Men dominate spirited folk program

The Inquirer, March 22. 2007.

The Hungarian State Folk Ensemble presented a high-powered, stunning performance at Irvine Auditorium. Its nine musicians did more than their part.

You expect certain things from an Eastern European folk-dance troupe: men sporting luxuriant mustaches, women in full skirts with oceans of petticoats, virtuoso violinists playing faster than seems humanly possible. The Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, which appeared at Irvine Auditorium Tuesday night as part of Penn Presents' International Dance Series, had all that and more. Its two dozen dancers and nine multitalented musicians put on a high-powered, visually and aurally stunning program that surveyed a host of regional traditions.

Onstage, this is a man's world. The female dancers serve mainly as gorgeously decorated accessories, performing high-speed twirls while their partners get most of the applause. Male dancers have ample opportunity to show off their personal styles, in mini-solos that combine quick, sharp, percussive footwork with impressive jumps, plus rhythmic - and surprisingly vigorous - slaps of their own thighs, calves and heels.

It is impossible to single out any of the female performers, since none had featured roles. Also, astonishingly, no dancers' names were listed in the printed program. However, a bit of sleuthing established the identities of three particularly gifted males: the acrobatic Péter Galát; smoothly sexy Attila Onodi; and György Ágfalvi, a slender, compact man with a high kick that would be the envy of any Rockette, and a wonderfully sly sense of humor.

The all-male musical ensemble included several fine string players, plus the gifted Sándor Ürmös on the cimbalom (a relative of the xylophone) and Attila Gera, who excelled at playing six instruments, including a wooden flute, a saxophone and a bagpipe. Also, the dancers often sang - generally while dancing. Their haunting melodies and strange, stirring harmonies recalled the compositions of the great Hungarian composers Bartok and Kodaly, who collected, and were often inspired by, folk songs. For non-Hungarian speakers it would have been helpful if the program had included English translations, or at least a summary of the lyrics, and a map to indicate the specific geographical regions from which these pieces came.

Still, it was not necessary to understand the words in order to appreciate this glorious music, the importance of which artistic director Gábor Mihályi made clear through a marvelous series of instrumental interludes.

Nancy G. Heller