Musics of the World – Report on Hungarian Dance

Douglas Moraes, Erasmus student

I had never really been in touch with Hungarian culture, as I also have
never been to Hungary yet, so the Hungarian dance night was a quite enriching
– and fun – experience. I had never seen that kind of dance, which is very
different from the ones in my own culture, and trying to learn and do it was
somewhat challenging.
I really enjoyed the fact that it was a collective and group dance, and I
admit I preferred when we were not in couples, as I am really not a good
dancer, but it was a nice challenge. It was funny to realize how I was not the
only one struggling, and the change of partners allowed me to share very
positive moments with both colleagues and strangers.
The moves accompanied by shouting demanded that we put our
shyness aside, at least if we were to experience it fully. Some steps, and even
the melody, carried some aggressiveness in themselves, and so the whole
dance defied the more introverted ones, what was also part of the richness of
that night. It was just a pity we could not shout in Hungarian, as most of us,
myself included, had not a clue of the language, and suddenly trying it there
would be very difficult.
When it comes to side aspects of the dance, the environment was well
set, but it was clearly small for our whole group plus people from other places,
and the room got quite hot very quickly. In other activities like that, perhaps it
would be a good idea to try to plan them along with the event administration, as
to make sure everything can go more smoothly.