After a long and serious illness, György Szakály, Kossuth and Liszt Ferenc Award-winning dancer, Meritorious and Excellent Artist, master artist and lifetime member of the Hungarian State Opera, ballet director, lifetime member of the Society of the Immortals, and former rector of the Hungarian Dance University, passed away at the age of 70. The Hungarian Dance University considers this prominent figure of Hungarian cultural life as its own deceased.
György Szakály was born in Nyíregyháza on December 15, 1955. After graduating from the State Ballet Institute, the predecessor of the Hungarian University of Dance Arts, he received a scholarship to the world-renowned Vaganova Ballet Academy in Leningrad. Upon returning home, he joined the corps de ballet of the Hungarian State Opera in 1977, became a soloist in 1981, and a principal dancer in 1982. In 1983, he was named the best dancer of the season. From 1985, he performed as a guest soloist at the Dortmund Opera, and from 1988 at the Bonn Opera, where he also served as first soloist. Throughout his career, he appeared as a guest performer in Sydney, Berlin, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Washington, and France. In 1986, the Hungarian Television produced a portrait film about the talented young dancer, choreographed by Viktor Róna.
As an active dancer, György Szakály could be seen by audiences in a variety of roles, from the princes in major classical ballets such as Giselle, The Nutcracker, and Swan Lake, to the Male in Béjart’s Quatre Derniers Chansons and the Chosen Youth in Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring). He also frequently appeared in works by Hungarian choreographers: as Spartacus in László Seregi’s Spartacus, the lead in The Miraculous Mandarin, and as Judas in Antal Fodor’s The Rehearsal. Beyond ballet, he explored the musical theatre genre, performing for many years in multiple roles in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats.
As a choreographer, he was responsible for numerous productions, including The Death of a Faun, West Side Story, The Jungle Book, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Emil and the Detectives, and The Three Musketeers.
During his active career as a dancer, he earned a ballet master’s diploma from what was then the Hungarian College of Dance Arts and also completed the choreography program at the University of Theatre and Film Arts.
In 1991, he was appointed artistic director, and later ballet director, of the Budapest Opera Ballet, leading the company for three years.
From 2003, he taught classical ballet at the Hungarian Dance University, and in 2008, he was appointed university professor by the President of Hungary. From 2006, he directed the Institute for Dance Artists within the Hungarian College of Dance Arts, and two years later he was named vice-rector for education. After the death of Zoltán Nagy Jr., he accepted the position of rector in 2011. In his leadership application, he identified his primary goal as bringing Hungarian dancer and teacher training, as well as choreography and dance theory education, to a world-class level, a mission he pursued with the institution’s faculty at a high standard.
One of György Szakály’s main goals was to ensure that dance education, like other artistic disciplines, would be offered at the university level. The transformation of the Hungarian College of Dance Arts into a university—which was realized in 2018—was largely attributed to his efforts.
In addition to teaching dance and leading institutions, he was actively involved in professional public life. From 2008, he served as vice president of the Hungarian Association of Professional Dance and Ballet Companies, which had split from the Hungarian Dancers’ Association. Between 2012 and 2014, he also held the rotating presidency of the Council of Rectors of Arts Universities (MERSZ), the joint association of Hungary’s five higher arts education institutions.
In recognition of his artistic work, in addition to the awards already mentioned, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit in 2009 and received the Middle Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit in 2014.
The passing of György Szakály is a tremendous loss for Hungarian cultural life, the ballet community, and the Hungarian Dance University. To his peers, colleagues, students, and friends, he was a defining personality, a true MASTER.
The Hungarian Dance University considers György Szakály as one of its own deceased. Arrangements for his funeral will be made at a later date.
