Current:Home > BackAn energy crunch forces a Hungarian ballet company to move to a car factory-LoTradeCoin
An energy crunch forces a Hungarian ballet company to move to a car factory
View Date:2024-12-24 00:43:32
GYOR, Hungary — Reka Zalai clocked out for lunch on Thursday in the quality assurance department of an Audi automobile factory in Hungary.
But instead of heading to her ordinary spot in the factory's lunch room, she walked to a nearby conference hall near the production line to watch a performance of a professional contemporary ballet troupe.
The Ballet Company of Gyor, a city in northwest Hungary that is home to the sprawling car and motor plant, began rehearsing at the factory in January after being forced to shutter their rehearsal hall in response to soaring energy prices.
With nowhere to rehearse and scheduled performances approaching, the troupe approached the Audi factory, a longtime sponsor, which offered to host the dancers in a heated room at the plant for a few weeks during the coldest winter months.
In a converted conference room on Thursday, the dancers honed their pliés and pirouettes, while row upon row of new cars could be seen in a distant lot through the ceiling-high windows, and workers passed by outside dressed in bright red coveralls.
Laszlo Velekei, the ballet company's director, said that being able to maintain the continuity of rehearsals after the dancers left their theater was essential to keeping them in top form.
"The most important thing in a dancer's life is that they can't stop," Velekei said. "There is a saying that we often repeat to one another: if you miss one day (of rehearsal), it's no problem. If you miss two days, then the dancer begins to feel it. If you miss three days, then the audience notices, too."
The Gyor Ballet's rehearsal hall is one of dozens of Hungarian cultural institutions that have temporarily shut down for the winter season in response to exponentially rising energy prices. Heating bills for some have risen tenfold since last winter, while high inflation and a weakening currency have compounded a dire economic outlook.
Hungary's government in July declared an "energy emergency" in response to rising prices and supply disruptions linked to Russia's war in Ukraine. It also made cuts to a popular utility subsidy program that since 2014 had kept the bills of Hungarians among the lowest in the 27-member European Union.
Reka Jakab, a press spokesperson for Audi, said the ballet company wanted to give something back for the plant's 12,000 workers in return for the rehearsal space.
"They offered to give one open performance for them each week, and they were also open to giving access to the rehearsals whenever the workers have free time," she said.
She said many workers had never seen a ballet before, but the responses have been very positive.
"Several people said that they would definitely attend the next performance in the theater."
Zoltan Jekli, a dancer with the Gyor ballet, said that the troupe had overcome some of the limitations of the new space by outfitting the floor with a layer of soft PVC foam and bringing their own equipment to make it feel like home.
"Whenever I come here, it fills me with good feelings and memories and I think everyone (in the troupe) feels the same," he said. "We don't have the sense that we're coming into a car factory. We like to be here."
Zalai, 28, said she's "always been amazed by ballet," but that seeing it up close and getting a chance to break from her daily routine had been a particularly special experience.
"I was really recharged by this half-hour. Time stopped for me," she said.
veryGood! (4321)
Related
- Jon Gruden joins Barstool Sports three years after email scandal with NFL
- The Fed welcomes a ‘soft landing’ even if many Americans don’t feel like cheering
- Prosecutors drop fraud case against Maryland attorney
- How many points did Caitlin Clark score today? Rookie sparks Indiana Fever's comeback win
- LSU student arrested over threats to governor who wanted a tiger at college football games
- Trial expected to focus on shooter’s competency in 2021 Colorado supermarket massacre
- Millions more Americans lacked health insurance under Trump vs. Biden
- Man found frozen in cave along Appalachian Trail identified after nearly 50 years
- The 10 Best Cashmere Sweaters and Tops That Feel Luxuriously Soft and Are *Most Importantly* Affordable
- Hundreds of ‘Game of Thrones’ props are up for auction, from Jon Snow’s sword to dragon skulls
Ranking
- Why California takes weeks to count votes, while states like Florida are faster
- Florida's Billy Napier dismisses criticism from 'some guy in his basement'
- What is the birthstone for September? Get to know the fall month's stunning gem
- NFL hot seat rankings: Mike McCarthy, Nick Sirianni among coaches already on notice
- Channing Tatum Drops Shirtless Selfie After Zoë Kravitz Breakup
- Real Housewives of Dubai Reunion Trailer Teases a Sugar Daddy Bombshell & Blood Bath Drama
- Steelers' Arthur Smith starts new NFL chapter with shot at redemption – and revenge
- Real Housewives of Dubai Reunion Trailer Teases a Sugar Daddy Bombshell & Blood Bath Drama
Recommendation
-
UConn, Kansas State among five women's college basketball games to watch this weekend
-
US Open: No. 1 Jannik Sinner gets past Tommy Paul to set up a quarterfinal against Daniil Medvedev
-
James Darren, 'Gidget' and 'T.J. Hooker' star, dies at 88 after hospitalization: Reports
-
1 of 5 people shot at New York’s West Indian American Day Parade has died
-
Statue of the late US Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon, is unveiled in his native Alabama
-
Elle Macpherson Details “Daunting” Private Battle With Breast Cancer
-
Nation's largest Black Protestant denomination faces high-stakes presidential vote
-
Mistrial declared after jury deadlocks in rape case of former New Hampshire youth center worker