Csárdás
The csárdás is Hungary's best-known national dance. It developed in the nineteenth century from the verbunk, a recruiting dance and music of the Austrian army era, and from older whirling couple dances of the Carpathian Basin. Its name comes from csárda, meaning inn, and it gained broad appeal after the 1848-1849 Hungarian revolution as a sign of national awakening.
The dance has two parts, a slow section (lassú) and a very fast one (friss), in 2/4 or 4/4 time, often played by Romani orchestras. Liszt, Brahms and Tchaikovsky used csárdás themes. The folk form is enjoying a revival through the táncház (dance-house) movement, which began in Hungary in the 1970s and which UNESCO listed as a good safeguarding practice in 2011.
Sources
- Verbunkos (Hagyományok Háza / Hungarian Heritage House)
- UNESCO: Táncház method, a Hungarian model for the transmission of intangible cultural heritage
- Csárdás (Wikipedia)
Organisations connected with this dance
- Hagyományok Háza (Hungarian Heritage House)
- Magyar Állami Népi Együttes (Hungarian State Folk Ensemble)
Listed as references; being listed is not an endorsement by or of the organisation.