On Wednesday afternoon, on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, László Krasznahorkai received the Nobel Prize in Literature in Stockholm.
The Hungarian writer was awarded the prize for his ‘astonishing and visionary body of work, which — amid apocalyptic dread — reaffirms the power of art.’
The Hungarian Dance University hereby congratulates the Hungarian author on this outstanding recognition.
At the ceremony, the Hungarian writer was praised by Professor Anders Olsson, member of the Swedish Academy and chair of the Nobel Committee for Literature. His whole speech can be read here.
The most prestigious international distinction in science and literature was presented to the laureates by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at the grand ceremony held in the Stockholm Concert Hall.
The leadership and entire community of the Hungarian Dance University, as one of the defining institutions of Hungarian cultural life and a representative of one of its major sister arts, is proud of the recognition awarded to our country’s outstanding artist.
How do these two art forms — dance and literature — meet? Well, the examples are countless, but fortunately there is a very recent work inspired precisely by the stories of the newly awarded Hungarian Nobel laureate, Seiobo. In Noémi Kulcsár’s piece titled Seiobo, students of the university also perform.
In her premiere, Noémi Kulcsár — recipient of the Harangozó Prize — interprets the texts of László Krasznahorkai’s Seiobo There Below, a collection of short stories that earned him the Man Booker International, the Kossuth, the Prima Primissima, and now the Nobel Prize, through the language of dance.
In this performance, which mediates between Hungarian and Japanese as well as traditional and contemporary cultures, students of the university appear alongside the dancers of Tellabor, and Kitti Hajszán — a permanent artist of Tellabor and a faculty member of the university — also makes her debut as a choreographer.
The premiere took place on 18 January 2025 at the National Dance Theatre, but the performance can still be seen, it will next be presented on 13 January 2026.
Anyone interested in the piece and in the coexistence of the two art forms is encouraged to attend the performance.
Congratulations to László Krasznahorkai on his Nobel Prize in Literature!
