Present and Past

Ballet Pécs was founded by Imre Eck in 1960 at the Pécs National Theatre as the very first modern ballet company of Hungary. His artistic ideas led to a paradigm shift that helped to give birth to modern and contemporary ballet in Hungary. The company quickly became one of the most acknowledged ballet companies of Europe in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
From 1969 Sándor Tóth, from 1992 István Herczog, from 2001 Gábor Keveházi and Attila Egerházi were the directors of the company.
Ballet Pécs functioned as the dance department of the Pécs National Theatre until 2017.

Balázs Vincze became the director in 2005. Ballet Pécs has evolved into a strong, cohesive and professional company under Vincze’s direction. Over the past decade the company has yet again become one of the most significant ballet companies of Hungary. A lot of powerful and attractive performances have been created by Vincze and renowned guest choreographers that immediately captured audiences. In addition to creating a strong professional company Vincze’s main aim was to get rid of the burdens of being a dance department of the theatre and become a fully independent ballet company. After an 11-year-long struggle he finally succeeded. The Town Council of Pécs established the autonomous Pécsi Balett Nonprofit Kft. in 2017 with Balázs Vincze as the managing director. Ballet Pécs now resides in the Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, the place that was the biggest project of the Pécs 2010 - European Capital of Culture Program. It is symbolic that Ballet Pécs, the ambassador of the ECC Program and the Zsolnay Brand got finally connected. The independent work makes it fully possible for Ballet Pécs to accomplish its mission that is to represent the town of Pécs all over the world in the universal language of dance.

In October 2017 founding member Teodóra Uhrik became the managing director. Balázs Vincze supports her as the artistic manager of the company.

Performances of the recent years have a characteristic dance language that is built on a combination of a wide spectrum ranging from classical ballet to contemporary dance. The best characteristics and traditions of dance theatre are represented, when dance, scenery, music and story unify to make a coherent whole and an unforgettable performance. Productions of Ballet Pécs are extremely emotional and passionate. The powerful and impressive choreographies are performed by charismatic dancers with expressive character-building skills. Living up to the expectations of our times, their performances always try to emphasize that the language of dance is international and universal. They represent the town of Pécs and Hungarian culture all over the world.

"It is a company of versatile, hardworking, and passionate people hungry to learn. There is a very good standard of technique without stylistic affectation and they are able to shift from the refined quality of classical extension to the grounded invention of contemporary movement with ease." Cameron McMillan, choreographer

Sponsors:

Kulturális és Innovációs Minisztérium Emberi Erőforrás Támogatáskezelő Nemzeti Kulturális Alap Zsolnay Örökségkezelő NKft. Pécs Pécs Megyei Jogú Város Önkormányzata Kedvenc KM Kft.

Partners:

Pécsi Nemzeti Színház Nemzeti Táncszínház Müpa Magyar Táncművészek Szövetsége Rádió 1 Pécs Pécs FM Made in Pécs