HUNGARY DANCE AND MUSIC

1 Hungarian State Folk Ensemble
The Hungarian State Folk Ensemble was founded in 1951 with the purpose of collecting, preserving and presenting the treasures of Hungarian folklore. The HSFE presents all folk-related Hungarian genres on stage: historic music, authentic folk music and dance, dramatic folk plays, as well as traditional-based world music, show-dancing and the elements of contemporary dance-house tradition. Its variegated repertoire has made the HSFE one of the most widely performing ensembles of the world: during the six decades of its existence, the HSFE has performed in 50 countries of four continents, entertaining more than 8 million people altogether. At home (8 Corvin tér, Budapest), the HSFE performs about 100-120 times a year, beside being regular guest of theatres all over the Carpathian basin.
2 Sebestyén Márta
Márta Sebestyén (born 19 August 1957, Budapest) is a Hungarian folk vocalist, as well as a composer and actress.
Sebestyén's mother is a composer, and was a music student of Zoltán Kodály. Her father was an economist and author. When Sebestyén was seven years old, her father, returning from a trip to the U.S. as a visiting professor (under a grant from the Ford Foundation), brought home a large collection of ethnic music recordings from the Smithsonian Institution.
She has sung regularly and recorded with the Hungarian folk group Muzsikás. She is known for adaptations of Somogy[disambiguation needed] and Erdély folk songs, some of which appear in Deep Forest's Boheme album, which received the Grammy Award for Best World Music Album in 1996. She has also adapted Hindi, Yiddish, Serbian, Bulgarian, Slovak etc. folk songs to traditional Hungarian style.
Sebestyén sang in the movie The English Patient (Szerelem, szerelem). Three songs recorded together with Muzsikás appeared in the Japanese animated movie Only Yesterday. She also sang in and contributed material to the album Kaddish by Towering Inferno (Richard Wolfson and Andy Saunders, 1993). She also sang Rivers' on the multiple artist album Big Blue Ball released in 2008. Costa-Gavras' 1989 film Music Box featured the opening half of Sebestyén's song Mária altatója.
On 1 June 2010, she was awarded the UNESCO Artist for Peace title
3 Old Rock Bands
LGT
Locomotiv GT (often abbreviated LGT, with the nickname Loksi) is a Hungarian rock band formed in 1971. It has been one of the most influential rock bands in Hungarian rock music. GT in the name of the band refers to Gran Turismo, the long journey that the band was looking forward to when it was formed.

Omega
Omega is one of the most successful Hungarian rock bands. Formed in Budapest in September, 1962 by the winds player László Benkő on organ and János Kóbor as a singer and rhythm guitarist, they initially performed covers of British and American rock songs, frequently changing the lineup of members.
Omega has sold (2013) approximately more than 50 millions of records around the world. Their most popular album is Gammapolis, which sold around 650,000 copies- it was the biggest selling album ever in Hungary. Omega performed by far the most concerts abroad of any Hungarian band; all in the age of communism/socialism. They were also the first Hungarian band to release an album on CD. Omega were well known for producing exciting live concerts with an accent on light shows and quality sound. They are by far the longest-running Hungarian rock band.
Beatrice
Beatrice is a Hungarian rock band founded by Fero Nagy. Although he was not a trained musician or a talented singer, his stage persona, together with his professional rock instrumentalist partners, made the group one of the most popular hard rock bands in Hungary in the late seventies.[citation needed] They had two notable periods: the early days in the late seventies, when they became rock icons (with songs like "Big City Wolf" and "Jericho", released so later on Banned Songs album, 1993), and a second wave of popularity in the early nineties (with the albums I Hate the Whole XX. Century and The Most Byouthiful Songs of our Childhood). Through dissolutions and re-formings, causing fluctuating popularity, being active even till the recent days, Beatrice is one of the most enduring rock bands in the country.
video: Azok a boldog szép napok: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0eryGF_wo4
4 Modern Bands and Solo Artists:










TURKEY DANCE AND MUSIC

 

Turkish folk dances are the folk dances of Turkey. On the border between Europe and the Middle East, facing three seas, straddling important trade routes, Turkey has a complex, sophisticated culture, reflected in the variety of its dances. The dominant dance forms are types of line dance.



A line dance:


A line dance is a choreographed dance with a repeated sequence of steps in which a group of people dance in one or more lines or rows without regard for the gender of the individuals, all facing either each other or in the same direction, and executing the steps at the same time.

 

SPAIN DANCE AND MUSIC


 FLAMENCO

Flamenco is a form of popular artistic expression representing a long-standing tradition that appears on the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
This art form combines vocal music, dance and musica accompaniment (called cante, baile and toque) rooted fundamentally in Andalusia and other regions like Murcia and Extremadura. This cultural expressive vehicle with two centuries of history (some experts have traced its origins in the 18th century, when its popularity began to grow) is the most emblematic of Andalusian folklore and the most renowned form of artistic expression in Spain. Flamenco has become a true identity for numerous communities, such as the gypsy ethnic group, where it is transmitted from generation to generation through dynasties of artists, families, flamenco clubs, numerous important festivals and schools and tablaos, whose numbers are growing each year.

There are a myriad of figures in the world of flamenco whose endeavours in the art have brought them great success, namely, Antonio Gades, Enrique Morente, Eva La Yerbabuena, La Niña de la Puebla, Joaquín Cortés, Antonio Canales, Rafael Amargo, Antonio “El Bailarín”, Camarón de la Isla, Cristina Hoyos or Carmen Amaya, just to name a few.

Both song and dance (cante and baile) can be express a multitude of varied sentiments. Cante can not only be accompanied by the guitar, but also by castanets, a percussion box known as “el cajón”, hand-clapping and heel-clicking, whose rhythms are broken down into diverse “palos” or varieties (toná, soleá, seguiriya, fandango, sevillanas, etc.) based on factors such as the song’s character or origin. The dancer, in turn, possesses a complex technique and the interpretation of the baile varies according to the individual interpreter.










Jota

The jack is a Spanish dance that , at present, is danced in most communities of the geography of Spain , among which has varied according to the customs of each region. The most popular are the Aragonese jacks and Castilian jack, Leon , Valencia , that of La Rioja and Navarre . In Cantabria , is known by the name of mountain . Jacks are a dance accompanying voice and where bailares carry castanets in each hand , and a typical regional costume. Besides castanets , dance is accompanied by guitars , lutes , mandolins , accordions and drums . In communities of northern Spain , the typical instruments are incorporated ; thus , in the Cantabrian , Galician and Asturian jot bagpipes, tambourines , drums, etc. are used The origin of the jack goes back to the late eighteenth century, although its heyday did not come until the nineteenth century.






















ROMANIA MUSIC AND DANCE



DJ, producer, remixer, one of the first electronic music romanian DJs and one of the first artists in the roster of Sunrise Booking Agency. Rhadoo (Radu Cilinca) made his debut as a DJ in 1995. His first gigs consisted of nights at Club A and Studio Martin, Bucharest, Romania. His eccentric style and personality has helped him earn a reputation as a top-class DJ in his native country of Romania. Rhadoos dedication and talent earned him the best Romanian DJ Award in 2003, 2004 and 2005 at the annual Nights.ro Awards.

Greek dance and music

Greek dance is a very old tradition, being referred to by authors such as Plato and  Aristotle. There are different styles and interpretations from all of the islands and surrounding mainland areas. Each region formed its own choreography and style to fit in with their own ways. For example, island dances have more of a "watery" flow to them, while Pontic dancing closer to Black Sea, is very sharp. There are over 4000 traditional dances that come from all regions of Greece. There are also pan-Hellenic dances, which have been adopted throughout the Greek world. These include the syrtos, kalamatianos, hasapiko and sirtaki.
Traditional Greek dancing has a primarily social function. It brings the community together at key points of the year, such as Easter, the grape harvest or patronal festivals; and at key points in the lives of individuals and families, such as weddings. For this reason, tradition frequently dictates a strict order in the arrangement of the dancers, for example, by age. Visitors tempted to join in a celebration should be careful not to violate these arrangements, in which the prestige of the individual villagers may be embodied.
Greek folk music includes a variety of Greek styles played by ethnic Greeks in Greece, Cyprus, Australia, the United States and elsewhere. Apart from the common music found all-around Greece, there are distinct types of folk music, sometimes related to the history or simply the taste of the specific places.
Aegean islands
The Aegean islands of Greece are known for Nisiótika songs; Greek characteristics vary widely. Although the basis of the sound is characteristically secular-Byzantine, the relative isolation of the islands allowed the separate development of island-specific Greek music. Most of the nisiótika songs are accompanied by lyra, clarinet, guitar and violin.




Peloponnese 

Folk dances from the Peloponnese include the kalamatianos.

ITALY MUSIC AND DANCE






Italy has a lively tradition of music and dance stemming from folk traditions, many of which are based on older forms adopted from neighboring (or invading) countries. Again, regional differences create a lot of variety, so you can find Italian folk music with Celtic, Spanish and even Arabic influences. Performers of Italian folk music use old-fashioned instruments like simple flutes and even a bagpipe-like instrument called the piva.

BULGARIAN MUSIC AND DANCE

Folk Music
What is traditionally referred to as “Bulgarian folk music” has its roots in aural traditions that predate musical notation in Bulgaria. Heavily influenced by and in turn influencing neighbouring Greek, Romanian and Macedonian rhythms, Bulgaria’s folk heritage is rich and varied. These are the songs sung and dances danced at festivals and weddings in Bulgarian villages in Revival (19th century) times. Due to the efforts of early 20th century ethnographers, these songs and rhythms have been codified, preserved and can now be studied, performed and woven into modern variations.
Folk songs have rich and varied harmonies and many have asymmetric beats (7, 9, 11 or 15/16, which should make anyone familiar with musical theory cross-eyed). They’re often accompanied by traditional instruments such as the gaida (sheepskin bagpipe), gadulka (bowed lute) and kaval (wooden flute), but also sometimes unaccompanied at all, painting complex soundscapes with voices alone. Themes include love, family, the Ottoman dominion and liberation, and nature.
In 1975, an album called “The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices” was compiled by Swiss ethnomusicologist Marcel Cellier, and eventually re-released in 1986 to international acclaim.




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