Táncház

Táncház (pronounced IPA|'taːnʦhaːz, approx. "tants-hoz", literally "dance house") is an aspect of the Hungarian roots revival of traditional culture which began in the early 1970s, and remains an active part of the national culture across the country, especially in cities like Budapest. Táncház draws on traditions from across Hungary, especially music and dance, as well as Transylvania (a region of Romania). The term is derived from a Transylvanian tradition of holding dances at individual's homes.

The táncház traditions were recreated as authentically as possible, a process aided by fairly detailed research on Hungarian culture. The movement is composed of numerous informal groups. Since the 1970s, non-ethnic Hungarians living in Hungary have had their folk traditions treated the same as their Hungarian neighbors. In addition, ethnic Hungarians outside of Hungary, such as those in Transylvania, Slovakia, and the Siret River valley of Moldavia, are also celebrated by the táncház movement.

Within the United States, Hungarian dance groups such as Karpatok (in Los Angeles), [http://eletfa.org/ Eletfa] (in New York and New Jersey), and Csardas (in Cleveland) perform on stage bringing the feel of the táncház to general audiences, and camps such as Ti Ti Tábor (in Washington) and Csipke (in Michigan) bring dance teachers and musicians from Hungary and Transylvania to teach North Americans the music and dance of the Hungarian peoples.

In the United Kingdom, [http://www.palinka.co.uk/ Palinka Band] has a regular dance house in London.

External links

* [http://www.ce-review.org/00/12/nemes12.html Interview] with Ghymes, a táncház world music band
* [http://www.tanchaz.hu/start.html Népzene, néptánc, kézművesség] - Hungarian táncház site
* [http://www.tititabor.org/ Ti Ti Tábor] - Hungarian Music and Dance Camp in Washington state
* [http://www.csipke.org/ Csipke] - Hungarian Music and Dance Camp in Michigan