About us

„Dan­cing is not only the art of the rational think­ing, but also the art of liv­ing and breath­ing with all our being. It is an excep­tional les­son for non­vi­ol­ence. It teaches us to con­trol and dir­ect the power and strength of our sub­con­scious.”
Mireille Négre

The Három­szék Folk-​Dance Ensemble was foun­ded in 1990 in Sfantu Gheorghe (Sepsiszent­györgy), Romania. Financed from the state budget till 1999, it is now suppor­ted by the local author­ity. With its 70,000 inhab­it­ants Sfantu Gheorghe is the centre of Covasna county. 70% of the pop­u­la­tion is Hun­garian. This town is an import­ant cul­tural centre of this region of Transylvania, also called “the land of Székelys”. Apart from two pro­fessional theaters (Tamási Áron and Andrei Mureșañu), the artistic, lit­er­ary and musical activ­it­ies, fol­lowed by all the newspa­pers, magazines and radio sta­tions of the region, are also of great sig­ni­fic­ance. Nearly a dozen build­ings - includ­ing the Szekler National Museum - were designed by Kós Károly, the fam­ous Hun­garian architect.

The aim of the Ensemble is to collect, to preserve and to present the traditional folk music and dances from Transylvania through an original theatrical and dramatic language and form. These performances reveal the contemporary values of folklore and break down the audience’s prejudice about this tradition seen as anachronistic. The Ensemble combines together traditional folk dance and music with modern dance-theatre elements and movements and discovered the great theatrical potentials in different regional rituals, traditions even local historical events.

The Ensemble per­formed for more than 2000 times in every Transylvanian city, often toured in Hun­gary and appeared on stage in Aus­tria, Ger­many, Slov­akia, Switzer­land, Italy, Por­tugal, Poland, United Kingdom and even in the far-​away Novosibirsk.

Another suc­cess in the two big per­form­ances which are organ­ized by the Ensemble together with the Lajtha László Found­a­tion every year. Since 1991 these two insti­tu­tions have hos­ted 30 edi­tions of Folk Dance and Music Meet­ings where the par­ti­cipants may meet those who cul­tiv­ate beliefs and tra­di­tions still exist­ing in the region. A sim­ilar concept under­lines the organ­iz­a­tion of the Gipsy Folklore Camp from Kommandó which has been held every year since 1999, with the aim to present the cul­ture and every­day life of the gypsies.

Manager: Deák Gyula Levente
The Három­szék Dance Ensemble is sus­tained by Cov­asna County Council.