In the operetta titled “Me and My Little Brother”, the students of the university did a great job. Moreover, with their high-quality work, professional and enthusiastic performance, they contributed greatly to the success of the performance, as reported by Szilárd Macher DLA, who attended the performance. The Director of the Institute of Dance Artistic Training underlined the following:

“Director-choreographer Attila Király gave the dancers very demanding and colourful choreographies and dramaturgically important scenes (far from being just extras or live sets dancing to the numbers), so I am sure that this professional practice will contribute significantly to the students’ development.”

Photos by Zoltán Sipos

In their speeches after the premiere, director Crespo Rodrigo, director-choreographer Attila Király and director Sándor Guelmino also praised the dancers and thanked them for their contribution. Gábor Németh, assistant to the choreographer, was also greatly satisfied with the work process.

Congratulations to our students!

A Successful premiere in Tatabánya with HDU students bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

In connection with the Gala Concert and the concluding five-day event, Tamás Nagy, Chairman of the Artistic Council of the Hungarian Dance University, BBGP’s Competition Director was interviewed.

Photos by Adrienne Horváth (HDU)

“The Gala Concert started after the award ceremony with a gala performance given by the Hungarian Dance University. In agreement with the university’s Rector Fodor-Molnár Márta, I think that as organisers, we should show the unique range of training that our university has as the only one in Europe. The folk dancers really touched the hearts of the audience.

Then, for 40 minutes, everyone could see the high quality of this year’s competition. To be honest, it was very difficult for the jury to decide beforehand, because we had so many great ballet artists and it was already at the final and later on that small nuances decided between the participants.”

When asked how the competition could develop for the third one to be held in 2025, the competition director, a former soloist with the Dutch National Ballet who performed in the United States, France, Italy and Germany, said the goal is different now.

“I think that the organisation of the competition has reached the standard that should be maintained. Of course, there is always room for improvement, but we have received excellent feedback. As for the ballet aspect, I feel better every day. Having seen the high-quality performances after the final, we struggled with the confusion of abundance when putting together the gala programme. Our goal of bringing excellent ballet artists from many countries to our country was achieved.

I think everyone has seen and experienced that we are organising a really high-quality ballet competition. We need to repeat this year after year, and then more and more people will want to visit us. The most important thing now is to give young and talented competitors a chance, and all the conditions were there. This is important for the university and for all the participants who come here. Our most important goal is the development of young ballet artists.”

The Gala was a great success at the sold-out performance in Müpa Budapest, which could be sensed form the applause. During the evening, special prizes were awarded, and the winners were congratulated.  The importance and value of the prizes were emphasised by Tamás Nagy, who said that a scholarship or an invitation can influence the whole career of a ballet artist, because it gives him or her the opportunity to develop and to be noticed by a company or institution.

Congratulations to all the participants!

See you next year at the 3rd Budapest Ballet Grand Prix between 17 and 21 November 2025. 

Final results of the 2^nd Budapest Ballet Grand Prix:

Junior category:

1. TORGYN LEBEN (KAZ)
2. DARYA MITROFANOVA (KAZ)
3. LILY KIYAMA (JAP)

Senior category:

1. SHINNOSUKE YASUUMI (JAP)
2. MIKEL ARANA ARZAK (ESP)
3. CLÉMENCE RHODE (FRA) and HOMMOCHI SAKURAKO (JAP)

Pas des Deux category:

1. BOGDAN VERBOVY (KAZ) / Arisha Hashimoto (JAP), not as a competitor
2. EUNSEO KIM / JUNG EUNSEONG (KOR)
3. LILI NÉMETH / SÁMUEL GRIBOVSZKI (HUN)

Young Talent Award – The City of Budapest

122     Mira Jászovics
130     Márton Balog

Best Hungarian Performer Award – Hungarian Academy of Arts           

117     Dóra Kócsó
129     Boróka Kosaras

Best modern – Herendi Porcelain

220     Dohee Kim
231     Benedek Sánta

HDU Special Award     

229     Mikel Arana Arzak

HDU special recognition       

309     Arisa Hashimoto

JURY special recognition      

303     May Barrutia Santaren

Grand Audition 100% scholarship to Barcelona       

307     Levente Bajusz

offered by David Makhateli, D&D

Grand Audition acceptance to Amsterdam     

235     Sakurako Hommochi

offered by David Makhateli, D&D

Awards, prizes presented at the National Dance Theatre:

1 week scholarship      

105     Arshak Barseghyan
122     Mira Jászovics
124     Inoue Yunoka
206     Rin Hosoi

offered by Aki Saito

MTE ISIB Course 50 % discount (tuition fee)   

105     Arshak Barseghyan
106     Torgyn Leben
123     Jorika Draaijers
125     Taisei Ishiguro
127     Alejandro Rosa Constantino

Special Award 200 Euros offered by iDancestore     

110     Réka Papp-Fekete

Invitation to take class 1 week at Northern Ballet   

229     Mikel Arana Arzak
232     Shinnosuke Yasuumi

offered by Federico Bonelli

Invitation to summer school at Northern Ballet school full scholarship          

305     Sámuel Gribovszki

offered by Federico Bonelli

Invitation to 1 week scholarship at Polish Ballet      

227    Clémence Rhode

offered by Krzysztof Pastor

100% scholarship acceptance      

232     Shinnosuke Yasuumi

offered by the Hungarian Dance University

A The 2nd Budapest Ballet Grand Prix concluded with a great gala evening at Müpa Budapest bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

After nine years of study, an era came to an end when the graduating students of the Dance Artist Institute of the Hungarian Dance University (HDU) specialising in Classical Ballet presented their exam concert at the Hungarian State Opera House on 2 July, 2023.

Professor and Rector Márta-Fodor Molnár, as one of the leading masters of the class, told Index about the event that made a great success among members of the profession and the public. The article was published under the title “They have been lifted into the sky, now they can fly.”

The first part of the performance was the one-act neoclassical ballet “Adagio Hammerklavier” choreographed by Hans van Manen, while the second part consisted of shorter pieces, pas de deux-s and solos as well as excerpts from a romantic and two classical ballets. In the third act, Jacopo Godani’s contemporary piece, “Moto Perpetuo” was staged.

Márta-Fodor Molnár told Index that the sold-out exam performance was a huge success. The evening was attended by prominent representatives of Hungarian public life and members of the diplomatic corps including thirteen ambassadors as well as leaders of foreign dance troupes and journalists.

“Within the high quality performances, there were also some outstanding individual achievements that were also highly appreciated by the exam committee. The graduating students did not only demonstrate their technical skills but in many cases they performed the works in a manner characterised by mature artists in a truly inspired manner as well,” said Márta-Fodor Molnár.

Some of the young people are dancers of outstanding ability and talent such as Gvendolin Nagy, who was invited to perform at an international star gala this year. The technical and artistic skills of Dorottya Lengyel and Kata Bán are also outstanding, while among the Japanese students, Okura Iku, Koizumi Juza and Katano Soichiro are worth mentioning.

“At the university, we teach young people from an early age that a high level of technical ability is a basic expectation from a dancer, however, it is not a goal, it is more of a tool that enables the dancer to create inspired artistic performances. Talent is also essential.”

Márta-Fodor Molnár is confident that the external coaches such as Mária Aradi, the Master of the Hungarian State Opera, Rachel Beaujean, the Artistic Director of the Dutch National Ballet, Tamás Darai, the Coach of Moto perpetuo and the university’s teachers are all very satisfied with the graduating students and their performance.

As we have understood, almost all of the graduating students already have a contract, although they have yet to participate in job interviews. Some will soon be auditioning for the Paris Opera, while others want to prove their talent in Poland, Germany or Italy.

Masters of the class:  HDU Rector Márta-Fodor Molnár, Vice-Rector for Education Dr Szilárd Macher

Graduate students: Alfie Edward Joseph Pearce, Borbála Kata Bán, Karin  Bečvarová, Dávid Borka, Jana Brletić, Tara Clark, Anna D’Andrea, Katano So Ichiro, Koizumi Juza, Fanni Dorottya Lengyel, Máté Milchram, Gvendolin Nagy, Okura Iku, Karen Sakata, Marta Sironić

Source: Tamás Dzsubák, index.hu
Photos by Pál Csillag, Adrienne Horváth and Andrea P. Merlo. 

A Hungary’s number one news portal reports on HDU graduating students’ final exam performance bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

The graduating students are preparing for their final stage exams under the mentorship of Yvette Bozsik, Head of the Choreography Department at HDU. The six different personalities guarantee six different dance form languages and a diverse choreography at the performance.

The graduating students and the creators of the evening are Boglárka Bali, Kíra Kubus, Milán Maurer, László Mádi, Norbert Szigethy and Zita Thury.

Date of the performance: 7:30 PM, 25 June.

Venue: National Dance Theatre (16-20. Kis Rókus utca, 1024, Budapest)

A Choreographers’ final stage exam under the mentorship Yvette Bozsik bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

As known, the first Budapest Ballet Grand Prix (BBGP) will take place in Budapest between 21^st and 24^th November, 2023. As a side event of BBGP, Master Classes will be held by prima ballerina Anita Magyari . The renowned artist have impressive careers of which you can find a short summary below.

From the archive of Anita Magyari

Anita Magyari

Anita Magyari graduated at the State Ballet Institute, Budapest in 1978. She spent a year on scholarship in Moscow. She was a member of the Budapest Opera House between 1979 and 1982. She got married in Italy and has lived there since then. She has been a member of the Scala Ballet Company in Milan and a private dancer since 1985.

She has danced many important roles in the classical repertoire such as the royal princess in „The Wooden Prince”, Odette/Odilia in „Swan Lake”, Bianca in „The Taming of the Shrew”. She also acted in Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Manon by MacMillan or in Cranko-Tchaikovsky-Stolze’s Onegin.

Anita Magyari was starring in Dolin’s Pas de Quatre, Hans van Manen’s Adagio Hammerklavier and Balanchine’s Ballet Imperial. She has partnered many world-famous ballet artists during her rich career, including Rudolf Nureyev at la Scala in Milan.

Currently she is managing a private ballet school in Milan.

A Anita Magyari to hold Master Class sessions during BBGP bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

HDU nominated twelve dancers in the Vienna event. The youngest competitor is a third-year student while the oldest one is in the eighth-year at HDU. Eleven of HDU’s contesters reached the finals, which is an excellent result. If we add to this the six students who took part in the Gala, we can see that those who did not win prizes also represented a truly high standard.

As mentioned earlier, HDU’s student Saito Hiraku won the top prize both in the Classical Ballet II category and the Senior Outstanding Performance. He was coached by József Medvecz.

Janka Dobra and Kamill Kökény-Hámori, coached by Mónika Barna and József Medvecz, respectively, won second place in the classical ballet junior II category. Tamás Solymosi, member of the jury of the VIBE competition, Ballet Director of the Opera House, offered scholarships to both students at the award ceremony.

Rozi Szabó and Sámuel Gáspár, coached by Tamás Csizmadia, won a one-week scholarship at the Milano Contemporary Ballet, Milan, Italy.

Congratulations to all.

A HDU students achieve success in Vienna bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

Following the success achieved by the students of the Hungarian Dance University at the 9th edition of the “Domenico Modugno” International Ballet and Contemporary Dance Competition in Lecce, Italy, the fifth-year and the seventh-year students also proved their talent at the online event of “Domenico Modugno”.

The “Circle of Hours” performed by the fifth-year students was awarded a first prize by the jury.

Online results of the students of the Hungarian Dance University:

Classical group

First prize: Circle of Hours, 5^th-year: Lina Bonfatti, Nikol Dmytriyenko, Eszter Gorondi, Dóra Kócsó, Boróka Kosaras, Karina Králik, Bodza Pánczél, Liza Szűcs and Sophia Walther. Teacher: Angéla Kövessy

Classical Senior

Third prize: Ishii Rio, 7^th-year. Preparation teacher: Katalin Volf

Csipán Csenge (7^th-yearÖ) coached by Mónika Barna finished in 4th place in the senior classical solo category, while Márton Balog (3^rd-year) coached by Edina Dorkó) achieved a top 10 result in the junior classical solo category.

Congratulations.

A HDU achieves major success in Lecce online contest as well bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

Head of the Classical Ballet Department Éva Brieber told us that HDU’s participants are preparing for the competition with great enthusiasm. HDU has never delegated so many students before for the event.

The HDU "squad" will be accompanied and supported by Krisztina Végh and Noémi Kulcsár during the competition which will take place between 18 and 22 March, 2023.

The following students will participate in the event as decided by the departmen’s senior lecturers.

Franciska Bonecz (second-year student)
Liza Szűcs (fifth-year student)
Lili Németh (sixth-year student)
Anastasija Dokic (sixth-year student)
Levente Bajusz (sixth-year student)
Szepsi Dóra (seventh-year student)
Dobra Janka (eighth-year student)
Kökény-Hámori Kamill (eighth-year student)

Contemporary dance solo:
Ónódy Ábel (modern third-year student)

Pas de deux:
Janka Dobra and Kamill Kökény-Hámori (eighth-year students)

Entries for the online competition

Classical solo:
Márton Balog (third-year student)
Ishii Rio (seventh-year student)
Csenge Csípán (eighth-year student)

Groups:

Classical Ballet category contesters from the girls’ fifth-year: Bonfatti Lina, Dmytriyenko Nikol, Gorondi Eszter, Kócsó Dóra, Kosaras Boróka, Králik Karina, Pánczél Bodza, Szűcs Liza and Walther Sophia.

A The list of participants is complete, let’s go to Lecce! bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

Several masters worked with the students who also created the choreographies. In the theatre grade, Mónika Barna choreographed four musical songs and prepared the students with Lilla Radóci, who compiled the hip-hop choreography. We also could see the students’ own choreographies in both specializations.

Before the performance, Attila Kalmár, head of HDU’s Modern Dance and Theatre Dance Department, said that the aim of the presentation is to illustrate, among other things, the difference between the two specializations and to show where students are in the current stage of training.

The Harangozó Gyula Prize-winning associate professor also emphasized the importance of students to play the stage, they will have more routine in the stage presence.

The head of department thanked his colleagues, the teachers of the Department of Modern Dance and Theatre for preparation with the children.

A „We are on the way…” bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.

Márta Fodorné Molnár, Rector of the Hungarian Dance University emphasized at the February 15 presentation how important and challenging exams students are facing. We have now asked György Szakály, former Rector of the HDU, chairman of the 23-member International Examination Committee. In his reply, the Kossuth and Liszt Ferenc Prize-winning Hungarian dance artist addressed both the challenges of ballet art and the valuation of students.

What are the criteria for the examination committee values ​​students?

“There is a very strict methodological system that prescribes and defines how certain exercises should be carried out. It’s a bit like figure skating, the compulsory exercises, where they look – unfairly, I think – at how you go through the figure eight or the different figures, how precisely you follow the lines that are drawn. In the past, there was always a lot of emphasis on how well a competitor did in the compulsory exercise and less on how well they did in the optional exercise. Here again, I have experienced myself in the past decades that the compulsory exercises were not so penetrating or not professionally appropriate, but when the artist started to perform, suddenly the stage started to come alive and they said, “Now that’s an artist”. So it’s not where students’ careers are decided, it’s not where someone is going to change the world today, so you shouldn’t be so demanding. Nine years… If you don’t do it, you can’t imagine it.”

János Kiss, Kossuth Prize-winning Hungarian ballet artist and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, recalled the memories of his own qualification exam and expressed his sincere congratulations to the students and the masters who prepared the graduate students of HDU for this competition.

“It’s an expression of sympathy because you only have to think about what it was like when you were the same age. I get excited, I cheer for them and thankfully they seem to have learned what they needed to learn. My heartiest congratulations go to the masters and those who have taught our students over this long period of time.”

Student doing their last year at the HDU classical ballet specialty worked really hard to improve exam exercises and eventually passed the qualifying exam successfully. Congratulations!

Members of the graduate class: Kata Bán, Karin Becvarová, David Borka, Anna D’Arezrea, Dorottya Polish, Gvendolin Nagy, Milchram Máté, Marta Sironić, Tara Clark, Sakata Karen, Katano Soichiro, Koizumi Juza, Okura, Pearce.

A The qualifying exam for graduate students bejegyzés először MTE-én jelent meg.