Hungarian State Folk Ensemble

SONG OF THE STAG

Poetry in Dance

The stag is a universally recognized, ancient cultural-historical symbol, whose annually renewed antlers represent eternal recreation. The stag, standing by the gate to a golden path, beckons us to follow him into our own spirit world. He is the demon, the shaman, the wizard, the fairy, the King of the Dead, able to call any hunter into another world – a new world.

We, the hunters of the 21st century, hoping to traverse the void from subordination to freedom, experience the Song of the Stag as a sort of mythical memory. Thirsting, we look to the heavens for the images of earthly stories and occurrences, that through them, we might enter our own sacred spaces. To cross that symbolic bridge we must leave behind what we know – our homes, our loved ones, our people – so that, having brought to heel the witness they bear, we may recreate the old patterns and be ourselves reborn.

The tales told here are of the quest of humankind, its ever-changing condition, its desires, the metamorphoses of man and woman, the turning points of heart and mind, the state that exists between death and rebirth, timelessness. What sustains the shared roots sleeping deep within us is walked in the steps of a dance, is written in lyric phrases, is sung in choral song. Is remembered. Is pronounced.

For change is a gift, the path to discovering ourselves, the hope of finding our place in the universe!

Death, birth, transformation, love, time, and faith: all are eternal human questions. So that humanity might gain the ability to recreate itself, “it drinks not from the cup, but from the clear spring”. The beginning and the end are one: it is this dramatic quality that breeds the strength to sustain our past, encoded in our folklore, as our only hope for spiritual renewal.

With the creative strength of poetic dance, with the theatrical truth of the motion of birth and death, we proclaim a tale of sacred transubstantiation, of finding strength in faith, and, as heirs of the poet Attila József, of the communal soul that pervades the world:

 

„It drinks from the waters of the sky,

Light emanating from its glinting antlers–

The reflection of its pronged glory,

Is the universe of stars eternal.”

 

Performed by: The Dance Ensemble and Orchestra of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble,
with Beáta Czébely (harmonium)

Soloists: Ágnes Herczku, Gabriella Tintér, Milán Hetényi

 

Composed by: László Kelemen

Choreographers: Orza Calin, Dezső Fitos, Rita Furik, Zsolt Juhász, Enikő Kocsis, Gábor Mihályi

Costume designer: Rita Furik

Lighting and scenery: Gerzson Péter Kovács

Dramaturgy: Boglárka Prezsmer

 

Director-choreographer: Gábor Mihályi

 

A joint production of the Hungarian Heritage House, the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble and the National Dance Theatre.

 

Conductors: István Pál, Ferenc Radics

Dance company leader: Richárd Kökény

Assistant leaders: Beatrix Borbély, Katalin Jávor, Péter Varga

 

Art director: Gábor Mihályi

 

 

Technical rider