UCI Grad Returns Home to Dance

Homecoming, the theme of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble’s program here tonight, has special meaning to troupe member Katalin Gyulai. As a teen-ager, she emigrated with her parents from Hungary to Irvine, but went back to Hungary after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics from UC Irvine in 1990.

“I moved back because I prefer living in Hungary,” said the 27-year-old dancer, who served as interpreter for artistic director Sandor Timar during a recent interview. “I didn’t really feel at home in the United States.”

She said her parents, Peter and Katherine, left Hungary because they didn’t like the former Communist regime (they still live in Irvine) but added that life in post-Communist Hungary has its own drawbacks, particularly with an inflation rate that sits at 20% this year.

On the plus side, she said she is “really glad to see more things to buy” in Hungary, such as kiwi and stylish clothing. “And now we can travel anywhere.

“I know that the country has to correct a lot of things that the government ruined in the last few decades. It will take a long time, but I’m patient.”