About our project

If you look at our dance, you hear the words of our heart.”

About the Grant

EEA Financing Mechanisms 2009-2014 PA16 

Conservation and revitalization of cultural and natural heritage Preservation of rural cultural and natural heritage

What are the objectives of the Grants?

The EEA and Norway Grants are financial mechanisms established by Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The Donor States are not members of the European Union, but are members of the European Economic Area (EEA). Therefore they do not contribute financially to the common policies of the EU, but thinking in terms of solidarity they help reducing the differences between the countries of the European Economic Area with these separate Grants. The overall objectives of the EEA and Norway Grants are reduction of economic and social disparities and strengthening bilateral relations between the Donor States and the beneficiary states, including Hungary. The beneficiary states of the Norway Grants are the 13 states that joined the European Union since 2004; the EEA Grants additionally gives support to Greece, Spain and Portugal.

About the project

The title of the project

Norwegian-Hungarian Ballet course in Hungary, at the Hungarian Dance Academy

The aim of the Hungarian National Ballet Foundation (later on: Foundation) 

is to support young, talented choreographers and dance artists by contributing to their professional development, moreover, by providing them performance opportunities. Ballet has a significant tradition in Hungary and their ambassadors have successfully made it known both within Hungary and also at an international level. Moreover, they were not only focusing on the classical branch but also on the other branches of art dancing. Our Foundation believes that cooperation with foreign institutions contributes to the professional development of the artists, not only by enabling performances abroad but also by learning the different techniques and styles from each other. Since the beginning, the Foundation has organized several study tours for talented artists, performance opportunities abroad and foreign guest artists’ invitations as well. These programs help developing and popularizing the Hungarian ballet, moreover, maintaining the high level and variety of the performed pieces.

The aim of the project

In the framework of this project we would like to initiate a tradition that would enable us to invite guest artists from year to year in order to have different courses and workshops that could potentially lead to a joint performance, where the choreography, the rehearsal and the realization is developed together. According to our plans, at the beginning we would like to invite the tutors and students from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (Kunsthøgskoleni Oslo), and from the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst).The planned program for this period would be the following. During the school year of 2016/17 (based on previous agreements with the parties) we would like to hold courses and workshops at the Hungarian Dance Academy that would last for 12-14 days. During these two weeks long workshop Hungary’s leading ballet artists would be holding classes to the student of the Oslo National Academy, Frankfurt University and to the students of the Hungarian Dance Academy. The detailed description of the program is the following: – Joint ballet and other dance classes held by Hungarian and Norwegian ballet tutors – Masterclass type of courses held by well-known Hungarian ballet artists – Introspection to the Hungarian folk-dance (folk-dance classes, visiting traditional Hungarian “dance houses”, invitation to folklore plays) – Rehearsing and performing a great piece from the Hungarian ballet repertoire – László Seregi & Ernő Dohnányi: Változatok egy gyermekdalra (Variations for a Nursery Rhyme) – Rehearsing other Hungarian choreographers’ pieces(for Norwegian / German students) and Norwegian/German choreographers’ pieces (to Hungarian students) – Professional roundtable discussions – Joint leisure-time and professional programs for the students (watching Hungarian dance pieces and having discussions and analysis about them) – Public performances at the end of the two-weeks long program at the Hungarian Dance Academy (at the ifj. Nagy Zoltán Theater room)

With our project we wish to create a new tradition, which enables more and more nations to get an insight to each other’s culture in more depth and thus enable them to grow their own national artistic values. The workshop would enable the invitation of foreign guest artists with whom new choreographies could be created and performed.

The desired outcome of the project is to provide an opportunity for the participating national and foreign guest artists to get to know each other’s tradition, culture and working methods throughout the choreographies that they create during the two weeks long workshop.

Results

In February 2017, our workshop has been held at the Hungarian Dance Academy with the contribution of the guest artists from the Oslo National Academy of Arts and from the Slovenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre, moreover, with the contribution of Mark Spradling, dancer and choreographer of the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts.

During the workshop the national and the foreign guest students rehearsed together with the help and guidance of the ballet masters.

During the journey to get to know each other’s culture, several programs held at the National Dance Academy have been made open for the public; introductory pieces performed by the Norwegian and the Hungarian students, Hungarian “táncház” introducing the elements of the traditional Hungarian folkdance, as well as a session dedicated to get to know the gipsy dance and culture.

The result of the two weeks long workshop has been presented at the MOM Cultural Centre before 300 spectators. The audience gave the young artists an ovation at the end of the performance.

We are proud that the goal of the ballet workshop got realised without residues!

Basic data of the project

Project title in English Norwegian-Hungarian balett course in Hungray, at the Hungarian Dance Academy
Projekt Promoter Hungarian National Ballet Foundation
Programme Operator Prime Minister’s Office
Deputy State Secretariat for Cultural Heritage Protection 
Project duration  /Implementation period 2016.05.02 – 2017.04.11.
Total budget (EUR) 35 351,66 EUR
EEA/Norwegian Grant (EUR) 32 597,96 EUR