“Music and Dance, Just Like in Szék” - An Evening in Szék at Fonó, in Memory of Dr. Lajos Lelkes

The Hungarian dance house movement was a grassroots initiative that emerged in the early 1970s from the spontaneous desire and enthusiasm of intellectuals, musicians and dancers. Young people were looking for an authentic, shared community experience they could truly live and feel, rather than the official cultural programs on offer. Dr. Lajos Lelkes (1940–2026) was one of the most important, yet less widely recognized, behind-the-scenes founders and organizers of the Hungarian dance house movement. As the founder and lifelong president of the Kertész Dance Association (today known as the Kertész Dance Association Cultural Society), he played a key role in organizing the very first Budapest dance house on May 6, 1972, at Liszt Ferenc Square, in what is now the Writers’ Bookshop.

“The event was organized by the dancers of the Bihari Ensemble, Jolán F