and presentations regularly. Besides the work inside the ensemble, our members try to get to know the dance traditions that can still be found, in order to keep them up in the everyday life of their own community. We therefore organise a „dance-house” weekly, where we introduce and teach these traditions to all those interested.
We also put a big emphasis on recruitment; besides our adult group, we have a pre-school, children’s and teenager’s division. We have 100 to 120 constant members working with professional instructors and choreographers.
The Bartók Dance Ensemble has won several prizes at numerous national and international festivals. Last year we celebrated our 50th anniversary. With a selection of the earliest and newest choreographies, our jubilee performance gave an overall picture of the ensemble’s activities from the early days until now.
We have been functioning as a self-sufficient ensemble since 1991, existing from financial applications and civilian support. We are located in the first district of Budapest; our home stage is the elegant Budavár Cultural Hall.
Contact
For general information including performances, please contact:
Miklós TESZÁRY: info@bartoktancegyuttes.hu tel.: 0630/3782977
