Debrecen4U April 22, 2025

1st Debrecen Dance week

In connection with World Dance Day, Debrecen Dance Week will be held for the first time between April 26 and May 4, where the city’s most outstanding dance groups, theaters, and art organisations will celebrate the joy of movement with joint programmes for a week. The details of the program series were presented at the Modern Dance-Game Studio on April 17, 2025.

Deputy Mayor István Puskás said he is confident that a new story will begin in the city that will stay with us for a long time. He recalled that last year, on a somewhat similar occasion, the first Debrecen Art Week took place in May, which was a week-long program dedicated to the fine arts of Debrecen in a very similar format, and the second time will follow soon.

As he said, “This is the fifth such collaboration in the city where the local government invites active actors in various areas of the city’s cultural life to cooperate and think together. Literature and the visual arts are concrete spaces. After the Batthyány Street and popular music communities, now the dance community in Debrecen is also involved in a similar collaboration.

“Although the Csokonai National Theatre has had a dance department for a few years, the city has two major sectors that do not have a dedicated institution: one is pop music, and the other is dance. However, these are the two areas that most Debrecen residents join, either as active participants, as an audience, or even just as a supportive environment around the active core,”  he emphasised. He noted that at the Made in Debrecen festival a few weeks ago, 189 Debrecen formations, more than 600 musicians took to the stage, and the dance community is an even larger family.

“I really believe that these dance communities have a very, very strong presence in Debrecen, and this strong presence is a kind of connective tissue in the city,” Managing Director of Főnix Event Organiser Ltd. Zita Dobos said. She highlighted that the dance communities regularly appear in their various programmes, and they all show off at the city’s largest event, the Debrecen Flower Carnival.

Head of the Dance Department of the Csokonai National Theatre Debrecen, Edit Domoszlai, said that she is very happy about this initiative and that in this way, by connecting and strengthening each other, they can bring this great art form to more people, celebrate together, and maybe build a new dance-loving community and audience. Speaking about the programmes, she mentioned that there will be open technical rehearsals, performances, audience meetings, and workshops, among others. 

Head of the Modern Dance-Games Studio, Ibolya Holb, said that the national-level programme was first organised seven years ago at the initiative of the National Association of Dance Teachers, and over the years 12 major cities have joined the event, which involves promoting dance for all on the same day, in parallel. She noted that this year, 26 dance classes are free of charge, but they are also preparing a World Dance Day gala, where 26 dance groups from Debrecen and the surrounding area will perform at the Kölcsey Centre. 

In addition, three dance films will be screened at the Apollo Cinema in connection with World Dance Day, a joint gala performance by the Debrecen folk dance community will be held at the VOKE Cultural Centre, and an international street festival entitled “The World is Dancing” will be held on Batthyány Street.

Detailed programmes are available on the Debrecen Dance Week website.

Source and photo credit:debrecen.hu