7. Reception of Nineteenth-Century Couple Dances in Hungary

This essay offers a survey of the appearance and reception of round dances as they began to spread into Hungary from neighbouring countries in the nineteenth century. First, it identifies the dances within the broader Hungarian dance repertoire; then, it continues with a selected and annotated source catalogue in an effort to demonstrate the variability and richness of relevant sources, most of which are unavailable in other languages. The catalogue also serves as a useful reference point for the last part of this chapter, which discusses issues of reception, the rivalry between Hungarian and foreign dances, the national dance, the Csárdás, and the cultural climate within that context.