Hungarian Conservative

Denisa Bott-Varga has been an active member of the 110-year-old Hungarian American Athletic Club in New Brunswick and leader of the local Csűrdöngölő Folk Dance Ensemble since the early 2000s, when she arrived to the US from Slovakia. In 2023, she received an Order of Merit of the Hungarian Republic for her work in Hungarian diaspora culture and folk dance. In the interview she talks about her passion for folk dance and her efforts to build and preserve the Hungarian community in New Brunswick.

‘Today we still need a place to come together, to cherish our nationality, traditions, and customs. We need a place that is truly ours, that is a substitute for the Old Country, and that welcomes all our fellow citizens who approach us with goodwill. Today we still believe in the principles on which this organization was built, and to which we must continue to adhere if we are to survive.’