During the masterclasses, students are exposed to techniques, perspectives, and expectations different from what they are used to. These sessions resemble audition experiences, preparing them for stepping out of the university and into the professional world.

It’s important to note that student feedback on the masterclasses organized at the University has been very positive, as “It’s always refreshing to work with students from different year groups and to hear the instructions of another master.”

One of the goals of the masterclasses is to introduce students to dance companies and artists through the masters themselves. Beyond professional development, these classes also offer excellent opportunities for networking. Ballet masters are always open to conversations and providing guidance to students. The invited ballet masters and artists have worked in numerous prestigious institutions and studios around the world, so by working closely with students, they can also offer valuable advice—helping young dancers discover which path might suit them best and where their talent and style could truly flourish.

In 2025, the following artists taught masterclasses at the Hungarian Dance University:

István Simon (Ballet Dortmund, Kremlin Ballet, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli), Mária Aradi (Dutch National Ballet, Hungarian National Ballet, Pécs Ballet, Hungarian Dance University), Denys Cherevychko (Vienna State Opera, Vienna State Ballet), Alexandra Kozmér (Harangozó Award-winning ballet artist, Hungarian National Ballet, Budapest Operetta Theatre), Marcella Ducsay (Illinois Ballet Academy, The Joffrey Ballet Academy, Texas Ballet Theater), and István Csekő (master teacher and neoclassical ballet dancer).

Thank you for your collaboration and professional guidance!

A Memorable masterclasses held at the Hungarian Dance University (video included) bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

For their outstanding work and exemplary careers, recognized artists and professionals received prestigious state awards again this year on the occasion of the National Day.

Borbála Blaskó, Harangozó Gyula Award-winning dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, and assistant professor at the Hungarian Dance University was awarded the Meritorious Artist of Hungary title.

Pál Csillag, ballet artist, ballet master, photographer, and master instructor at the Hungarian Dance University received the Hungarian Gold Cross of Merit (Civil Division) in recognition of his high-level work and exemplary activities.

Zoltán Schneider, staff member of the Hungarian Dance University was awarded the Hungarian Bronze Cross of Merit (Civil Division) in recognition of his outstanding activities.

Congratulations to all!

A Some of HDU’s staff received award on 15 March bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

Home is where the heart is. This is probably what was on Takashima Kentaro’s mind when he decided to return recently to his 75-year-old Alma Mater, the Hungarian Dance University (HDU) for a few days.

Takashima Kentaro at the HDU in 2015 (Photos by Pál Csillag)

Takashima Kentaro graduated at HDU in 2016, and he managed to establish his professional career here.

Szakály’s student is an experienced dancer: after graduating at HDU, he joined the Russian Mariinsky Theatre’s world-leading ballet ensemble, a strong brand in the art of dance, and now he is a freelance dancer is Japan.

Takashima Kentaro at the HDU in 2025

No wonder he has made a successful career as he gained his knowledge at a dance university that is located in the heart of Central Europe, in one of the most beautiful European cities, Budapest.

The Japanese ballet artist has nice memories of HDU, and he particularly liked the fact that while studying here, he had a lot of performances, which provided an excellent practical foundation for his ballet career.

Takashima Kentaro at the HDU in 2025

Kentaro Takashima’s another important memory of HDU is that during his university years, he not only had the opportunity to perform on stage in Hungary, but also travelled to several other European countries.

In his view, the strongest aspect of the university is the practical training and gaining experience. He also recalled that he quickly adapted to the Hungarian environment and rapidly became fond of the life in Budapest.

Takashima Kentaro with Zoltán Oláh Hungarian ballet artist and one of the masters of the university

Takashima told us that the education at the university truly prepares young people for their dance career, however, in comparison with his home country’s training institutions, HDU’s training portfolio is much broader, which is the university’s greatest value.

A Former HDU student Takashima Kentaro visited his Alma Mater that left a deep impression on him bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

The staff of the Directorate of Studies of the Hungarian Dance University and the international coordinator of the university, Nikolett Áder, had a lot of nice ideas for the university’s international students.

Participants decorated the Christmas tree, they had punch, a great bowl of fruit salad and an excellent kahoot quiz. The quiz focussed on the Christmas customs of the different nationalities. You can see the winners in the photo with the Nutcracker figurine.

The secret Santa draw was also memorable, where the person drawn had to write a nice Christmas message on a postcard.

The day ended with a film screening in the theatre hall, where the famous “Home alone” was on with lots of popcorn.

We wish everyone happy holidays!

A International students enjoy Christmas party bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

IT Dansa junior company trainees are Míra Éles and Ruslan Babácsi, while the Institut del Theatre modern graduating class scholarship holders are Léna Bondor, Dorka Imely, Hanna Mészáros and Rozi Kótai from HDU. During the two-month period, the students will have the opportunity to participate in various projects outside the university, at partner schools and with ensembles. This is an excellent opportunity for networking and networking development, as it gives the ensemble leaders a chance to assess the next generation, and the students have the opportunity to learn about the work of the ensembles from the stage and beyond. The Barcelona “group” is represented by Léna Bondor, who was interviewed.

How is life in Barcelona?

Six of us arrived in the city: two of us joined the IT Dansa Junior Company and four of us joined the modern graduating class of the Institut del Theatre. Practice takes place from 8:30 in the morning until 3:00 in the afternoon, and school runs until 8:00 at night, so we have a different schedule on weekdays. We always spend the weekends together, organising different activities. In two months, we have had time to get to know the whole city and culture.

How is your time spent at the ensemble different from your time at the university?

It’s completely different. While at home you get ballet and modern training alongside your repertory classes, here you’re mainly learning different pieces. Ballet classes are also held here every day, but everyone translates them into their own body language, as a kind of warm-up. Because of the different languages, communication was sometimes difficult, but in rehearsals we tried to speak English so that people who don’t speak Spanish or Catalan could understand. Communication with the ensemble managers went smoothly.

Do you have the basics to work for an ensemble?

Training here gives you a different perspective on dance. Even in ballet classes the difference was obvious, but over time we were able to pick up the culture of movement with some difficulty and some success, but we feel there are still a lot of gaps. Our goal is to make up for these by the time we start our career.

Who do you learn from?

At the school you can learn from the masters of the graduating class, including Mariana Giustina Baravelle, director of the Institut del Theatre. The modern classes are taught by Natalia Vinas Roig. We spent a week and a half with the 5th year class, so we were able to meet their masters. At the ensemble,  the director, Catherina Allard, monitors us every day and is personally present at rehearsals, showing her love for the dancers. The director, Mathilde Van De Meerendonk, is also very often at rehearsals, sometimes even attending ballet rehearsals. Nora Sitges-Sardà also plays an important role giving the dancers instructions during the learning of the pieces. The ballet classes also gave us the opportunity to meet several masters, including Sandra Marín, Jeanne Solan and Jamal Callender. As this is a Junior Company, dancers spend two years here before moving on to another ensemble, so there is a turnover of people each year and as a result, the members are more involved with the newcomers, providing lots of help in teaching the pieces. When everyone knows their role, they usually call in a choreographer who is in contact with either the piece or its creator and clears it up with the help of the company.

How regularly do you keep in touch with people back home?

We talk to our family members and friends on a daily basis, but we have also had people visit us for a few days. We also keep in touch with our classmates and masters.

How much of an opportunity is it for you to be in a new environment?

It was a great opportunity to get an insight into what is happening abroad and to work with many choreographers. We get a new perspective on the international dance scene. We also learn a lot of new dance techniques and styles.

Is it good or bad to know that your university years will soon be over? Maybe for the time being, but it’s coming to an end.

I have mixed feelings knowing that we are graduating this year. We loved our university years, but we are excited about what the future holds. This programme is a perfect conclusion, but it is also a start of a new life after university.

Has this opportunity helped you to better and more easily integrate into dance?
We have experienced what it is like to be taught in a language other than our mother tongue and what it is like to live and study away from home. We have developed a lot and met many people who work in the dance scene.

A HDU students on scholarship in Barcelona bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

You have worked as a ballet master at the Hungarian Dance University for almost ten years. Can you remember back to how it started?

I was still studying for my master’s degree and actively dancing when my former master, György Szakály, the rector of the university at the time, offered me a job as an assistant. It used to be common practice for young ballet master candidates not to be given their own class straight away, but to first study under the guidence of an experienced master. Something similar happened to me. I enjoyed that year very much because I didn’t have so much responsibility on my shoulders right away, at first, I just had to watch and learn alongside my master. Over time, I was able to hold warm-up exercises, rehearsals, substitute for different classes, and I was given more and more tasks. A year later, when I got my diploma as a ballet master, I also got my first class.

What happened next?

I started to find my own way. I worked for two years with the first modern class. I was able to lead them through to the qualification exam, which was a huge honour and confidence on the one hand with so little experience behind me, and on the other hand a big challenge I wanted to overcome. I (also) learned a lot from Katalin Lőrinc during that period, as she took me on as her “squire” as the leader of the year. She listened to me and asked for my opinion on matters concerning the year group, and helped, supported and encouraged me saying that I was up to the task. I was able to bring out the best in myself at the time.

Fotók: Csillag Pál

Since then you have had another graduating class…

Yes. In September 2018, I was invited to become the Head of Year for theatrical dance. I was faced with another big challenge, as this was the first year of this course. We had a lot of work to do, we had to find the purpose of this specialisation at the university, we had to tread the path. Together with Attila Kalmár, the Head of the Department, we started to lay the foundations. It was a very trying three years – and then there was the Covid-19 pandemic as well – and at the end of it we were rewarded with a successful exam concert and many contract offers. I’ve been following who’s going where and what they’re doing ever since. We have a very good relationship.

How is your current graduating modern dance year different from the previous two?

My current cohort started their studies at the university during the coronavirus pandemic. They spent their first year – with three different ballet masters – online, and then suddenly they were in the ballet classroom, now as second-year students. Many had come to this course from ballet classes, some without any previous studies. I wanted us to accept each other, to have a common goal, and to move forward together, slowly, step by step. First I wanted to gain their trust, to show that with hard work, diligence and of course a little bit of luck, wherever we came from, however we started, we can move forward. After our first year together, the team changed, we had to say goodbye to several people, more joined us, and finally we formed what I call Sunny Dance Company. Consciously, with a lot of work, step by step, we built up together where we are now, in the last year of school, on the threshold of graduation.

Were there any changes or innovations you did differently this year?

They are the third generation in the history of the modern years of our university to have the opportunity to spend a full semester in the first semester of their fifth year, known as an internship. This means that in these few months they can spend time outside the university, working with partner schools or ensembles on various projects. They can get a taste of the professional dance scene at home and abroad. In preparation for this, last year we launched a programme called “Masterclass”, similar to the system tried out with our joint class with Master Katalin Lőrinc, during which the fourth-year students could get to know Hungarian companies, company managers and choreographers in one or more sessions. I think this is a very good opportunity for networking and relationship building, as it gives the company leaders a chance to assess the next generation, and the students have the opportunity to learn about he work of the companies not only from the stage, but also from the hall. Our collaboration with János Feledi was also an important milestone last year, as the whole year group had the opportunity to participate in the creation of a new piece, which was successfully performed at Müpa Budapest.

What are your plans for this year? How are you preparing for the end-of-year final exam?

We are lucky because , with the help of the Tempus Public Foundation, the Pannonia Scholarship Programme, my students are the first to have the opportunity to spend a few months abroad. Many of them wanted to take advantage of this opportunity and I wanted to help them. So last spring I took a deep breath and started to revive, explore and build international contacts. The energy I invested has paid off, with three of our students spending most of their time at home and fourteen of our students spending shorter periods of time at institutions, dance programmes and companies abroad. After that, from January, we will dive into the preparation period for the end-of-year exams, the details of which I will not reveal yet…

What is your personal goal this year?

As much as I can, I want to help everyone to achieve their own goals. It’s my job to open the doors, but it’s up to my listeners to decide which ones to enter. At the beginning of every academic year, I look for an idea that best reflects what I want to achieve as a teacher in that academic year and from which I can draw strength. This year I chose the following Eastern wisdom:

“One day a disciple asked his master, ‘Master! How long must we wait before things get better? The master replied: “If we wait, my son, we shall wait a long time…”

In our series of articles, we introduce the students of the year in the environment where they spend their traineeship.

A Before graduation at home and abroad with the „modern dancers” bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

During the evening, students presented the results of nine years of hard work and struggle, guided and facilitated by the university’s outstanding faculty. The performance was particularly good to see, considering the fact that all the graduating students have already been offered career options and job opportunities by great companies.

As masters Mónika Barna and József Medvecz had said earlier, the programme of the exam concert reflects the talent and diversity of the students and the exemplary cohesiveness of the class. The graduating students have, as they say, been a great bunch of friends over the years. They have formed a real team and now it is almost painful to see it all ending.

The university hosted the first Budapest Ballet Grand Prix international ballet competition in 2023, and two of the winners, the Portuguese Núria Fernandes and José Barbeiro also performed at the evening. The Hungarian Dance University aims to create a tradition, not only to strengthen international relations, but also to enhance international popularity and recognition.

As written earlier, the last performance will be staged at the Opera on 23 June.

Graduating students:

Katarina Bužić, Katalin Csenge Csipán, Janka Dobra, Attila Sámuel Gáspár, Getta-Giuriato Marco Giuseppe, Hataishi Iyo, Kazama Ruka, Kamill Kökény-Hámori, Glória Szabó, Márk Szatmári, Saito Hiraku and Yonei Momona.

A Successful preview of classical ballet exam concert given at the National Dance Theatre bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

Maybe few know that it is a real problem that fewer boys than expected are applying to the university to become dancers.

This is surprising, because there are many good examples demonstrating that the dance profession is more than just a full-time career for boys. Even if you are pursuing a serious artistic career, but also if your life takes a different direction.

János Kiss, Kossuth Prize-winning ballet dancer, choreographer, distinguished artist, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Hungarian Dance University, one of the “inventors”, founding member and director of the 40-year-old Győr Ballet Company, and Vice President of the Hungarian Art Academy (MMA) believes that dance and the training programme that leads to it unleashes serious knowledge and extraordinary energy in young people.

In his view, the best reason why a young boy should become a dance artist is because the art of dance teaches you a sense of discipline and a serious body awareness. It involves rhythm and awareness, and the ability to learn stays with you for the rest of your life.

As he says: “The art of dance is concentration, discipline, a sense of beauty and literacy.”

He also believes that if you learn to dance, you will be able to take a stand in many other areas of life. Dancing is a very-very good thing. If you want to show yourself to the world, if you like to live in a community, you will not only find your place with dancers, but you will feel at home.

“Interestingly enough, while there are apparently limits to dancing, there are in fact no limits in the world of dance. I have many great colleagues who started out as, say, classical dancers and became great contemporary dancers”, he adds.

János Kiss confirms that the Hungarian Dance University and the campus offers children great conditions. Even visitors from abroad, not only those who participated in the Budapest Ballet Grand Prix, are amazed at how beautiful the campus is.

He is confirmed that the Hungarian Dance University has a well-structured education offering not only performing arts, but students can also choose a career as a teacher, and those who apply to the university can become anything from a rehearsal director to a choreographer.

The Hungarian Dance University is open for applications for the Classical Ballet and Folk Dance degree. You can find the details HERE.

Photo by Pál Csillag

A János Kiss says taking up dancing was the best choice in his life bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

Péter Ertl, Director of the National Dance Theatre, has agreed with the companies coming to Hungary that their directors and dancers will hold a workshop or master class, which, due to the strong relationship between the two institutions, will also be open to students of the Hungarian Dance University.

Photo: Nuovo Balletto di Toscana

It line with plans, that the Italian Nuovo Balletto di Toscana will make its debut in the Great Hall on 27 and 28 April 2024, the Cuban Acosta Danza on 4 and 5 May and the Finnish Susanna Leinonen Company on 10 May.

As described in the introduction, the institution has agreed with the companies that their leaders or dancers will hold a workshop or master class during their time in Budapest.

It is a great opportunity for students to participate in these events and meet well-known artists. This is a chance for young people to discover other fresh and contemporary styles, to build professional contacts and draw attention to themselves.

Péter Ertl, Director of the National Dance Theatre

Based on the current negotiations, the workshops will be held in the ifj. Zoltán Nagy Theatre Hall at the Hungarian Dance University and the National Dance Theatre. More details will be available later.

The Rector of the Hungarian Dance University, Márta Fodor-Molnár welcomed the opportunity.

“On behalf of the students of the university, I am very grateful for this opportunity. I am particularly thankful that the National Dance Theatre always keeps our university in mind. This is a great chance for the students to make development.”

Cover photo: Susanna Leinonen Company

A Workshop for leading companies to be held in Budapest bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity and apply now! As a bonus, you will receive a discount coupon for this year’s competition!

Our course is thrilled to welcome young dancers aged 14-24 from all over the world who are studying in a professional training environment.

 We are excited to welcome you!

A INTERNATIONAL SUMMER INTENSIVE BALLET COURSE bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.