Dancing Spring presents Hungarian folk traditions from the spring festivities, which last from the end of Carnival until late May, as well as the traditional dances, songs, costumes, language and customs of many of Hungary's ethnicities. Winter Dance incorporates the customs of the winter holiday season lasting from the harvest period to the end of Carnival. In this performance, the audience will see the traditional Nativity, carolling, St. Lucy's procession and weaving traditions, in addition to theatrical adaptations of superstitious customs. We may consider it a message from this bygone age that while these groups lived side by side for millennia, they still preserved the diversity of their cultures and coexisted in peace, respecting and accepting the traditions of others. Among these customs, we will see the Carnival-ending rabvágás ceremony from the Bodrogköz region, the busójárás ceremony from Mohács, the Carnival funeral of the Swabians of Baranya, the Purim customs of the Munkács Jews, the ‘lamb-milking’ ceremony from Kalotaszeg, the winter doll-burning and ‘watering’ customs from the Palóc region, the spring ‘green branch’ march of the Gypsies, and the erection of the maypole in the region of Rábaköz.

Presented by: National Dance Theatre