I am not sure who was more excited, the children in the auditorium or me right before the opening of the 6th Children’s Dance Festival. I guess it was actually me. :)

I had at least two good reasons to be thrilled. Firstly, I haven’t seen live dance shows for quite a while, secondly, the fact that Maszkabál (Fancy Dress Ball) by the Ballet Company of Győr was choreographed to the music of Vilmos Gryllus. I am very partial to his songs, always taking me to magical, playful worlds and I have the feeling that this is exactly what drew László Velekei to create his latest piece for the young audience.

On stage, there is a big wardrobe, the centre of all things magical (warning: it is not the doorway to Narnia!). Playful costumes appear, strange and funny creatures come to life: the clown, the ladybird, the cat, the witch, the chimney sweep, the tiger. A whole bunch of flowers dance and so does the mushroom, then the knight and the dragon fight. I feel I am a child again while singing the songs, and happy to see that I am not the only one to do so. Back in my hotel room, I find myself standing in front of the wardrobe, expecting something surprising to jump out of it.

Reading a fairy tale is good. Playing a fairy tale is even better! Nookville, Act Out a Fairy Tale with Us! by The Symptoms gave us the chance to experience it. On the second day of the Children’s Dance Festival, the courtyard of the Apátúr House was transformed into a playground twice. First in a private show, performed for a foundation helping children with special needs and disabilities, and then for the wider audience.

It is very easy to get to Nookville. All you need to do is to grab the storyteller’s skirt. Arriving there you will find a robot, a ragdoll, a sleepyheaded giant among other peculiar characters. Similarly to most fairy tales, the main heroes, in this case, the children – have to hit the road and find the lost princess. The performers become caves through which the kids have to crawl or they may turn into cliffs that need to be conquered. Playing, singing, dancing even a pillow fight are included in the great adventure which naturally ends in finding and saving the princess. It was such a joy to watch the children moving through the story and I have to admit I couldn’t stop myself from peeking into Nookville’s cosy hut.

The 6th Children’s Dance Festival closed with Noémi Kulcsár Tellabor’s The Carnival of the Animals where two little voles go on a journey through seasons and faraway lands, encountering different animals. The well-known piece of Camille Saint-Saëns can be heard throughout the play but there are other musical elements involved as well, giving space for a brand new story to evolve. The big screen in the back reveals the changes of days and nights, seasons, landscapes so we are always aware of where the voles are heading. The white pieces of the set, resembling beanbags playfully turn into a trap, a shed, pillows and even a snowman. However, the show is not only fun and laughter. One of the saddest moments for me was seeing the dying swan with its leg trapped in a plastic bottle… That is not a fairy tale but reality. But all’s well that ends well. At the end of the show, the children could learn the movements of different animals as seen in the show. The Carnival of Animals turned into the ball of the young audience as the stage was filled with little dancing frogs, deers, tortoises, swans and voles.

The Hungarian Dance Festival’s mini-festival was founded with the aim of introducing dance art to children, bringing up a new generation who could be dancers, artists or art-loving audiences. However, I believe it is also beneficial for adults who tend to forget to play, as these shows speak to their inner children.

Photos by Béla Szabó