Ervín Varga and Implementation of the Elements of Particularism in the Practice of Folklore Revival Movement in Slovakia after 2000

The study deals with the development of dance folklorism in Slovakia after 2000. Attention is mainly paid to Ervín Varga (1955–2013), a leading choreographer and dance teacher, whose artistic activities started in the 1980s the process of implementing the elements of particularism in the performance, teaching and choreographic practice. He was a mentor and partially also a primary role model for the incoming generation of dance teachers, choreographers, and performers of two influential Slovakian civic associations – “Dragúni“ from Bratislava and “Klub milovníkov autentického folklóru“ from Košice – in their teaching and artistic practice. The study is based on the theoretical concept of essentialisation and particularisation by the American dance theorist Anthony Shay (2002). Using this concept, he replaces the traditional way of thinking about stylisation in dance and its theoretical reflection in three stages – quotation, imitation, and re-composition − which were introduced into the professional discourse of Slovak folkloristics by Milan Leščák and Svetozár Švehlák in the 1970s. The study elucidates the contribution of Ervín Varga to the choreographic, teaching and performance practice in folklore revival movement in Slovakia after 2000 and defines basic features of particularism in dance folklorism after 2000.