Andras Takacs

* Sajótiba, January 8, 1931 – / folk dance collector, choreographer ; ; He began his school studies in Lekenyé, then after World War II he moved to Hungary to study. In February 1947 he became a folk college student in Miskolc, where he became more familiar with folk dance and folk culture in general. From 1950 he continued his studies at the newly opened Hungarian Gymnasium in Komárom, and finally graduated from the evening department of the Pedagogical Gymnasium in Bratislava in 1952. Later, in 1966, he obtained a teaching certificate in Hungarian history at the correspondence department of the Pedagogical College in Nitra and received his doctorate there in 1986. Since the 1950s, he has been involved in folk dance research and collection, as well as choreography. He was one of the founders of the Czechoslovak Hungarian Folk Art Ensemble (Népes) and from June 1953 to March 31, 1955 he was the artistic director and choreographer of the dance corps of the ensemble. After the dissolution of Népes, he was a specialist performer of Hungarian folk dance at the Central House of Folk Art Creations of Slovakia. From 1956 he was the artistic director and choreographer of the Young Hearts Hungarian Song and Dance Ensemble. Between 1960 and 1992 he worked as a specialist performer at the Csemadok KB. In 1995–1996 he was the director of the Young Hearts. Starting in the 1950s, he participated in folk dance collecting tours with Tibor Ág (Nagymegyer) and later with Jenő Szíjjártó. He methodically mapped the folk dance tradition of the Hungarian regions of the Uplands, and processed the dance material of several regions (Csallóköz, Mátyusföld, Gömör) in a monograph. In addition to his research work, he was an active organizer of the Hungarian folk dance movement in Slovakia, assisting the work of several folk dance ensembles as a choreographer and artistic director. His work was recognized with numerous awards and distinctions (Életfa Award, 1998, Silver Plaque of the Government of the Slovak Republic, 2001, Pro Probitate – The Award for Probability, 2006, Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic, 2011). He currently lives in Pozsonypüspöki. ; ; His main works: ; Folk Dance and Rhythm Exercises (with Tibor Ág), 1966, ; Folk Dances of Mátyusföld (with György Martin), 1981, ; Dances of Borzova, Szilice, Magyarbőd (with Tibor Ág), 1990, ; Folk Dances of Gömör (with János Fügedi), 1992, ; Folk Dances of Csallóköz (editor and afterword: László Koncsol), 2000, ; The Bertóké and Others: Traditional Dances of Jóka Village (with János Fügedi), 2005, ; Fifty Years of the National Folk Art Festivals, 2007, ; The Wanderings of the Youngest Boy, 2010.