BITTERSWEET

Dance to Transylvanian folk music

Picture Gallery

This "Transylvanian Anthology" of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble is the newest production of the lengthy artistic process that aims to point out the relevance and significance of our traditional culture in present-day life. This dramatic dance show interprets folklore in a contemporary manner and mixes it boldly with modern dramatic forms.

The authors wish this lyrical performance to be a brief but rich summary of the immense Transylvanian folkdance and folk music treasury. "Bittersweet" is a drama of contrasts: it counterpoints the tragic and the comic, the joy and the sorrow, life and death, facing the audience with the questions of how to maintain our hereditary values further, in an increasingly globalizing society. The show seeks an answer to the eternal dilemmas of leaving our homeland and our past behind without entirely losing it; it seeks a means of preserving our native cultural community that would in turn preserve us in the Babel-like multiplicity of 21^st century life.

First performance: 7. May 2009. , Hungarian Heritage House

Musical editor: László Kelemen

Choreographers: Zoltán Farkas "Batyu"

Rita Furik

Gábor Mihályi

Călin Orza

Costumes: Rita Furik

Lights / stage design:

Péter Gerzson Kovács ("Harangozó Gyula" Award, "Lábán Rudolf" Award)

Assistant to choreographers:

Richárd Kökény ("Harangozó Gyula" Award)

Director / chief choreographer:

Gábor Mihályi ("Harangozó Gyula" Award, "EuróPAS" Award)