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Hungarian Folk Dance Class for Children (Ages 3-8)

March 10, 2020, 5:45 pm - 6:35 pm

Regular Hungarian folk dance class for children age 3-8 is held at the Hungarian House of New York. Children’s folk games are part of the dance sessions, to make it even more interesting and colorful.

Registration and further information: [email protected]

Admission: $10

Instructors: Adam Ujlaki (KCSP intern) & Ildikó Nagy

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Hungarian Folk Dance Class for Children (Ages 3-8) vary from one occasion to the next but generally consist of the following elements: folk games, folk dance,bringing folk customs to life which tie in with given holidays of the year.

The socializing role folk games play is invaluable. Folk games provide an occasion for children to play – not with machines or sophisticated gadgets – but with each other.

An important attribute of folk culture is that it places emphasis on participation by all, experiencing something for yourself as opposed to presenting a show on stage, or as part of an exhibition; so it is not passive or simply asking for your receptivity rather it is an active, creative, hands-on art form.

The games are a response to everyday life, having to do with the stuff of our daily lives, (plants, animals, togetherness, holiday times, seasons of the year, weather) and place these phenomena in context for children.

Children themselves created these games as they themselves liked in a world and period of time when a person’s daily life was not ruled by his/her connection to technology.

Indirectly games allow for emotional learning: likes and dislikes are formed and children learn how to deal with these.

Games aim to provide a communal experience.They play a socializing role, allowing children to practice their mother tongue, which is especially important in American Hungarian diaspora communities, and beyond that: develop a sense of rhythm, an ear for music, better physical coordination as well as other skills, such as greater skill in handling a ball.

A game is a means of interacting with others, wherein the child learns cooperation, how to handle situations in which he is the winner, or, as the case may be, the loser. The child learns teamwork and simply how to play together with others.

“Singing is practically outlawed in schools today. Yet song sets up an abode for muses in the soul of a child. Singing is a child’s instinctive, natural language, and the younger a child is, the more he/she yearns to move to the tune. Music and movement are intrinsically linked: since ancient times a singing game under the open sky, has been the greatest joy in a child’s life. “  Zoltán Kodály