Smooth Demonstration in Hungary

[reb]

One of the highlights for us this winter-time was being asked to give a presentation of Smooth style ballroom dance in Hungary.

1. First, thanks to Juci, Borbala's Dance Mom, who arranged the whole event - Borbala was returning among her former peers and teachers.
2. Second, thanks to Szamos, who lent me his shoes and suspenders (he was a teenage partner of Borbala).

Some observations to share:

• Szamos teaches 100s of young people as part of group classes
• Almost all of the participants were young ladies - the few male dancers included the male teachers, and most males kept performing number after number, much as we would find in the States
• We performed in a stadium which had hosted IDSF events
• There were about 50 numbers danced that evening
  
• The styles danced included:
  • Ballroom
  • Folk (Hungarian, Ukranian, Greek)
  • Modern (Jazz, Hip-Hop, etc.)
  • Ballet
  • Salsa
  • Variations (including peanut 1, peanut2 . . .)
    

• While we were the surprise entry, there were also other teachers from outside Hungary:
  • Salsa instructors from Cuba (decent club level dancing) – he spoke English and she only spoke Spanish – neither spoke Hungarian
  • 2 Ukranian folk dance teachers from Ukraine
  • Tango dancers from Argentina

The Hungarians we met were extremely nice and complimentary.

• We heard repeatedly how much they enjoyed Smooth (from long-time friends of Borbala and her family who were not shy . . .)
• One young gentleman (the top Standard male) found me out afterwards and in English said that he “really liked your style” referring to Smooth
• Dance Mom, Juci, summed it up with “Your style is so free and much more expressive than Standard”

Afterwards we toured the local dance school. Impressive - it was a former elementary school - multiple floors, many classrooms, offices, etc., had ‘grounds’, exterior buildings, etc.

Pictures http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=15343&l=97754&id=536127005

 

[latingal]

reb, loved the picture album from Hungary! Must've been really cool to give the demo and meet Borbala's dance family! Sounds like it was good trip.

 

[waltzgirl]

Sounds wonderful! Congrats!

 

[ChelD]

What a great trip! Thanks for sharing the photos.

 

[etp777]

Very cool Reb. Thanks for sharing the story and the pictures.

 

[danceronice]

Thanks for the pictures--sounds like a great trip. Wish we had dance schools that size here! (And thanks for a picture of the best. Tourism poster. EVER.)

 

[star_gazer]

Great pictures. Looks like fun. Thanks.