SZALAGAVATO

This weekend Trefort school celebrated their Szalagavato. It was especially important this year because 2009 marks the 50th anniversary of Trefort school. The Szalagavato is a special pinning ceremony for all of those that will be graduating in the spring. Each graduating student is allowed to invite only a few guests (usually parent/grandparents) to watch their szalagavato. The school rents a special hall for the occasion and everyone dresses up. The boys all have special suits with shirts in their class color (their are 4 different classes that graduate each year)and the few girls have pantsuits that coordinate. They each have their name announced and the principal and head teacher pin on the "graduate" pin...the students will proudly wear these pins for the rest of the school year. After the pinning there was a special dance presentation first of all with students in tuxedos accompanied by girls of their choice in white gowns who danced a beautiful waltz. This year because of the 50th anniversary, the choir (including Jack) and another drama group performed. Then each of the 4 classes put on their own choreographed dance number followed by another group doing a waltz. It was all very beautiful and very impressive. Every school in Hungary has a szalagavato.It's a tradition that goes back many years. After the show, everyone went into the grand ballroom and had a champagne toast and then more dancing where everyone could participate. Students danced with their parents doing a waltz and later there was more modern dancing. The teachers were given a dinner that followed and then the teachers had the dance floor to themselves after everyone else had gone home...it was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of the pinning, the choir (you can pick Jack out in the back row) and some of the dance productions.