Čardáš
(Czech)

Song Title: Čardáš
Lyrics: Instrumental version, no lyrics
Composer: Czech Traditional Folk Song
Dance Name: Same as song title
Choreography: Czech Traditional Dance
Chinese Dance Name: 捷克之花
Formation: Partner dance, double circle, man inside facing lady outside, hands joined and hanging down.

Today I am introducing this very traditional dance, which is a dance that Teacher Frog likes very much. Although this dance is not considered a grand piece, it possesses immense local color. The dance style and classification are widely spread across southeastern Europe near the central European region, and the scope of its influence is so vast that even classical masters like Liszt, Brahms, Johann Strauss, Tchaikovsky... often integrated this style into their musical works.

Before starting to introduce the music and dance of this piece, Teacher Frog would like to invite all dance friends to appreciate a world-famous piece of music:



Did all dance friends hear it? This world-famous music is titled "Csárdás," pronounced as "tʃɑːdɑʃ,". The words "Csárdás" and "Čardáš" look very similar, differing by only one s. So, do these two words actually have a connection? What relation do they have to this dance? How massive is the influence of this music and dance in southeastern Europe, where cultural talents gather? What is its origin? Same old rule, dance friends please move your small stools and sit down properly, Teacher Frog is about to start the lecture.



In February, 1981, during the 1st Asian Folk Dance Camp in Taipei, Teacher Chen Fang-chih introduced this dance, a traditional dance highly rich in Czech local color, and Teacher Frog fell in love with it instantly. However, there were several questions within it that Teacher Frog did not notice when learning it on the spot, but only thought of after going back to review: Isnt the Csárdás position at the very beginning a traditional Hungarian partner dance position? Furthermore, although Čardáš and Csárdás differ by only one letter, their pronunciation is identical, their dance style structure is identical, and their musical structure is also identical; yet Csárdás is the national dance of Hungary, so how did it become a Czech dance at this moment? A series of question marks prompted Teacher Frog to launch a research study into this topic to further understand the entire context.

Czech Čardáš Dance:

Image source: Czechslavian wikipedia

First, let us begin by clarifying the relationship between Čardáš and Csárdás. Čardáš is Czech, and it refers exactly to the Hungarian Csárdás (its root word is csárda, which means tavern or inn). Therefore, these two words are identical, with one being Czech and the other being Hungarian. Since both words carry the meaning of the Hungarian Csárdás, we will focus our attention on the introduction of Csárdás below.

Csárdás is the traditional "national dance" of Hungary, originating from the verbunkos dance of the Magyars and Gypsies in the 18th century. The origin of the word “verbunkos” is a bit complicated; it stems from the German word Werbung (noun), and Werbung evolved from its verb form werben. The meaning of werben is "recruitment" (conscription), and this is where it gets interesting, as Teacher Frog immediately thought of the Hungarian mens dance "Szekely Verbunk", and verbunkos was initially the dance music used when the Hungarian Army recruited soldiers. This truly was a highly cultured era, where even military recruitment had its own special music.

Verbunkos Music and Dance:


The characteristic of Csárdás is the variation in tempo, which contains both slow and fast parts. It begins with a slow tempo (lassú) and concludes later with a fast tempo (friss). In addition, there are also more complex tempo variations, such as ritka csárdás, sűrű csárdás, szökős csárdás, and so on, while the rhythm includes 2/4 meter or 4/4 meter. Although it was mentioned above that Csárdás was initially the dance music used when the Hungarian Army recruited soldiers, the dance style is a partner dance style, where female dancers wear traditional wide skirts, usually red skirts, and when the female dancers spin, the skirts swirl up to form a highly distinctive shape.

Csárdás Dance:

Image source: https://www.budapestbylocals.com/



Do you remember how Teacher Frog used to crack a joke when introducing the dances of the Balkan region, saying that the civilians in this area go to sleep at night as citizens of one country, but by the time they wake up in the morning, they have already become citizens of another country? And Csárdás basically possesses this kind of characteristic as well. Hungary is located to the north of the Balkan Peninsula, and above it is Slovakia, which split from Czechia, and above Slovakia is Czechia again. Throughout the history of this region, there have been the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Kingdom of Bohemia (Czech Kingdom), the Principality of Hungary... splitting and merging, it is truly not something we outsiders can peer into with absolute clarity.

Map of territorial evolution in the Balkan Peninsula:

Image source: Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/

Fortunately, we have dance historians to do the research for us, and according to studies, Csárdás actually originated from a dance of Slovakia. Where is Slovakia? It is north of Hungary and south of Czechia, sandwiched precisely right between these two countries.

Location map of Slovakia: (located between Czechia and Hungary)

Image source: https://previews.123rf.com/

With dance historians telling us this answer, it becomes easy to handle from here on out. We will take Slovakia as the main subject to look at the historical origins of these three countries, and further understand the reason why the folk music, dance, and culture of these three countries are inseparable.

As early as the 6th century AD, the ancestors of Slovakia had already settled in this place. In the 9th century AD, the Slovaks established the Principality of Nitra, which was later conquered by the Principality of Moravia, becoming a part of the Great Moravian Kingdom. By the 10th century AD, the Great Moravian Kingdom dissolved, and Slovakia was incorporated into the Principality of Hungary, becoming Hungarian territory. During the late period of the second Mongol invasion of Europe, around 1241–1242 AD, this place was completely devastated by fire and slaughter by Mongol soldiers, and only later gradually recovered under the leadership of King Béla IV of Hungary (Teacher Frogs note: The Kingdom of Hungary at that time now belongs to Slovakia).

Map of the Principality of Hungary in the Middle Ages:

Image source: https://hungarynews.files.wordpress.com

By the 19th century, European consolidation placed Czechia and Hungary within the Austrian Empire (1804-1867), which spanned much of Central Europe and united Hungary, Czechia, and Slovakia under one governance.

The territory of the Austrian Empire (highlighting Hungary as region 16, the origin of the Hungarian Revolution):


As the Austrian Empire weakened and Hungarian influence grew, the 1867 Austro-Hungarian Compromise established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, keeping Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary closely linked.

Territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1914:

Image source: Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/

Later, when World War I arrived, the Austro-Hungarian Empire joined the Central Powers to fight against the Allied Powers, and ultimately lost. The price of losing the war was that in 1918, when World War I ended, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved. On October 18, 1918, because Czechia and Slovakia both belong to the West Slavs and share close language and culture, the two countries established the Czechoslovak Republic. Shortly after the independence of the Czechoslovak Republic, Hungary also declared independence, becoming the Hungarian (Soviet) Democratic Republic. However, in this very year, because the Czechoslovak Republic and the Hungarian Republic were adjacent to each other, they fought another battle over territorial disputes.

Territory of the Czechoslovak Republic:

Image source: https://cdn.britannica.com/

Following Nazi rule (1938-1945) and Soviet control (1948-1989), the non-violent Velvet Revolution in late 1989 ended Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. This transition eventually led to the peaceful dissolution of the country, with Slovakia declaring sovereignty in July 1992 and the formal split into independent Czechia and Slovakia taking effect in 1993, alongside Hungary.


Image source: https://i1.kknews.cc/

This shared historical background illustrates the deep cultural ties among Slovakia, Czechia, and Hungary. Consequently, the development of the Csárdás-originating in Slovakia, spreading to Czechia, and flourishing in Hungary-reflects the intertwined histories of these neighboring nations.

Next, I will introduce this dance, Čardáš, which is the Czech word for Csárdás, originating from Slovakia (P.S. When this dance was released, it was still during the era of the Czechoslovak Republic, so Slovakia was still part of Czechoslovakias territory; therefore, this dance was classified as a Czech dance at that time).

The rhythm of this dance is in 2/4 meter, and the dance sequence is a typical Csárdás, meaning it begins with a slow tempo (lassú) at the front and ends with a fast tempo (friss) climax at the back.

This dance was taught in 1979 at the 32nd Stockton Folk Dance Camp held at the University of the Pacific in California, USA, by Professor František Bonuš, a professor of Czech folk music, folk dance, and Czech folklore.

Czech Professor František Bonuš:

Image source: Folk Dance Federation of California, South: https://www.socalfolkdance.org/


Image source: Image source: Private archive of Živana Vajsarová: https://www.tanecniaktuality.cz

The 32nd Stockton Folk Dance Camp Manual Cover, 1979:


The 32nd Stockton Folk Dance Camp Manual Index by Dance Name, 1979:


The 32nd Stockton Folk Dance Camp Manual Index by Teacher, 1979:


The boss (It’s me, Teacher Frog!) treats you to the original dance sequence of this dance:


Teacher Chen Fang-chih gave a special reminder when teaching this dance: when dancing a Czech partner dance, when the dance finishes, the guy should tap the back of the ladys hand gently, meaning to express compliments to the partner for dancing very well. Therefore, when dance friends dance Czech partner dances in the future, please never be stingy with praising your partner. (Mystery voice: Never hit too hard, if you hit your female partners hand until it gets as swollen as a red tortoise cake, I am afraid insurance will not be able to afford the compensation. )

Teacher Chen Fang-chih:


Lastly, the boss treats you to the demonstration video of this dance: (Teacher Frogs note: Although the demonstration video has some parts omitted in the middle, do not be afraid. The dancers are demonstrating the full dance, which is absolutely correct. There are only two kinds of dance sequences: the slow tempo (lassú) and the fast tempo (friss). As long as you coordinate with the changes in the musical rhythm, begin from the slow tempo (lassú) at the start, and wait until the music turns fast, then switch to the fast tempo (friss) until the end. It is just that simple!)

Teacher Frog gives a special explanation, and asks dance friends to pay special attention to:

1.Csárdás position: the lady places right hand on the gentlemans left shoulder and left hand on the gentleman’s right upper arm; the gentleman places left hand on the ladys right shoulder and right hand on the lady’s waist. Never do it as a shoulder-waist position. (You can understand by referring to some of the static pictures above)

2.In Part I B, counts 13-18, for the Čardáš slide turning step, Teacher Chen Fang-chih taught 3 cross steps plus one step-close-hop step (which is the "key" action written on the dance sequence, the "ending" movement).

3.The ending at the very end of the video was cut too fast, so the action of the male partner gently tapping the back of the female partners hand was not seen.




References:
1. The 1st Asian Folk Dance Camp Manual
2. The 32nd Stockton Folk Dance Camp Manual
3. English Wikipedia
4. Czech Wikipedia
5. Hungarian Wikipedia