Széchenyi István University and the Győr Ballet have signed a cooperation agreement in order to implement a career model for students of dance and to turn young people into dance-loving audiences. The long-term goal of the partnership between the institution and the company, which is 45 years old this year, is to create a regional dance training centre in the region.

In addition to its high-quality teaching and research activities, Széchenyi István University will also contribute to the cultural life of the region. It regularly hosts exhibitions and concerts, trains the musicians and designers of the future at its Faculty of Design and Performance Arts and since August has also been running the Győr Dance and Visual Arts Primary School, Vocational Secondary School and Dormitory. It also offers the outsourced dance and rehearsal management course of the Hungarian University of Dance Arts, which is run in collaboration with the Győr Ballet.

This year, the world-famous company is celebrating the 45th anniversary of its founding with a series of community-building programmes entitled "Complete with You". The "birthday" was the occasion to take the long-standing close relationship between the Győr Ballet and Széchenyi University to the next level by signing a cooperation agreement.

László Velekei, Director of the Győr Ballet, Dr Eszter Lukács, Vice-President for International Affairs and Strategic Relations of the University, and Dr Bálint Filep, President of the University signed the agreement (Photo: András Adorján)

The aim of the partnership is to implement a career model for young people in dance training and jointly to develop a regional centre for dance training. Cooperation will focus on education and training development. The University also undertakes to include "dance and ballet" as an optional physical education subject for students in the future.

The parties will also strengthen the long-term partnership through joint events and mutual support for their international branding. To promote the cultural life of Győr and its region, the University and the ballet company will organise promotional programmes for young people, which will help to encourage more of them to take up the art of dance.

"Both Széchenyi István University and the Győr Ballet have been working for decades to make Győr and Hungary visible on the international stage. We are proud to be working closely with a world-renowned company that, like our institution, is committed to quality. Through the alliance we have signed today, we will mutually strengthen each other in the future in order to better serve the region and our country with our high quality activities", said Dr Eszter Lukács, SZE’s Vice-President for International Affairs and Strategic Relations, at the ceremony.

 "My candidature for the post of Director was entitled "Tradition and Innovation".  At first sight it seems paradoxical, but it illustrates the basic essence of our operation, which also defines the functioning of Széchenyi István University. Our common path is paved with the same set of values, reflecting the present and pointing to the future", said László Velekei, Director of the Győr Ballet.

"In the ‘Youth for Youth Programme’, we consider it our mission to include students in our circle, in addition to the age groups we address with our children and youth performances. The University is an innovative medium that can respond directly to the fastest growing artistic discipline, contemporary dance. We create series of performances, introductory theatres and programmes that are open to students from abroad, as dance is one of the most powerful non-verbal forms of communication, with no barriers to communication. We need to raise the awareness of young people and maintain their interest in the arts, in our case dance, in order to create a young audience that understands and loves dance", said Krisztina Szőllősi, the company's assistant rehearsal director and head of the “Youth for Youth Programme”.

"From this academic year onwards, our school proudly bears the name of its new maintainer, Széchenyi István University. Our relationship is not a new one, as we have had several collaborations in the fields of dance, visual arts and even teacher training. The Győr Ballet has played a decisive role in the revival of our dance work, and since then our students have performed together with the dancers of the world-famous Győr Ballet on stages in Hungary and abroad", emphasised Tibor Derczó, Director of the Győr Dance and Visual Arts School.