Founding artistic director (1958–1981): Sándor Tímár Artistic directors: 1981–1990: Zoltán Varga 1990–1993: Szilárd Szabó, Ildikó Németh 1993–2001: Zoltán József Nagy, Ágnes Balogh 2001–2006: László Gyebnár, Beáta Dobos 2006–: Tamás Szappanos, Irén Deffend “The Bartók Dance Ensemble was founded in 1958, as a result of one of the indisputably great figures of Hungarian folk dance, Sándor Tímár. Thanks to the tremendous work of folklore researchers György Martin, Zoltán Kallós, Ferenc Peso...vár, Ágoston Lányi, Bertalan Andrásfalvy, Jolán Borbély and others, one of the world’s unique scholarly archives was created. They were inspired by Bartók’s work of recording and notating Hungarian folksongs and instrumental music to do the same for peasant dance culture which was even then still a living tradition. These recordings and Sándor Tímár’s own collections represent the “source”: a pure source. A very Bartókian thought. »How is it possible to create and give back the atmosphere and mood experienced in villages? Just as the mother teaches her child to speak. Sounds, words, sentences. Anyone who speaks the language of dance can express themselves, then communicate something«, said Sándor Timár. One of the fundamental values is the teaching method that he devised. It is modern even today and can be used with all age groups. His choreography Dances from Szék was created in the early seventies and this backs up his conceptions. He broke with the hitherto Soviet style concept of creator. Dance should not be just a device for telling a story or a uniformly performed “review.” Authentic DANCE is placed in the centre. The dancer is the individual who speaks the languages: he improvises, recreates, communicates something. The importance of the Bartók Dance Ensemble – as a spiritual creative workshop – and its role in launching the dance house movement, was crucial. Many other professional and amateur ensembles were influenced to change their understanding of what dance is.” Tamás Szappanos
Parking information
We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.
Safe ticket purchase
Dear Visitors, please note that only tickets purchased from the Müpa website and official ticket offices are guaranteed to be valid. To avoid possible inconvenience, we suggest buying tickets to our performances and concerts via the mupa.hu website, the Interticket national network (jegy.hu) or at our official ticket offices.