The Eighth Tribe, 1974 (1. évfolyam, 1-7. szám)
1974-04-05 / 1-2. szám
August, 1974 THE EIGHTH TRIBE Page Five THE HUNGARIAN ETHNIC GROUP OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA The Hungarian Ethnic Group of Western Pennsylvania was organized in 1969 hv a group of people dedicated and determined to preserve and promote our Hungarian heritage, which was on the verge of dying in the Pittsburgh area. Our first year was a struggle for survival. We had no finances; we did authentic Hungarian folk dances, new to Western Pennsylvania; and we wore a new dress very unlike the red, white and green dress known to most people as the only Hungarian dress. Our group suffered much criticism from many Hungarians about our songs, dances, and the clothes we wore when we were performing. The only consolation we had was that we had researched and knew what we were doing was authentic folk material and we kept on going. Our group was somewhat unique in that we opened our doors to anyone with a love of Hungarian Folk Dancing, Singing, and Culture. Along with the Hungarian families, some of them three generations, we have in our membership people who are not Hungarian. These people have proved to be very dedicated to helping us to preserve and promote our Hungarian heritage. Both of our regular dance teachers are not Hungarians. Dick Brem is of Polish and German descent and Ed Stone is of German descent. They have learned the authentic village dances from one of the foremost Hungarian dance teachers in the United States, Andor Czompo. Dick and Ed both love Hungarian dancing very much and each year they learn new dances from Mr. Czompo so they can teach them to the group. We are very fortunate and grateful to have these two men as teachers, for they have donated many hours of hard work to make all of our performances enjoyable to all. The songs we sing are sung in a group much as they would he sung at a village celebration in Hungary. With the help of our Hungarian speaking members and phonetics, we teach the words to the songs to those who do not speak Hungarian. We make all of our costumes as authentic as we possibly can here in the United States. Many of the girl’s kalocsai dresses are painted with embroidery paint, First row: Rita Kovacsics, Gizella Chasko. Second row: Verna Brem, Martha Holmes, Mary Ann Kovacsics, Adrienne Uzonyi, Imre Toth, Steve Jasko. Third row: Zoltán Horvath, Lorraine Stone, Debbie Patterson, Ann Solomon, Dick Brem. Fourth row: Ed Stone, Scott Workman and Mariann Cannavine, Roy Kovacsics and Steve Bayer.
