János Szűcs is a folk dancer and teacher who has been dancing since he was 15 years old. He became interested in dancing after his school's performance for a Hungarian independence celebration was short on boys. Since then, he has danced with the Bocskai Folk Dance Company for over 30 years and has directed the group, which now has 200 members. Folk dancing reflects the traditional life of Hungarian people and involves dances like csárdás, a couple's dance, and karikázó, a circle dance accompanied by singing. Szűcs hopes to grow the membership of his dance group and continue developing their art form.

1. INTERWIEV

2. János Szűcs
- folk dancer
- teacher
- art manager

4. When did you decide to dance?
-It started at my school, called Bocskai
István Primary School.
I was 14 years old and was interested in
sports, especially football, basketball and
athletics. Our team won the Teenager
Sport Cup of Hajdú-Bihar county .Our
trainer was István Görög, our P.E.teacher.

5. 15 th March is a national holiday in
Hungary ,we celebrate the revolution
and independence of 1848/49. Many
other events accompany the
celebrations including musical and
theatrical performances.

6. The pupils of 7 class developed a
play for our town citizians that is
about the Hungarian
Revolution.They wanted to dance,
but there weren’t enough boys. I
and some friends contacted the
person who ran the program .We
had a great success and enjoyed
ourselves very much. Even it was
very interesting and exciting to
dance with beautiful girls.

8. -After my good experience I was invited
in the group of Bocskai Folk Dance
Company by a pretty girl.

10. What family do you come from?
-I come from a poor family .My father ’s
ancestors were farmers since 1606.
My mother was a teacher in Bocskai
Primary School. But his father, my
grandfather, was a light operett
singer.He could sing and dance very
well.

11. -Working in farms, dancing and
acting are combined in folk dance.

12. Folk dance
-At that time people used to go to dance
after the church ceremony every Sunday.
-They had a good time, and had song hits
as nowadays at the discos. Today songs
change at the discos day by day. But that
songs were values for hundreds of years .
-From the 50’s video films were made from
folk dances by Hungarian Academy of
Scienses.

13. -Folk dance is a form of dance
developed by a group of people that
reflects the traditional life of the people
of a certain country or region.
-Folk dancing is great exercise and a
fun recreational activity for people of
all ages. Anyone can learn to folk
dance, as no formal dance experience
is necessary to be able to learn most of
the steps and formations

14. -CSÁRDÁS
The National couple dance of the
Hungarians, which in its simple form is
two steps to the right and two steps to
the left, followed by turning the woman
around. However, its regional
variations and intricate additional
figures are innumerable.

16. -KARIKÁZÓ
means circle dance, which are
women’s dances mostly without
music, accompanied by the
singing of folksongs. These are the
most archaic forms of folkdances
found in Hungary.

19. How long have you been danced?
-I’m 30 years old and , I have been
dancing since my 15th birthday.
-After attending primary school I
stayed at the folk dance group of
children, and later I became a member
of adults group. 2-3 years later we won
a Talent Folk Dance Show called ‘Erkel
Students’ Festival’ in Gyula.

20. - In 2003 I have already been’ the
youngest folk dance art director’ ever
in the world. I have directed Bocskai
Folk Dance Group for 9 years.
-Today the Bocskai Group has two
hundred members, but some years
earlier there were only 30.

21. What clothes do you wear at the
dance group?
-Do you know, some hundred years ago
poor people had only some clothes. They
had clothes for a weekdays, and for a
holidays.They didn’t wear them every
day, only on special occasions ,so it was
made from very expencive and good
materials .It often lasted for a
lifetime.

22. What schools did you attend?
- I attended Arts College of Dance,
Reformed Teacher Training
College.
I won ‘Vásárhelyi László Prize’. It
was named after a famous
dancer.

23. What are your plans for the
future?
-I have three main aims:
My dream is first of all, my group will have
300 members. It’s a rather difficult,
because the children go to dance proving
regularly, they have enough time. But the
adults always in a hurry, they find
another spare time activities.
Secondly, the art developing of the group
is important.

24. -In my private life I want to be
healthy and fit .Dancing needs a
plenty of energy.
-I have won ‘Gold Spur (Heel) Prize’.
They are given to the best folk dancers.
You can get only three of them. I have
already had two of them….

25. -And there is one more prize ,‘the
Young Master of Folk Art.’It is given by
the Ministry of National Cultural
Heritage .I had to take an exam and
present a dance…

26. Thank you for the
interwiev and
your attention.