Three premieres, eight different performances, Folk Dance and Music Festival, performances outside the city, national and international tours, folk dance houses enriched our 2022/2023 season.
Between 20-24 August, our dancers once again took part in 5 performances of the Great Szekler Production "Stephen the King". We performed in front of a total of 13.500 spectators in the Sepsi Arena.
Photo: Toró Attila
Dance Promenade
The production, which evokes past choreographies of previous performances, was presented twice this season. The audience could see the show directed by László Ivácson at the Hungarian Days of the Main Square Festival in Baia Mare and at the IV Festival of Sweet Tastes in Sfântu Gheorghe.
Photo: Kátai Jocó
Change
Our renewed performance with a new cast, entitled "Change" was performed 7 times in the framework of a national and international tour, as well as in Sfântu Gheorghe. We have also performed in Târgu Mures, Reghin, Cluj-Napoca, Tiszakécske, Târgu Mures and Odorheiu Secuiesc, visiting the famous wine-producing regions of Transylvania: the Küküllő and the Aiud area. Through the folk culture of the nationalities living in the area (Hungarian, Romanian, Gypsy), we presented the "life of the vine", the different stages of wine making and the folk customs and festivities connected with these occasions. At the same time, dances, songs and music of famous personalities were recalled.
Photo: Kátai Jocó
World Famous Redever
In September we relaunched our children's performance, The World Famous Redever. During the season, we delighted our youngest audiences 16 times. Besides Sfântu Gheorghe, children could meet Redever, King Gyuri, the princesses, Master Lágyi, Albi and Levente in Odorheiu Secuiesc, Miercurea Nirajului, Cluj Napoca - at the 18th edition of the Folk Dance and Music Festival in Cluj, Orosháza, Lajosmizse and Lunca de Jos.
Photo: Kátai Jocó
On strings
With the performance "On strings" we have been travelling through the folkloric treasures of the most beautiful landscapes of Transylvania through dance and music, around the brass string of our violinist, which gives the title to the show. The songs played on the brass string take us to the lands of Bukovina, Szeklerland, Upper Mures, Mezőség and Kalotaszeg in the language of folk music, dance and folk song.
This season we have presented our folklore show 8 times. During the Szeklerland Days, 13th edition, we took the performance to 4 rural localities and we also presented it in Turda at the Hungarian Days in Turda and in Mediaș during the Diaspora Programme of the Covasna County Council. In November we performed for the audience in Sibiu at the 17th edition of the ARS HUNGARICA festival and in January we visited Suseni.
Photo: Kátai Jocó
Tragedy
Our first premiere of the season took place in December. Directed by Árpád Könczei and based on Imre Madách's drama Tragedy of Man, we presented our dance-theatre production Tragedy on 6 December in the main hall of the Tamási Áron Theatre. The director intended Tragedy to provoke reflection. Using the tools of dance (folk dance, contemporary dance, movement art), he asks questions about the relationship between man and woman, the relationship between the individual and the masses, faith, love, freedom, competition and phalanstery, and tries to find answers.
The most performed show of this season has been presented 20 times: besides Sfântu Gheorghe, it has been staged in Baraolt, Tg. Secuiesc, Arad, Timișoara, Miercurea Ciuc, Reghin and Târgu Mureș.
It was a great honour for us to be invited to the REFLEX5 International Theatre Festival with the Tragedy, where we were able to perform in front of the best in the field on 22 May.
Photo: Kátai Jocó
Treasure of Dances
Since January we have been organising performances of the student production Tánckincs (Treasure of Dances), directed by László Ivácson.
Our show is a fresh and lively interactive ethnographic collection that not only presents the oldest and newest folk dances preserved by the Hungarian people, but also addresses the origins of these dances, the reasons for their development and changes from one level to another.
We invited the students to an exciting game, where they could join the virtual walk through the museum with their smartphones. We presented 13 performances organised this season in Sfântu Gheorghe and Tg. Secuiesc.
Photo: Kátai Jocó
We will live free
The second premiere of the season took place in April: the folklore performance "We Will Live Free", directed by László Ivácson, which pays homage to the person and work of Sándor Petőfi.
The production is based on Petőfi's ties to Transylvania. The performance presents the poet, who was born in the lowlands, and his relationship with the people of Szeklerland, the changing moods of the years 1848-1949, the enthusiasm and compassion that arose from the current events. Petőfi everywhere proclaimed his republican principles and was steadfast in stoking the fires of revolution. His nationalist poems are excellent pieces of patriotic Hungarian lyricism, conveying the message that it is not enough to love one's homeland, but it is necessary to recreate it by fighting for freedom.
This season we have staged the show 11 times, and apart from Sfântu Gheorghe we have performed it in several rural towns: in Joseni, Ciucsângeorgiu, Covasna and Târgu Secuiesc.
Photo: Kátai Jocó
Home in the Homeland
We ended the 2022/2023 season with a new folk show. Directed by Máté Módos and Csilla Módosné Almási Berta Berta, the performance entitled Home in the Homeland premiered on 16 and 18 June in Sfântu Gheorghe.
The two young guest choreographers from Hungary took the audience on a journey through ethnographic landscapes different from the usual ones. The authentic dances and costumes of different regions of historical Hungary were on display in this production. The audience could also see dances from Somogy, pair jumping, glass dance, Rimóc dance, Visk dance and waltz, dances from Bucovina, Nagypalád and verbunk from Szeghalom.
We have presented our folklore show 4 times to the audience in Sfântu Gheorghe, and on 20 June we ended the season with this production.
Photo: Kátai Jocó
Folk Dance and Music Festival, ed. 32.
After a break of two years, the Folk Dance and Music Festival took place again on 11-12 November 2022 in Sfântu Gheorghe. The event, jointly organised by the Háromszék Dance Ensemble and the Lajtha László Foundation, took place last year for the 32nd time.
The main programme of the festival in 2022 was again hosted in the Sepsi Arena on the 12th of November, where we were waiting all ages with rich and interesting programmes. Several generations of folk dancers and folk musicians performed in a gala programme. The 8th Lad's Dance Competition from Szeklerland was held, as well as the Aurora Folkglamour costume show, dance and singing lessons, film screenings, instrumental demonstrations, a photo corner and a photo exhibition. There were exciting concerts, including a folk music concert, and a concert by Julcsi Paár and her band. In the morning, 14 children's folk dance groups and nearly 400 young people performed on the main stage of the Arena. The Danube Art Ensemble was the special guest of the event. The company presented two performances to the audience of Sfântu Gheorghe: on Friday they presented the production "Seven Towers" at the Tamási Áron Theatre and on Saturday they performed "Our Love, Kalotaszeg" on the main stage of the Arena. The 2022 edition of the festival attracted nearly 3000 visitors.
This year, on 10-11 November we are looking forward to welcoming the public to our 33rd event!
Photo: Kátai Jocó
Folk Dance House
Together with Lajtha László Foundation we organized the folk dance house every month in Sfântu Gheorghe. A total of 12 times young folk dance enthusiasts gathered to learn new dances and have fun to the music of the Folker ensemble and the Heveder band.
In the 2022/2023 Folk Dance House season, our excellent dance artists took turns hosting our events, offering lively and exciting programmes, dance and singing lessons for those interested in folk music and folk dance.
After 81 performances, we are taking a break, see you in August!
