International Folk Dance Association and   First Unitarian Church of St. Louis present . . .
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Üsztürü Folk Ensemble

in a concert and dance party

Sunday, July 8, 2007 at 7:30 p.m.
First Unitarian Church of St. Louis
5007 Waterman Ave. (at Kingshighway)
St. Louis, MO 63108  (see Google Map)
Admission $15

Join us for an exciting evening of Exciting Hungarian folk music, songs and dances from Hungary and Transylvania at its best, from one of Europe's most popular folk ensembles!

Üsztürü is one of the best of the younger groups that plays this vibrant music in an authentic, dance-oriented manner.  All of the members grew up in Transylvania and have collected their repertoire from Roma musicians in the countryside.  Since their founding in 1992 they have played in concerts and dance camps all over Europe.  Their North American tour this year coincides with a Hungarian dance camp being held this summer in Michigan.  The members of Üsztürü are István Moldován Horváth (violin), Levente Major (violin), József Szász (viola/cimbalom), Zsolt Nagy (viola), Lörinc Szász (bass), István Kis (dancing), Júlia Redõ (dancing), and Marianna Nyitrai (singing).

Ringed by the Carpathian mountains, Transylvania was for many centuries the "wild east" of Europe, home to the Romanised Celtic tribes that were invaded by the Slavs in the 5th century, and conquered by the Magyars 1100 years ago, with German settlers brought in the 12th and 13th centuries to help defend it from Tartar invaders.  Meanwhile, the Roma (Gypsies) migrated into the area with music they acquired from Urban Greeks and Turks from farther south and east.  During the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire all of this came together to produce some of the richest folk music in Europe.

When Transylvania was joined to modern Romania after the First World War, Transylvania was cut off from the rest of Europe.  After the Second World War the Hungarian villages were effectively marginalized by the Ceausescu regime, preserving the traditional music in the process.  All this wonderful music was "rediscovered" in the 1970's by University students, who were tired of the old Socialist Song and Dance stage groups and who wanted to learn the real roots music and the dances that went with it.  Pioneered by groups like Téka, Muzsikás, and Méta, Hungarians in Budapest were reacquainted with this older folklore, but not everyone liked it.  Professional musicians in the State Ensemble refused to play it, calling it "manure on the boots" music (i.e., it was so real one could smell the barnyard), but the students couldn't stand the music of the state ensembles.  (To get an idea of how they felt, imagine contra and square dancers in the U.S. only being able to dance to the music of Aaron Copland.)

By the 1990's, though, Táncház ("dance house") groups were set up all over Hungary, with students doing all the dances for their own pleasure, not for performance.  Transylvanian dances, because of their energetic, complex nature and somewhat "bluesy" music were the most popular, yet the urban Hungarian Transylvanians themselves were slow to pick up on the new movement, largely because of local political pressures.  Üsztürü’s unique achievement is that it came together in Transylvania’s largest city to ensure the survival of this great music.  We are especially fortunate in St. Louis to hear this music presented with the dances it was intended to accompany.  Don't miss it!

For further information please contact Diana Blanchard at 314-726-5737 or diana.blanchard@att.net, or Rex or Nancy Couture at 314-275-8228 or .