SOMOGY DANCE ENSEMBLE
HUNGARY, KAPOSVÁR
PREFACESomogy Dance Ensemble is a 75-year-old Hungarian folklore ensemble and is member of CIOFF. It has also qualified several times in different qualification systems for folk dancing.
Should you have any question about our Ensemble, please don't hesitate to contact us! 
INTRODUCTION Somogy Dance Ensemble was established in 1949 and it has been active since then. Its name was given after county Somogy, which is located in Transdanubia, the South-Western part of Hungary. County Somogy is well known for its lake called Balaton. Its centre is Kaposvár, where the ensemble is working.
The dancers are mainly students from secondary schools and universities.
The artistic work of the ensemble involves collecting and staging authentic folk dances and also creating thematic and contemporary choreographies. The new generation of dancers is provided by the folk dancers of Együd Árpád Art Educational Institution which was established by the Folk Group in 1996 and has about 300 pupils. According to the latest qualification system, the ensemble was qualified as "Outstanding" by the most important professional jury in Hungary multiple times.
The group has represented Hungarian culture beyond the country several times: in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in Asia and in Africa.
The artistic work of the ensemble is supported by a public foundation.
REPERTOIREThe Ensemble's folklore repertoire consists of many pieces covering dances, music and culture of different small regions all over of the Carpathian Basin. Due to the encounter of many nationalities, and the long, eventful history, the Hungarian folklore culture shows such a variation which is unique among other countries. Costumes, dances and the music can be very different even in neighbouring villages.
Our repertoire tries to show a slice of this huge assortment.
SOMOGY BAND All the choreographies are accompanied by live folklore music performed by the Somogy Band.
The members of Somogy Band got involved in folk music and folk dance mostly during the second half of the seventies and have accompanied the ensemble since then. The profile of the band includes a variety of activities; besides musical accompaniment of folk dance groups, arranging dance halls and presentations about musical instruments, and keeping educational lectures. There has been a tight relationship between the band and the world of theatre since the middle of the nineties. The musicians have taken part in composing and playing the music for several successful plays.
Some of the members are qualified teachers of folk music and so they are educating the next generation all over the county Somogy.
The band is using a variety of instruments during its performances and concerts: violin, Stroh violin, viola, double bass, bagpipe, zither, revolving lute, lyre, jaw harp, tamburica, tambura viola, hit gardon, tapan, various shepherd's flutes and other sound-producing devices.
PAST FESTIVALSSome festivals the Ensemble has been attended in the past years: 2010. Germany - Glinde, France - Saint Sebastien, 2011. France - Saumur, France – Noyon, 2013. France – Bray Dunes, 2014. Italy – Aviano, 2015. Spain – Zaragosa, 2016. Denmark - Vejle, 2017. Belgium - Schoten, 2018. Poland - Plock, 2019. Greece - Kavala, 2022 - France, Dijon.
CONTACT
Gabor Csikvar
+36 20 / 956-8076
Turi Endre
+36 30 / 498-3183
Mate Koch
+36 20 / 979-5411
7400 Kaposvár, Csokonai u. 1.
+36 82 / 512-774
somogytanc@gmail.com
www.somogytanc.com
H-7401 Kaposvár, Pf.: 93. HUNGARY
PICTURES The following pictures were taken in October 2012 at a village museum near to our town, Kaposvar.
Please see the PRESS MATERIAL section for downloadable, high resolution photos.
VIDEOS The videos below show some extracts of our folklore performances. For more videos of both folklore and contemporary performances, please check out our channel on youtube: somogytancegyuttes.
PRESS MATERIAL The logo of the Ensemble and the pictures are the property of the Ensemble, protected by copyright laws. Using them is possible only with the permission of the Ensemble.
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