The captivating motions accompanied by music and/or singing is a spectacular visualization of the Hungarian people’s rich emotional world which they strive to preserve in spite of the unstoppable spread of modern lifestyle.
Singing folk songs and dancing enlivened not just country people’s holidays but it brought some cheerfulness in their workdays, too. Dancing was also an integral part of a wide range of social occasions. It provided an effective forum for group and couple interaction including courtship.
In order to get along in a village one had to have good dancing skills. A lad with skillful dancing ability tended to be more popular with lasses and vice versa. Parents and the elderly members of the village community prompted youngsters to acquire and preserve folk traditions as means of strengthening social integrity.
Hungarian folk dances can be divided into two main categories:
1. Old style dances dating back to the Middle Ages
Jumping dances (ugrós): solo or couple dances accompanied by old style music, shepherd and other solo man’s dances from Transylvania, and marching dances along with remnants of medieval weapon dances belong in this group. Karikázó, a circle dance performed by women only accompanied by singing of folksongs
2. New style dances developed in the 18-19. centuries
Verbunk, a solo man’s dance evolved from the recruiting performances of the Austro-Hungarian army. Csárdás the national couple dance of Hungary which seems deceptively simple with its to steps to the right and two steps to the left, followed by turning the woman around choreography however numerous regional variations have developed since the 19th century.
Couple dances formed the core of community entertainment because of their lively step patterns. The most popular couple dance is the csárdás which became known as the national dance of Hungary all over the world. Besides csárdás and its variations the so-called jumping dances, twirl dances from Transylvania and other old style slow dances were also favoured. Solo man’s dances existed as integral part of dance life until the I. world war.
Only the most talented lads were able to learn and master some of the dances that required outstanding skillfulness (verbunk, jumping dances). Some man’s dances became part of the dance repertoire in certain parts of the country even after the I. world war (Rábaköz: verbunk, karéj, dus, Northeast Hungary certain verbunk varieties: sarkantyús verbunk, magyar verbunk).
Along with entertainment dances, certain rituals, customs (weddings, harvest, vintage) had their own characteristic dances, as well. Weddings were regarded as prominent social happenings in villages, the events of which lived vividly in people’s memories for long.
External influences had significant impact on evolution of countryside dance life. Craftsmen, soldiers, maids returning from town built the elements of civil fashion dances in their homeland’s dance choreography. Dance traditions of the neighbouring countries have also shaped Hungarian folk dances. In Transylvania, where Hungarians, Romanians, and Saxons lived together, adoption of each other’s dances was inevitable. The dance heritage of Bukovina in Transylvania reflects several ethnic influences (German, Romanian, Russian, Hucul).