Falling for Folk Dance — A Conversation with the Organizers of the Pontozó Folk Dance Competition

This is the translation of the original interview, published on 777blog on 16 April 2023.

The Pontozó folk dance competition and gathering was first held in 1975, showcasing Hungarian folk dancers and ensembles from the United States and Canada with group choreographies, couple dances, and solo performances. The festival, which moves between different locations, experienced a ten-year hiatus before being revived in 2016 by the Kodály Ensemble in Toronto, Canada, which hosted the event for four consecutive years. The COVID pandemic brought another pause, and due to strict Canadian regulations, it still cannot be held there in 2023. Instead, New Brunswick, New Jersey, will be the host, where a local folk dance performance and four táncház events were organized even in 2022. Pontozó in 2023 is organized by Melinda Török, leader of the local Csűrdöngölő adult ensemble, with the support of the current Kőrösi Csoma Sándor programme (KCSP) scholars Gábor Szanyó and Viola Kovács.

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Folk Dance as a Unifying Force

During the lunch of the Kodály Weekend, an event organized by the local scouts, Gábor Szanyó introduced himself and spoke on behalf of his partner, Viola Kovács, who was engaged with the children even during lunchtime. The couple arrived in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in the fall of 2022 through the Kőrösi Csoma Sándor Program (KCSP) scholarship, coming from the Angyalföldi Vadrózsa dance group in Budapest, Hungary, where they were both dancers and instructors. ‘We wanted to experience what it’s like to live and work elsewhere, and last year was the right moment in both of our careers to take this ten-month opportunity in America. Our dance group celebrated its 30th anniversary last year—we stayed for that final season—I had trained someone in my business to take over while I was away, while Viola had just started working, and her internship was about to end,’  he explained their motivation.

Their mentors, Melinda Török and Lívia Schachinger, helped them manage their time across various local Hungarian organizations. Although they have multiple responsibilities, their primary focus is on folk dance due to its community-building power. ‘We want to make people fall in love with folk dance. For the Pontozó competition, we came up with a choreography that includes men from all of the local dance groups: Csűrdöngölő, Szilvafa, and the two older age groups of the Mákvirág children’s folk dance groups. Moreover, we tried to reach out to anyone who has ever danced here. The goal is a large-scale joint performance— a men’s pontozó dance. László Hajdú-Németh is organizing and leading the choir at the beginning,’ Gábor said, then continued sharing background details of their duties in New Brunswick, and explained also that the pontozó, which gives the competition its name, is a style of Transylvanian men’s dance performed in Kutasföld, Maros-Küküllő köze, and Southern Transylvania, where each pont (dot) represents a dance sequence corresponding to a musical unit.

‘When we arrived here, we were amazed by the huge Hungarian Club building, along with a Scout House and two Hungarian churches—while back home, we didn’t even have our own practice space; we had to rent everything, even the storage container for our costumes. This is an incredible opportunity here that needs to be brought to life,’ he emphasized. He added that while it’s possible to learn folk dance steps in a workshop or dance hall (táncház), those who also learn a full choreography are better able to connect the movements and retain their knowledge. ‘Another advantage of ending folk dance training with a performance is that it gives everyone a concrete goal and deadline, which makes participants take preparation more seriously. We’ve been working on this since September, even though we only found out in December that New Brunswick would be hosting the Pontozó.’ Originally, they planned to prepare seven choreographies, but later reduced that number. Even so, they will perform five or six pieces, including Balázstelki couple dances (with a men’s pontozó section), Mezőföld dances (Gábor’s home region, near Székesfehérvár, Hungary), and Southern Great Plain (from Hungary) dances with the children. When asked about solo performances, Gábor clarified that they don’t train solo dancers themselves, but anyone interested can prepare and ask for their guidance. ‘We provide archive recordings and help shape the choreography based on the dancer’s ideas. We already have some participants signed up, but they still need some refining,’ he said with a smile, adding optimistically: ‘It will come together beautifully.’

In addition to their dance activities, Gábor and Viola also assist the local Hungarian community in other ways, such as helping with archiving at the Reformed church. Gábor also performs in Harkó Gyöngyvér’s The Voice of Poetry program. ‘We’re happy to help with anything—whether it’s picking up trash, setting up chairs, or even cooking. But we firmly believe that as KCSP scholars, the most valuable contribution we can make to the local community is offering something unique—something we know better than the locals. And that’s our dance expertise.’ To illustrate their expertise, Gábor shared a recent memory: ‘At our anniversary gala, we performed two two-hour shows, each with entirely different material—ranging from Moldva to Rábaköz—and even included Polish and Romanian folk dances.’ With that said, he rushed off—lunch break was over, the scouts were waiting for him.

A Legacy of Hungarian Folk Dance in North America

The Pontozó organizing team is led by Melinda Török, a native of Marosvásárhely (Târgu Mureș, Transylvania, Romania), who has been living in America for over two decades. She first heard about Pontozó in 2005, when she attended as a spectator. Since then, she has learned that the first Pontozó was organized in 1975 by Kálmán and Judit Magyar, modeled after folk dance competitions in Hungary of the time. Over the past 48 years, the event has evolved significantly, with changes in participants, ensembles, and locations. Although the competition has been hosted mostly in New Jersey (Holmdel, Passaic, Garfield, New Brunswick) and Canada (Toronto, Montreal, St. Catharines, Kitchener), it has occasionally been held in California, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ohio, too. The first competition brought a surprising result, as the Rochester International Folkdancers, a group composed of American youth, won first place. While only five ensembles competed in the first Pontozó, within three years, nearly 30 ensembles were showcasing their talents, making Pontozó the largest Hungarian folk dance event in the Western world.

‘We’re happy to help with anything…But we firmly believe that as KCSP scholars, the most valuable contribution we can make to the local community is offering something unique’

After a long hiatus, when the Toronto Kodály Ensemble revived the competition, many children from the Mákvirág children’s group in New Brunswick participated and performed successfully in the competition for four consecutive years. However, during the COVID pandemic, not only was Pontozó canceled, but numerous folk dance ensembles across America disbanded. The New Brunswick community survived because its leaders—especially Melinda Török and Bott-Varga Denisa—refused to let the momentum of folk dance fade. With written parental consent, they continued rehearsals with masks and social distancing, holding summer practices outdoors. ‘We are very grateful that the parents were flexible and accepted the inconveniences to ensure that the community and folk dance tradition did not disappear. It was a tough year, but we survived, and we are proud that none of our dance groups has been lost.’

In December 2022, Melinda Török, by then leader of the Csűrdöngölő adult dance ensemble, called Erika Hild, the main organizer of the Pontozó in Toronto, Canada, to inquire about the details of the next year’s event. It was then that she learned that due to the ongoing strict regulations in Canada, the event still couldn’t be held there. ‘The news hit me like a cold shower, and I immediately started thinking about whether we could organize it here instead. My main motivation was to avoid another long pause. But I didn’t dare take it on alone,’ she explained. The first person she called was Kálmán Magyar, who lived in America for 60 years before returning to Hungary in 2012, and was not only the founder of the competition, but also the artistic director of the Hungária Dance Ensemble in New York City and the founder of the Hungarian Museum in Passaic, New Jersey. He fully supported the idea and even agreed to serve as a judge. (The other three judges in 2023 were director of the Hungarian House in New York Ildikó Nagy, a former dancer of the Honvéd Dance Theater, Hungary, from Cleveland Anikó Béres, and József Salamon, known as Sala, who’s been organizing the Csipketábor folk dance camp in Michigan for 17 years.)

After speaking with Kálmán Magyar, Melinda reached out to Gábor and Viola, who also gave their full support. ‘After that, I felt confident enough to take it on because I knew the four of us could organize it. I’m now handling the administrative tasks, but on the day of the Pontozó, I’ll step back—the competitors and Gábor’s team will take center stage. Gábor and Viola will be teaching during the workshops and evening táncház sessions since many attendees have never danced before. I’m handling the preparation work—funding, paperwork, venue, etc, which is no small task. But once we’re on-site, it’s their job to make sure everyone has a great time. As Gábor previously mentioned, Pontozó provides a clear goal for dance ensembles and individual competitors to work toward for months, fostering a strong sense of unity among dancers. Beyond the competition, Pontozó is also a fantastic opportunity for participants to meet new people and strengthen old friendships. Dancers learn new steps in the workshops, and the audience of the competition and gala can experience the power of Hungarian folk music and dance,’ she explained.

Children’s dance workshops during the three-day event will be led by Péter Szabó and Orsi Kapusi, KCSP scholars from Toronto. ‘We have excellent children’s folk dance instructors, like Réka Gorondi Bányainé, who leads the youngest Mákvirág group. But we also wanted to invite others, so we selected well-known dancers from the Hungarian Dance Academy in Debrecen, currently living in Toronto, through the KCSP program. They have experience leading children’s dance groups in Hungary,’ Melinda explained further details. She also shared that they had initially planned to invite a traditional Transylvanian musician, but were unable to due to visa regulations. However, she was delighted that László ‘Lacika’ Hajdú-Németh, who’s been living in Hungary since 2012, accepted the role. (He reached the finals of Fölszállott a páva competition in Hungary with Sarjú Banda in 2016 and as a soloist in 2019.) ‘We have great musicians and strong lead violinists, but Pontozó requires a prímás (lead fiddler) who can memorize and reproduce all choreographies of all performers. The five-member Kaptza band from Hungary is incredibly talented, as is the local Fészer Banda, but for a competition like this, we need a musician as skilled as Lacika; the brácsás (viola) and bőgős (double bass) will follow his lead. And if we have enough musicians playing and dancers teaching, we should have no major issues…which we hope we won’t,’ she smiled.

More than Just a Competition

Gábor had mentioned that Pontozó is not about point-based scoring. Melinda added: ‘The festival is not about the competition—it’s about the opportunity to perform and the joy of being together. There will be no rankings, only evaluations, ensuring every participant receives recognition.’ She also shared more about the invited bands: the five members of the Kaptza band arrived in the U.S. on scholarships in September and formed their group in Tennessee. They were invited to New Brunswick for New Year’s Eve, just as the similarly formed Eredő Band was here the previous year. The local Fészer Banda is led by Hunor Kosbor, Melinda’s son, who has been best friends with Lacika since childhood. The viola player Bence Kalán rehearses with them weekly. The double bass player Brinarsky Brano is an experienced Slovak musician. When he is unavailable, Lívia Schachinger’s older son, Gáspár Lackó, steps in.

‘I want to keep the joy of dance alive’ — An Interview with Hunor Kosbor

The competition is open to all, and spectators are welcome—though only competitors must register, it’s also recommended for the spectators. Based on responses so far, about 160 dancers are expected to participate this year: 100 local performers (Mákvirág has 68 dancers, Csűrdöngölő has 18, and Regös has five pairs—though some overlap exists) and 70 additional dancers from Cleveland, Washington, DC, Toronto, and other locations. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were many folk dance groups across the U.S., but several disbanded or are only now starting to recover. ‘Given this, we are grateful that so many are coming. In past Pontozó competitions, there were participants also from the West Coast, but they never traveled to Canada. We invited them this year, but they didn’t register—probably due to the high costs. Unfortunately, there are no Hungarian folk dance groups in Florida or North Carolina, even though many Hungarians live there. In the past, not only Hungarians but also Americans competed in Pontozó, but those groups have either disbanded or dissolved during the COVID pandemic. In addition to the dancers, we expect at least 100 parents in the audience. I’ve promoted this event everywhere, just as I have for every folk dance event I’ve organized in the past. Unfortunately, few Americans attend, mostly Hungarians, even those without a direct connection to folk dance. The largest audience will likely attend the gala after the competition, where the winners and KCSP scholars will perform, along with musical acts and some surprises,’ she added.

I also learned from Melinda that the children’s program will be divided into two groups: one for younger children (ages three to eight) and one for older children (ages eight to 13). Folk games and dance lessons for them will take place in the downstairs hall of the Hungarian Club, led by Orsi and Péter. While one group is dancing, the other will participate in craft workshops in two smaller rooms, featuring: Felting with Piroska Tóth, basket weaving with Melinda Török, and gingerbread making with Ancsa Kocsis. Meanwhile, in the club’s main hall, Gábor and Viola conduct a Mezőkeszü folk dance workshop for adults, allowing entire families to engage in activities simultaneously. They encourage all attendees not only to watch the competitions and gala but also to join in and dance—whether in the workshops or the evening táncház, both of which will also be led by Gábor and Viola. ‘Folk dance is beautiful to watch, but being part of it’s an entirely different experience. If you’re just an observer, you can’t compare it to actually doing it yourself. Being in it is simply dazzling. I emphasize this because for years, I was just a spectator too,’ Melinda confessed.

From Watching to Dancing

At this point, Melinda shared her own experience: she attended teacher training college in Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc, Transylvania, Romania), where she and her classmates would go to the local táncház event every weekend. ‘A few boys danced in the middle of the room, while all the girls stood around watching, waiting to be asked to dance. I was never chosen, yet I kept going for years. Back then, there was no dance instruction at táncház events—this is exactly why, when I organize them now, I make sure everyone is included,’ she smiled.

After finishing university, she traveled to New York City to explore the world and ended up settling there after meeting her future husband, an experienced folk dancer from Pécs, Hungary, who invited her to join the newly formed Ritka Magyar folk dance group. ‘It was the best dance ensemble in the world! When we and the group leaders moved away—tired of the constant hustle and bustle of the big city—it disbanded. But I have amazing memories from that time...That’s where I started dancing with my husband, and we have never stopped since,’ she remembered.

Even their now 17.5-year-old son has developed an intense passion for folk dance and music—so much so that, as Melinda put it, ‘even we are surprised by how dedicated he is—almost fanatical about it! Since the age of ten, he has spent his entire summers alone in Hungary, attending various folk dance and music camps, where he learned directly from original tradition bearers and highly respected instructors such as András Sinkó. He insists on playing only authentic folk music and refuses to engage with any other musical genres,’ confessed Melinda proudly.

Although they didn’t choose their current city of residence specifically for Hungarian folk dance, Melinda and her husband are thrilled to have moved there. However, she firmly believes: ‘No matter where we lived, we wouldn’t stop dancing.’ She is perplexed by those who completely give up folk dance after many years, citing reasons such as family, work, or moving to a new place. ‘The best is to start as a child and associate it with positive experiences—because if it’s forced as a mandatory class, like in schools nowadays in Hungary, children can easily grow to resent it. But it’s never too late. I started at 27, and now I can’t imagine our lives without it…’

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Heritage, Unity, Volunteerism, and Commitment — The 110th Anniversary of the Hungarian Club of New Brunswick

From Angyalföld to New Brunswick — Hungarian Folk Dance Ensemble Vadrózsa’s American Tour

The post Falling for Folk Dance — A Conversation with the Organizers of the Pontozó Folk Dance Competition appeared first on Hungarian Conservative.