Eva Duda
I am fortunate to be among the small percentage of people in the world who don't have to worry about mere survival, but can instead do what they truly love and put their talents to use. In return, I feel it is my duty to raise thought-provoking questions relevant to modern life, to convey meaningful ideas and beauty through my work—with empathy and love.
She graduated from the Hungarian Dance Academy in Budapest as a choreographer, and went on to study stage directing at the University of Arts in Targu-Mures. She started her professional career at the age of 22, and has been an independent artist since then, one who has been working with different dance and theatre companies in Hungary and abroad as well. Being a versatile artist, she is known for working in different fields of the performing arts, making various theater performances, contemporary dance pieces, impressive operas and musical shows too.
She founded her independent collective in 2009, under the name Eva Duda Dance Company, and with the debut performance, Lunatika received one of the highest Hungarian awards, the Rudolf Lábán Award. Being an experimenter, she makes widely different performances with high physicality. She is always looking for new ways of making theatre and dance shows, using various visual plans, different working methods and movement styles like circus, urban or folk dance, creating also small and bigger shows.
Being a Budapest based artist, she mostly works in Hungary, but has been invited as a guest artist to Austria, the Czech Republic, Romania, Germany and Poland. She worked in all of Budapest's leading theaters and she is a guest teacher at several art schools both in her homeland and abroad from the Hungarian Dance Academy to New York University Tisch School of the Arts.
In the past years Eva has been more and more concerned with community problems, social difficulties and the instability of the times we live in. As an activist she participates in different projects dealing with environmental consciousness, cultural differences, human rights, and freedom. Inspired by these events and activities these topics occur in her latest artistic works.
AWARDS, PRIZES:
2025 Forbes Power Women – Selfmade díj
2020 Kult50 – the most influential artists from the cultural field
2018 Honthy Prize – for the Best Creator of the Year 2017 by Budapest Operett Theater
2010 Best Choreographer of the Year Award 2010 by the Hungarian Dance Association
2010 Rudolf Laban Prize for the performance Lunatika
2009 Gyula Harangozó Prize – national award
2006 Budapest Fringe Festival – for performance Trans
2006 7th Solo Dance Festival Best Performance prize for Take it Easy
2005 Zoltan Imre Award
2001 Viktor Fülöp Scholarship
CONTEMPORARY DANCE WORKS for EVA DUDA DANCE COMPANY
2025 HAIR – Concert & Dance Show – MVM DOME, BUDAPEST
2024 BABEL – NATIONAL DANCE THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2022 FRIDA – NATIONAL DANCE THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2021 RAMAZURI – NATIONAL DANCE THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2020 MIRROR – NATIONAL DANCE THEATER, BUDAPEST
2019 WONDERLAND – TRAFO HOUSE OF CONTEMPORARY, BUDAPEST
2018 UTOPIA – TRAFO HOUSE OF CONTEMPORARY, BUDAPEST
2017 FRIDA – ATRIUM THEATRE BUDAPEST
2016 BREATHE! – TRAFO HOUSE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS, BUDAPEST
2014 FLASHBACK – Pictures of an Exhibition – NATIONAL DANCE THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2013 VIRTUS – TRAFO HOUSE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS, BUDAPEST
2012 AFTER – MU THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2011 RUMBLE – TRAFO HOUSE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS, BUDAPEST
2010 OVERDOSE (LABIRYNTH) – MU THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2011 CREDO – NATIONAL DANCE THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2010 STOP N GO – CLUB GÖDÖR
2010 FAUN – NATIONAL DANCE THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2009 LUNATIKA – MU THEATRE, BUDAPEST
EARLIER DANCE WORKS for DIFFERENT GROUPS AND COMPANIES:
2009 Carneval – at MERLIN THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2008 Plain – at MU THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2008 The Green Salon – at NATIONAL DANCE THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2007 The Unknown – BETHLEN THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2007 Arena – at BETHLEN THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2006 Inverz – at MU THEATRE,BUDAPEST
2006 Trans – at MERLIN THEATRE, BUDAPEST
2006 Take it Easy – at MU Theatre, 7th SOLO DANCE FESTIVAL
2005 Powder – at the STUDIO THEATRE OF OPERETT, BUDAPEST
2004 Bite of Flash – at TRAFO HOUSE OF CONTEMPORARY ARTS, BUDAPEST
2003 The Wonderer – at MERLIN THEATRE, BUDAPEST
CHOREOGRAPHY FOR PLAYS, MUSICALS, OPERAS:
2022 Fabian – theatre play – Schauspielhaus Stuttgart
2021 33 Álom – experimental play without words – István Örkény Theatre Budapest
2019 Carousel – musical – Budapest Operett Theatre
2017 Hunchback of Notre Dame – the Disney musical – Budapest Operett Theatre
2016 Tabu Collection – experimental costume show -Trafó house of Contemorary Arts
2015 Threepenny Opera – drama – Comedy Theatre Budapest
2015 The Comedy of Errors – comedy -Szeged Open Air Theatre
2015 Beauty and the Beast- the Disney musical – National Theatre Romania, Timisuara
2014 Rigoletto – opera – Miskolc National Theatre
2014 Das Ballhaus – dramatic dance theatre – Schauspilhaus Graz
2013 Gone with the Wind – musical – Budapest Operett Theatre
2012 Pinocchio – a play with music – Katona József Theatre
2012 Cavalleria Rusticana / Pagliacci– opera – Szeged Open Air Theatre
2012 They shoot horses, dont they? – drama– Comedy Theatre, Budapest
2011 Romeo and Juliet –drama – Comedy theatre, Budapest
2011 Lohengrin – opera – MÜPA, Budapest
2010 Carmen – opera – Szeged Open Air Theatre
2010 Fiddler on the Roof – musical – Comedy Theatre, Budapest
2009 Romeo and Juliet – musical -Ion Dacian Theatre, Bucarest, Romania
2008 Midsummer’s night Dream- musical – Budapest Operett Theatre
2007 Graffin Marcia – operett – Szeged Open Air Theatre
2006 West Side Story – musical – Debreceni Csokonai Theatre
2006 Bánk-Bán – opera – Szeged Open Air Theatre
2006 Rudolf – musical – Budapest Operett Theatre
2006 Chicago – musical – Szolnoki Szigligeti Theatre
2005 Turandot – dramatic dance theatre – Új Theatre, Budapest
2005 Beauty and the Beast- the Disney musical – Budapest Operett Theatre
2004 Hello, again?! – musical – Budapest Operett Theatre
2004 Romeo and Juliette – the Presgurvic musical – Budapest Operett Theatre
2002 Cabaret – musical – Budapest Operett Theatre
2001 The Devil – drama – Merlin Theatre Budapest
2000 All of Shakespeare – comedy – Merlin Theatre Budapest
1999 Les Contes d’Hoffmann – opera – Szeged Open Air Theatre
STUDIES
2015 – Targu Mures, Romania – Stage Director Director – Master (MA)
1998-2001 Hungarian Dance Academy – Studies of Choreography (BA)
1997-1998 Budapest Contemporary Dance School
1985-1997 Szeged Dance School for young students, jazz and classical ballet