Hungarian dance

Hungarian dance refers to the folk dances practised and performed by the Hungarians, both amongst the populations native to Hungary and its neighbours, and also amongst the Hungarian diaspora.

According to György Martin, a prominent folklore expert, Hungarian dances can be divided into two categories. The first refers to dances performed in the middle ages while the second relates to the 18th and 19th century.

Improvisation is often mentioned as being characteristic of Hungarian dance. "The peasant dance is not one which is set absolutely according to rule; the dancer constructs his steps according to his mood and ingenuity."

The most important stylistic feature of the dance within the Carpathians is the unusually large amount of personal improvisation. Observers have never failed to notice the individual nature of the Hungarian dance during the previous two centuries. This dancing is individual to such an extent that it is often difficult for scholars to establish the communal laws regulating individual creativity and improvising. Folk dance research has shown that this individuality is not merely poetic licence, but genuine features. Daniel Berzsenyi wrote, "Its secret laws are not ordered by craft. The laws are its own and enthusiasm sets the limit."

"A hundred couples are moving,

all of them together,
There will be an infinite labyrinth,
An interwoven abundance
Unseizable medley
In which-as many as there are couples-as many
Shapes and moods of the dance,
And yet it is the same beat
That governs everyone's steps."

"...Steps, turns, movement, postures, all are arbitrary, left to the taste and genius of the dancer. The dance does not consist of regular well-defined steps ... but an individual dance inspired by an idea."

"the men free their partners when, and for so long as, they fell inclined. Thus their hands are free and they can again take hold of their partner when they wish..."

"The brisker movements of the dance retained that peculiarity which is the feature of all Hungarian dances: the right of the dancer to improvise according to his talent and mood." Collections of the Folk Music Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and the national Ethnographic Museum of the State Folk Ensemble cover almost 10,000 dance variations from 700 Hungarian villages.

Hungarians have been noted for their "exceptionally well developed sense of rhythm". Billroth performed tests with troops stationed in Vienna and found that the Hungarian troops outperformed others in keeping time with music.

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Wikipedia