2023/24 Festive season

Artistic director Tamás Juronics and director András Echéry-Pataki have been leading jointly one of the Hungary’s most prestigious contemporary dance companies for 30 years.

Hence in this season of 2023/24 special meet and greets, photo exibitions, festive performances and children’s programmes await the dance fans at several locations in Szeged and at the National Dance Theatre Budapest in the capital.

Photo: Zoltán Tarnavölgyi

The first shows of the season which were also Carmina burana’s debut in Spain met great success and long ovations. The company first performed at the Auditorio Municipal Parque Almansa in San Javier, then carried on their tour to Mallorca to win the hearts of the audience at the Auditorium Palma de Mallorca. They continue their guest performances during fall and winter too: in October they perform in Helsinki, Finland four times and at the end of the year they start a 14-day tour in Belgium.

Photo: Zoltán Tarnavölgyi

The dancers returned to the ballet room in the beginning of August to start rehearsing Soul of Fire. The new dance play related to the Petőfi 200 event series debutes on the 10th of November at the National Theatre Szeged, the peculiarity of which is that five young hungarian composers create pieces for the company. The evening therefore includes 5 dance etudes, which are also made by different young choreographers. Based on Tamás Juronics’s concept, the pieces are in accordance with 5 different poems of Petőfi and are accompanied live on stage by the Szeged Symphony Orchestra.

Photo: Bálint Hirling

During the second half of the season Black Swan’s premiere will take place locally and internationally as well. It is not Tamás Juronics’s first time to engage with the topic of the old russian folk tale and just as before, he is still researching the psychoanalytical depths of the story. Tchaikovsky’s first ballet music is about the struggles hidden deep in the soul, the battle between good and evil and it undertakes to capture the symbolism and spirituality of the black swan.

The company started this season with three new members: Adrienn Nyeste, Giordana Marzocchi and Csongor Füzesi are the new dancers.

Photo: Graziano Bongiovanni

This year they continue performing the plays debuted last year - Fire: The House of Bernarda Alba, Bolero, Carmen and Lear – while Concerto evening: Concerto, Wilds, The saint remains on the repertoire. Of course in December the children’s favourite dance plays, The Nutcracker and Cinderella return to the stage, while there will be numerous Carmina burana performances throughout the season as well.

Our exclusive interview with Tamás Juronics and András Echéry-Pataki can be read on the kultúra.hu website.

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