Vancouver Csárdás Hungarian Children’s Dance Group
June 15, 2010
We have received information about the activities of this children’s dance group in Vancouver and would like to share it with visitors to this website. The group has actually been in existence for over 30 years under the aegis of the Vancouver Hungarian Cultural Society but have recently started a website on which they are still working. Read more
Canada’s Marie Chouinard in Pecs 2010 dance program
Pecs in southern Hungary is the 2010 European Capital of Culture. The Hungarian News Agency MTI has just announced that Compagnie Marie Chouinard will participate in one of several dance programs Pecs is hosting during the year. Other dance events in Pecs are also mentioned in the January 17th 2010 news item. Read more
Eva von Gencsy
Hungarian-born Eva von Gencsy began her dance training at the Russian Academy in Budapest in the mid-1930s. Ten years later, she was a soloist at the Salzburg Landes Theatre. Shortly after immigrating to Canada in 1948, von Gencsy was hired to dance with the Winnipeg Ballet (later renamed the Royal Winnipeg Ballet)… Read more
Hungarian Community Folk Dance Groups in Canada
There are several Hungarian community folk dance groups in Canada such as Bokreta in Montreal, Kodaly in Toronto, Maros in Saskatchewan to name just a few among the more active ones. Bokreta has just hosted a major festival about which you can read more on their website at http://www.bokreta.ca/. Gyanta, a folk dance ensemble formed in February 2006, includes musicians from both Montreal and Toronto. The group focuses on the musical and dance traditions of Hungarian minorities in Slovakia and Romania.
The Western Canadian folk dance groups and bands have been organizing the Western Canadian Folk Dance Festival annually on every Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend since 1979. Seventeen dance groups and folk bands, represented by over 200 performers, are involved in performances, as well as participate in a variety of cultural activities and workshops. The next festival will be hosted by the Maros Folkdance Ensemble in Regina, Sask. October 5-8, 2007. The Maros Ensemble is a dance ensemble also involved in organizing activities and cultural events such as Our Province-Tartomanyunk-A tribute to the Hungarian Pioneers of Saskatchewan.
We will attempt to feature a number of these dance groups and their special events in the future – and will soon bring an article about the early history of some of the folk dance groups in Canada by Kalman Dreisziger, one of the key organizers and leaders of this form of cultural expression in Canada.
The Bokréta Folk Dance Ensemble
“The Bokréta Folk Dance Ensemble recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, with a concert organized in Montreal. Read more