William Penn Life, 1986 (21. évfolyam, 1-6. szám)

1986-09-01 / 5. szám

William Penn Life, September-October 1986, Page 7 Pontozo: Mixing Heritage With The Modern World András Preston, operator of the Preston Art Center in New Albany, Ind., welcomes guests to the Hungarian display at the Heritage Weekend in Louisville. Louisville Festival Honors Hungarians By AI Bartfay President, Br. 129 LOUISVILLE, KY. — Hungarian culture was on display July 13 and 14 during a Heritage Weekend held at Riverfront Plaza along the banks of the Ohio River. In the middle of downtown, next to the 25-story Galt Hotel, the Hungarians and three other groups served ethnic foods, displayed cultural informa­tion and performed songs and dances from the homelands of their ancestors. Louisville’s Heritage Weekends are similar to the multi-ethnic festivals held in many major cities. But, most cities invite all the ethnic groups in their areas to par­ticipate in one large event held one day or over several days. Louisville, on the other hand, schedules it Heritage Weekends over a number of weeks and divides its ethnic groups so that only four groups present their food, displays and performances on a particular weekend. The Hungarian-American Culture Club of Louisville sponsors the Hungarian display each year. Only about 30 families belong to the group, but, judging from their presentation at the Heritage Weekend, they are a talented and enthusiastic group. The Club’s president is Louis Torok, a sign painter with great artistic abilities. He created a wooden Hungarian display that must rank as one of the finest to be found anywhere in America. Another artistically inclin­ed member of the Club is An­drás Preston, who operates the Preston Arts Center in nearby New Albany, Ind. Although the family name was changed to Preston years ago, András spoke to me in Hungarian and assured me his parents were Magyars. I also met Joseph Chikos, a member of the Club and a member of the William Penn Association in New Albany. He said the Club meets periodically and has dinner and a Christmas party. The Hungarian food booth at the festival featured langos (served with either cinnamon and sugar or garlic), kolbász sandwiches and pastries. The Hungarian perfor­mances included the Hungarian Village Dancers in native costumes, a violin and piano duet of Hungarian music performed by musi­cians from Rochester, N.Y., and a presentation of Hungarian legends and stories at the Children’s Ac­tivity Center. For information on the dates of the next Hungarian exhibit, write to the Louisville Visitors and Travel Bureau in the spring of next year. They will send you complete information. By Alexander J. Bodnar The minute you are in your van or bus traveling to the Pontozo, a new Hungarian life starts unfolding. You realize that each group participating in this special festival of Hungarian ethnic dance is a special spóra of significant ac­complishment, presenting up to two years of work to the general public and a panel of distinguished judges. The jury, a collection of highly successful masters in ethnic music and dance, dedicates itself to elaborate­ly demonstrating the ways of Hungarian old times and ways and the manner in which that culture has flourished in America, Canada and Hungary. This realization process begins with an awareness of the self, mirrored in a form of culture shock. Without such awareness, the experience could become meaningless. It seems each of the 22 groups represented at this year’s Pontozo in St. Catherines, Ontario, came to that awareness. Each show­ed autonomy, mobility, ef­fective leadership and solid organization. Yet, each group expressed individual characteristics reflecting life cycles of the various communities. After an absence of more than 15 years, instruction in the Hungarian language will be re-introduced into the cur­riculum of undergraduate colleges of Rutgers Universi­ty of New Brunswick, N.J. The re-introduction of Hungarian instruction is part of a three-year experimental program which has the sup­port of the Dean’s office of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers. University officials hope the elementary course will be followed by a course at the intermediate level and ultimately with a course in On this specific trip, the Hungarian Ethnic Group of Western Pennsylvania was represented by nine dancers, alternately perfor­ming as three couples in two dances, Delafoldi and Rabakozi Dus. The fun part of the ex­perience, however, was a continuous warm feeling of love and familiarity shared with the other groups and an open heartedness and definite spirit of friendly competition. These feelings were most evident at the Tanzhaz. The Tanzhaz is a dimen­sion of the Pontozo ex­perience by itself. It is basically a comparison of much of the knowledge that has been acquired throughout the year in danc­ing, costuming, posture, at­­titudes and general understanding of Hungarian ethnographies and arts. During the Tanzhaz and the rest of Pontozo, we met many people and organiza­tions. All were genuinely dedicated in wanting to maintain the Hungarian heritage in their regions and evolving it even further. This dedication is greatest amongst the Cana­dian groups. The impact of these groups was a total sur­prise. They know what they want and are willing to work Hungarian Literature. Funds to support this pilot program are being sought. A separate fund called the Hungarian Studies Fund has been created through the Rutgers Foundation. Dona­tions can be sent to the fund, 191 College Ave., New Brunswick. Officials say the Hungarian population at large is only an indirect beneficiary of this program, and that every Hungarian- American should regard financial contribution to it as a primary moral duty. With such a program, they and sacrifice for it as in­dividuals and groups. The Canadians have a full cyclistic process of Hungarian ways of living and still exist in the mainstream of Canadian culture. They have submerg­ed themselves in involving life styles that serve the socio-economic and cultural bases quite successfully. Their success and the success of Pontozo provide a valuable lesson. They presented a mode and direc­tion that can formulate a level of responsibility in all of us to perpetuating our heritage. The more things we can consolidate into a cyclistic process of cultural preserva­tion, the more effective we can be in turning Pittsburgh, a fine ethnic center and home of the William Penn Association, into a leading center of Hungarian culture. The Association has con­tributed in our efforts towards this goal, with its support of our group’s ac­tivities and strong interest in preserving Hungarian heritage. (Pontozo ’86 was held July 27 to 30. Alexander Jozsa Bodnar is president of the Hungarian Ethnic Group of Western Pennsylvania. —JEL) hope Hungarian language and literature will be seen as an integral part of the Western cultural heritage. Beginning in September and lasting for an entire academic year, a course in Elementary Hungarian will be given during the fifth period (2:50 to 4:10 p.m.) three days a week. Each semester will grant four credits. The credit is equal to other elementary language courses on the campus. For more information on the program call (201' 932-7604. A dance troupe with its own musicians performs for one of the many large crowds which came to St. Catherines. Hungarian Language Course Offered

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