A video installation held in the Hungarian Institute foyer showed excerpts from Frenák's performances, as well as special videos made by his friends to greet the founder of the first Hungarian-French dance troupe.
French accordionist Pascal Contet played the music for a live improvised performance by Pál Frenák Company members Miguel Ortega from Columbia and Lisa Kostur from the USA. After the performance, Frenák announced that he would form a duet with Contet.
The event was also attended by former director of the French Institute in Budapest Alain Lombard.
Frenák was born in Budapest in 1957 and moved to Paris in the mid-1980s to study with some of the masters of modern dance. He established Compagnie Pal Frenak in 1989 and expanded the troupe to include Hungarian dancers ten years later. The troupe now has members from all around the world.
Frenák has prepared many highly successful performances, including Tricks and Tracks in 2000, drawing on the experiences of a six-month stay in Japan. In 2005, his piece Boys received the main award at the Veszprém Dance Festival. He received the Gyula Harangozó prize from the Ministry of Cultural Heritage in 2002. He is also a recipient of the Hungarian Republic's Order of Merit Officer's Cross as well as the Philip Morris Ballet Award.
Frenák told the Hungarian News Agency that he was pleased to see so many of his friends at the celebration in Paris. He also welcomed the fact that the Hungarian Institute in Paris has turned its attention to a new audience interested in more dynamic events. Hungarian culture can achieve a new status in Paris if more attention is placed on modern arts, he said.
Contemporary art is not given the attention it deserves in Hungary, yet a culture cannot have a future if contemporary achievements are not supported, Frenák said. Respect for traditions and folk art also requires an understanding and appreciation of the age we live in now, he added.
Pál Frenák's company is currently preparing to leave for Macau. They will next perform in Hungary in the summer, at the Sziget Festival, presenting a co-production with the Trafó House of Contemporary Arts.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
