Petra Varga
I feel lucky because dance provides me the privilege to get an insight into several branches of art. It’s more complicated than it seems. I started to list for myself what forms of arts are included here. Some of my findings: first, we need music to dance. Hungarian folk music is rich in meanings and melody worlds, and there’s so much to understand. Some pieces can even be placed at a literary height.
Sometimes we have themed performances: for example. one of my favorites was the March 15 show the Felvirradt, when we danced to Petőfi Sándor’s “Nemzeti dal” (set to a song). It was incredible how much power it held in itself. Another example is the following.
Búza közé szállt a dalos pacsirta,
hogy ha magát már odafenn kisírta.
Én is szállnék, száll a lelkem zokogva,
leszállni nem szállhatok sehova.
Nem fogad be, hova szállnom kellene,
búzavirágszemű babám kebele.Fáj a szívem nekem belül,
Mert bú szorítja kétfelől,
Fáj a szívem bánatába,
Mert nem járhat szabadjára.
(These lyrics are from a song from Bonchida-Romanian Hungarian habitat village.)
After having music, and the steps and movements, we have to act. Every dance has its own moral, and if you want to be authentic, you have to perform it.
And finally during a performance, we wear these authentic clothes which are of inestimable value for me. I had the opportunity to meet old craftsmen who make the whole piece by themselves. The production of the material, the sewing, use of motifs, beading and any other work is made by these amazing masters’ hands. Some of the rich pieces are made over several years by several people.
Putting these pieces of arts together, we create a new form, dance, which teaches us to be sensitive to these wonders.