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Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc.
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The Csángós are a non-homogeneous group of Roman Catholic people of Hungarian origin. This ethnic group is a relic from the Middle Ages that has survived in Moldavia, in the eastern part of the Romanian Carpathians.
THE CSÁNGÓS IN 1861 |
The Csángós. or Moldavian Hungarians, live separately from the main bulk of Hungarians. There are communities in Moldava, the land between the Prut and Dneister Rivers, and also in the Gyimeś villages west of the Carpathian Mountains in Romania.
Their name "Csángó" means "people who are separated." This is how the Hungarians in Transylvania refer to them. The Transylvanian Hungarians are known as "Székely," a word that translates into "border guard."
The first Csángó groups appeared in Moldava in the 13th and 14th centuries, when Moldava was related to the Hungarian Kingdom. They were engaged in crafts, vine-growing, and served at the Moldavian court. The earliest Hungarian translation of the Bible prepared for the Reformist Church was made among them.
After the 15th century, they tended to live in villages rather than towns. They suffered a lot from Ottoman Turkish and Crimean Tatar raids. Because they belong to the Roman Catholic Church (not the Eastern Orthodox Church), under these circumstances, the Csángós have preserved very archaic Hungarian folk traditions, art, and language.
MOLDAVIA |
TRANSYLVANIA |
GHIMEŚ |
The Csángó folk music and dance has developed under a very strong influence of the Moldavian Romanians. Most of the Csángó dances are circle dances (Korogyaszka, Tulumba, Oves, Kezes, Hora polka) and belong to the folk dance dialects of the Balkans. Even their pair dances (Baraboj, Romanka, Ruszazka) are characterized by a set structure, otherwise particular to Moldavian Romanian dances. The Csángó dances are accompanied by the flute (szultu) and the lyre (kobza).
In August, the "Jászság Folk Ensemble and Foundation" organizes the "Csángó Folk Festival and Conference" at Jászberény, 55 miles east of Budapest. The event is now an all-Hungarian Folk Festival, with about 10 to 12 Hungrian folk dance groups participating that come from different territories of Romania, Ukraine, Slovakia, Austria, and the former Yugoslavia. These folk dance groups represent the most traditional styles of Hungarian folk music and dance. During the three days of the festivals, there are performances from morning until the evening, when the tanchaz "dance cycles" begin. The local community produces a cavalcade, parades, competitions for dancers, and many craftsmen and artisans arrive to participate in a local folk art fair.