You are cordially invited to Bál (Ball), fifty minutes of contemporary folk pop, where well-known hits and joyful dancing await!

'Mulatós' is a genre of popular Hungarian music and dance, often played at weddings, village fairs or festive gatherings. Its upbeat, celebratory spirit encourages people to let loose and have fun. Many people love it, others can't stand it, but it is almost impossible to avoid it at celebrations across Hungary. How will mulatós be remembered in a hundred years from now? What defines tradition, and what is living culture? What happens when we revisit this popular genre through the perspective of contemporary dance?

On Trafó's stage, two music and dance styles, which couldn't seem further apart, meet in the choreography of Nóra Horváth and Balázs Oláh, who combine contemporary and folk dance techniques with the mulatós genre. Another key feature of the performance is electronic music inspired by the hyperpop microgenre, known for its fractured, distorted, layered and playful sound, that is the perfect antithesis of the mulatós, reflecting the overwhelming flood of information in the digital world, which can burn out everything and everyone. The two dancers and choreographers are accompanied live by the experimental musician András Molnár, who is a regular collaborator of several local choreographers, and the vocalist and keyboardist, Oliver Rácz, who is a highly successful mulatós performer and collaborates for the first time on a contemporary dance performance. 

BÁL shows that popular tradition is not just an imprint of the past, but a living heritage and part of contemporary culture that is still evolving today. In an extremely divided society, this performance seeks to create a common platform for the co-existence of contradictions found in everyday life.