MAGYARBÕD

The village of Magyarbőd is located in eastern Slovakia, 18 km northeast of Kassa, in the northernmost region of the Hungarian language territory. Magyarbőd is surrounded by Slovak-speaking villages; as a result, its traditional musical culture differs from that of other Hungarian musical regions. Its uniqueness is mainly characterized by the cross-fertilization of polyphonic singing styles transmitted from neighboring Slavic communities, particularly the Slovaks and the Rusyns. Groups of both men and women continue to sing these songs to this day.

The proportion of old-style Hungarian folk songs in this region is relatively small. However, wedding ritual orders and children’s songs have preserved certain archaic song structures. György Martin was the first to film the dances of Magyarbőd in 1968.

Because the members of the Gypsy band featured in the archived video recordings have all since passed away, from the 1990s onward Géza Potta and his band from Abaújszina became the village’s principal musicians. As a result, bands from Hungary learned the local music according to this later interpretation.

Typical traditional dances include women’s circle dances, performed to songs sung by the women themselves and known as “circling” or “circle.” Couple dances include the csárdás and the fast (or fresh) csárdás, also referred to as “stomping.” Walking songs were traditionally sung by women as they circled the village on Sundays and holidays. Elements of civil culture also entered the region, adapted into local practice and performed to so-called “vibrating” tunes, while the Slovak dance tradition is represented by the dance known as do Salika.

                                                                                                 GYÖRGYFALVA

The village was considered a peripheral village of Kalotaszeg by the older Hungarian ethnography. Today, it is more often described as a Hungarian ethnographic microregion between Kalotaszeg and Mezõség.

Their folk costume , although it has some similarities with the Kalotaszeg costume, differs from it in its overall effect. Today, this costume is only worn on exceptional holidays.

Dance types.

Legényes: A traditional men’s solo dance that is considered a pinnacle of Kalotaszeg-style folk dance.

Csürdöngölõ: A type of couple or group dance found in Györgyfalva, characterized by lively footwork and circular movements typical of Transylvanian rural dance.

Csárdás and Szapora: Csárdás is a couple dance with slow and fast part; Szapora is a fast couple dance with quicker, repeated patterns.

Gólyás, Hétlépés, Polka: This form short-pattern couple dances in the village tradition.

Broader Györgyfalvi dance repertoire: verbunk, üveges, laskanyújtós, pegatti, mars.