This past year, Ti Ti Tábor Hungarian Folk Camp was recipient of an Art and Cultural grant from the Hungary Foundation. The project for 2017 titled Community Connections involved reaching out to arts organizations that could benefit from and appreciate what Ti Ti Tábor Hungarian Folk Camp has to offer. By forming new relationships with these organizations, the organizers increased participation in the camp and expanded the visibility of Hungarian folk culture.
Every year, Ti Ti Tábor Hungarian Folk Camp offers a rich immersion experience into authentic Hungarian folk culture for adults and children alike. Set on the beautiful Raft Island in Washington State, the camp brings experts from Hungary to teach traditional folk dancing, music, and art.
Ti Ti Tábor strives to preserve and pass on Hungarian traditions of folk music, song, and dance to a diverse group of younger generations, while providing scholarship opportunities for those who would not otherwise be able to attend camp.
This past year, the camp offered scholarships to nine members from the following organizations:
- The Ethnic Dance Theatre, Minneapolis, MN
- Brigham Young University’s International Dance Ensemble
- Veselica dance company of St. Olaf College in Northfield Minnesota
- The Radost Folk Ensemble of Seattle, Washington.
Scholarship recipients strongly agreed that their participation in Ti Ti Tábor’s Hungarian Folk Camp has encouraged them to participate in Hungarian folk dance/culture events in the future.
Inspired by their experiences, many brought what they learned through camp back to their respective communities.
“This camp has been such a great experience to learn about Hungarian culture, traditions, and community…The instructors are great and provided lots of insight and background on the history of the dance and culture. Their passion to this has had a significant impact to my experience and willingness to promote it further inside my community.” – a participant
Following the camp, several follow-up events were organized by campers. These included a Hungarian dance workshop organized by 3 recipients from BYU, a performance at the Ethnic Dance Theatre of the choreography learned at the camp, and inclusion of Hungarian choreography in an International Dance class at St. Olaf’s College.
The follow-up events have helped increase and promote the visibility of Hungarian folk culture, as well as raising awareness on several social media platforms. Ti Ti Tábor has found this event to be helpful in reaching out to Hungarian-American communities, expanding their marketing, and broadening the pool of potential camp participants.
Overall, the camp had a record high for new participants, with new campers accounting for 30% of full-time participants. There was a lot of excitement at camp because of the increased young people and new campers. In fact, the enthusiasm of the Community Connections scholarship recipients has attracted the attention of other young people. The recipients had a great attitude and went above and beyond their expectations.
“Thank you for providing such a wonderful experience as well as cultural immersion. It meant a lot to me in many ways. One way was a deeper connection with my ancestors who immigrated here over a 120 years ago from Hungary.” – a scholarship recipient
For more information about the camp visit their website at http://www.tititabor.org/ or check them out on YouTube!
