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White Rose Ball
February 11, 2006
Dearborn Inn
Dearborn
The Hungarian Arts Club was formed in 1958 as an organization to preserve
Hungarian arts and culture. The Club's goals are to nourish, support and
promote Hungarian heritage and to present this culture to the people of the
United States.
To meet this
purpose, the Hungarian Arts Club has raised money through Hungarian cultural
events it has sponsored and awarded over $60,000.00 in scholarships to
students of Hungarian. These scholarships have gone to students pursuing
fine arts degrees, throughout colleges in North America, in fields ranging
from acting and instrumental performance to music teachers and artists.
The Hungarian Arts
Club continues the decades old tradition of introducing young girls of
Hungarian descent to society at its annual debutante ball, the White Rose
Ball. The formal, blacktie ball with traditional ballroom dancing has been
held at the Dearborn Inn for the past several years. The debutantes and
their escorts perform the Palotas, a traditional dance of the Hungarian
royal court. Each debutante is then formally introduced to the Hungarian
community. The Ball also serves as the venue for the scholarship award
presentation. The art of winners is displayed or the musical winners perform
for the audience.
Over the years,
The Hungarian Arts Club has donated to the community to bring Hungarian
culture to others. Funds were donated to establish the Hungarian Room at
Alex Manoogian Hall at Wayne State University and to Michigan State
University to acquire an antique cymbolm a traditional Hungarian instrument.
A bust of Franc List, sculpted by a Hungarian artist, was donated to Ford
Auditorium during a reception to honor Antal Dorati, then the director of
the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
The Hungarian Arts
Club has also been a strong supporter of other Hungarian cultural clubs and
organizations. Not only were they, one of the founding members of the
HungarianAmerican Cultural Center, but they provided financial support to
Dancers Hungaria, a group dedicated to the preservation of Hungarian Folk
Dancing. The Club also has sponsored numerous activities at the Holy Cross
Hungarian Church Festival.
Contributing even
further to the advancement of Hungarian Culture, the Club has sponsored
music ensembles and folk dancers from Hungary, such as the Hungarian State
Folk Ensemble, Okros, Etlefa, Meta, Philharmonia Hungarica, Toronto's Kodaly
Ensemble, the Children's Choir of Budapest, and Szaszcsavas.
Other efforts to
bring Hungarian culture to the metro area have included hosting a Hungarian
exhibit at Oakland University and a month long Hungarian artifact display at
the Livonia Library.
The current
President is Tamas Markovits of Ypsilanti with Linda Enyedy of Southfield as
Vice President. For further information regarding membership, scholarships,
or participation in the Ball, please call Linda Enyedy (248) 3520927. |
