Hungarian Equestrian Traditions
Some thousand years ago, a nomadic group of people known as the Huns emerged from the East. They were proud hunters who held their horses and falcons in the highest regard and soon the neighboring tribes and kingdoms came to know them for their unmatched military skills of horse riding and mounted archery.
ETALON defines herself as a cultural bridge among nations who share the same values in terms of falcons and horses. We acknowledge and appreciate the equestrian culture all over the world with distinguished respect in Arabia and Asia.
The Show
Description of the show
ETALON is a tribute to the relationship between humans and horses throughout history expressing a dream of freedom, cooperation and harmony. The show is a unique, never-seen-before open air theatrical experience based on ancient Hungarian equestrian traditions that features 60-80 horses and large-scale equestrian and performing arts productions.
According to a myth thought to be of ancient origins, the Huns were born on horseback and their horses were born with fire. Drawing on a tradition that stretches back to these times, the show features the Csikós (wranglers) performing stunts while riding a horse, such as the rider standing upright on, or jumping on and off a galloping horse. Other features include working with horses at liberty, horseback archery, fire riding, falcons, humorous acts and many more.
These traditions have been passed down from generation to generation, carefully kept and proudly preserved for centuries to be revealed to you today.
Riding on innovation is also a tradition for us. The production brings you the state-of-art ETALON Spectators Palace (ESP). This newly designed structure makes the audience feel like they are part of the show. Additionally, this provides the organizing company with an excellent opportunity to welcome 2,000-5,000 visitors, including 200-500 VIP and 15-25 Royal guests in the Balcony with classic hospitality.
The Team
Horses
All the beautiful horses on show were born and bred in Hungary from traditional Hungarian bloodlines, however, the fire riding act includes an Arabic-Shagya crossbred. ETALON horses kept close to their natural environment as well as training provided by due professional care. Team members learnt the silent horse language of Equus.
Each and every member of the production shares the same commitment to treat our beloved animals with the highest dignity humanly possible. We feel honored to work with our magnificent animals to perform together on the long run. The production is dedicated to establish solid rules and regulation in order to provide 4 foundation for animal welfare. On this endeavor we developed our Code of Ethics providing guarantees for the well-being of our animals. Please see our Code of Ethics here.
Equestrian Artists
Csikósok - Wrangler Show
The csikós (wrangler) scenes take the audience back in time where a proper csikós, with his horse and long whip was up to every stunt and challenge. It displays Guinness Record holder artist.
Csikósok - Video GalleryFalconry
The falconry scene depicts the harmonious allegiance between falcons, humans and horses, who are all equally important for the successful outcome of the hunt. Falconry used to be a passion and also a form of training for the mounted warriors.
Falconry - Video GalleryFire Archery from Horseback
With the use of ancient Hungarian bows and arrows, the mounted archery scenes deliver an unbeatable buzz and fire, as the archers hit a flying disc with high accuracy, while their horses are in full gallop. It displays Guinness Record holder artist with experience in Hollywood.
Fire Archery - Video GalleryEquine Art at Liberty
Horses working at complete liberty using the silent horse language of Equus makes you believe that there is a hidden and invisible connection between horses and master. This scene was awarded with Order of Merit and invited to Vienna Spanish Riding School.
Equine Art at Liberty - Video GalleryFire Stunt Riding
The fire riding scene exhibits an incredible level of strength and courage on behalf of the Hungarian horses who are at the top of their game, even whilst surrounded by flames. Such stunts are impossible to carry out without speaking the language of the horse. The scene is delivered by multi-talented stunt riders with solid experience in Hollywood movie making industry.
Fire Stunt Riding - Video GalleryFire Dance
The fire dancing scenes can be characterized like a prehistoric party on a volcano exhibited by a multi-award winning and internationally recognized team.
Fire Dance - Video GalleryExecutive team
Dr. Robi KÁDÁR PhD, Producer & Director,
MBA, MSc, BSc
Robi Kádár invented and created this fantastic production that is based on his knowledge and experience of essentials of Hungarian equestrian society who inherited these ancient traditions from generations to generations. It was always his childhood dream to make this show come true to pay tribute to the horse and keep traditions going. He created Code of Ethics in order to provide assurance of the well-being of our animals.
Miki BÉMER, Artistic Director,
Member of Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance of Australia
As an ever optimistic person Miki Bémer is enriching the team with his creative vision and superb photographs taken. As an experienced traveler he traveled around the world and saw it through the lens of his cameras as well as worked with Hollywood stars like Olivia Newton-John, Bruce Willis, Prince. He is bringing his professional enthusiastic approach to the show in order to record each and every moment of the performance.
Katalin EÖTVÖS, Chief Choreographer
The management is paying attention to elaborate the show elements of the production. We cannot get better expert on this than Katalin Eötvös who represents the 9th generation of a multi-award winning (Special Prize of Monte Carlo, Meritorious Artist, Order of Star, Prize of Mari Jászai) traditional circus family that is recognized all over the world. That is why we trusted her with the choreographies.
Tamás "Toto" TÓTH, Music Director
In 20 years dedicated to music made Tamás "Toto" Tóth the right person to direct all the music and sound for this show. His musical talent entertains thousands of people in prestigious theaters that ranges from playing violin, piano and guitar, singing musicals to composing musical acts with lyrics. He composed more than 50 musicals in his carreer so far.
Géza JOÓ, Director of Marketing and Communication
He is the most multi-talented person of the team as he studied economy both in Budapest, Hungary and Oxford, England to develop excellent interpersonal communication skills and solid foundation of marketing. Luckily, he was born with a natural sense of art and music that is exhibited in his work of producing films, movies, live performances. As a person dedicated to classical music, he convinced Plácido Domingo to address a concert in Hungary first in his carreer. Additionally, he created a movie with Beniamino Gigli, a tenor from Italy. The President of Hungary also enjoyed his support for four years. He headed a number of Hungarian and foreign companies as CEO over years with high success.
Sándor SASVÁRI, Equestrian Actor
We feel delighted to have the most versatile actor today with us who has many accomplishments. He is the founder member of the legendary Rock Theatre in Hungary and acted as Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ Superstar of Andrew Lloyd Webber from 1986 to 1997. He built up massive experience in theatre at the beginning of his carreer. As an actor he dedicated significant part of his life to perform with horses live on stage and movies. He is one of the most experienced equestrian actor today in the world as he is the one and only who is able to sing in the saddle while the horse is moving in canter. He is awarded by many prestigeous prizes like EMeRTon-prize, Jászai Mary-prize.
Márta SZENDREY, Chief Artistic Designer
She is the most creative member of our artistic team supporting closely the work of Miki Bemer, the Artistic Director. She already tried herself in various fields of arts and artefacts (aquarelle, painting, textile art, sculpturing, designing forged steel gates, tailor made interior design, documentary photographic art) as she gravitate this field since she was born. Her major strength is to perfectly melt into the actual project she works with. Her creativity is well-supported by university degrees in archaeology, anthropology and museology. She is the expert we trust to develop our profile and appearance wherever we go.
Petra MAYER, Lights & Sound Designer
Petra Mayer has been engaged in writing music since 2007. She won the Certificate of Merit award for outstanding creations in 2012. Member of The New Level Empire band which got in the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest in Hungary 2014. Petra is touring with the band and has international performances as Dj Shizuka. She provides creative solutions for a number of music festivals in Europe and Asia.
István VAKA, Stable manager
There is no equestrian performance without horses. So, the health and happiness of our horses always come first. István Vaka is the most experienced and well-trained horseman of the team. He won national championship in eventing in 2004 with a horse bred and trained by him. So, we found him the most suitable person when it comes to the comfort and satisfaction of our horses in the stable and around.
