Gyula Levente Deák, director of the Háromszék Dance Ensemble, died on Wednesday as a result of a serious illness, the company announced on its social media page.
"In person, we have lost the leader who paved our way for three decades on dance walks and dance paths crossing genres, regions and borders. The one who represented safety, stability, strength and courage in our company, and to whom we were always a second family. His death is an immeasurable loss not only for the Háromszék Dance Ensemble, but for the entire folk dance scene in Transylvania," the obituary states.
As the Háromszék daily and the Maszol.ro portal recalled: Gyula Levente Deák was born in Marosvásárhely in 1959. He graduated from the Technical University of Cluj with a degree in mechanical engineering, then at the Marosvásárhely University of Arts with a degree in theater and art organization. He came to Kézdivásárhely as an engineer, where he re-founded the dance hall in 1985, where he worked as an organizer and instructor for five years.
He held the position of director of the Háromszék Dance Group from 1990. In 1992, he founded the Lajtha László Foundation, which supports the folk music and folk dance movement, and was the organizer of many prestigious events. The annual Sepsiszentgyörgyi Folk Music and Folk Dance Meetings and Kommando Gypsy Folklore Camps are linked to his name. Between 2005 and 2020, he held the position of president of the Romanian Hungarian Folk Dance Association.
His work was recognized, among others, with the Hungarian Gold Cross of Merit and the Award for Dance Arts.
Source: Erdely.ma
Photo: Transylvanian Hungarian Television
