Folk Polish dance: name, description, history and traditions

The population of each country has its own folk dances. They are also called traditional, ethnic, folklore or national. The roots of their folk dances go down in the history of the emergence of each ethnic group. Rhythms, movements, dance suits correspond only to that particular area in which it originated.

The first one coming to mind

That 's the way people's Polish dance can tell a lot about the place where it originated, the culture of the people inhabiting this territory and much more. Dance, like songs, language, clothing and customs, developed and strengthened the sense of belonging of an individual to a particular group of people. And although in every corner of this country the national dances have their own lines, the first thing that comes to mind when referring to the Polish folk dance comes from Cracow. Although this folk Polish dance is far from being one - there are many of them.

No less famous

It must be stipulated that the originality of folk dance is determined not only by the terrain. Affects the drawing of dance and estate. Equally well-known in the country and abroad is the dance procession, the "triple-mile" march-polonaise, which usually opened balls.

For a long time polonaise was performed only at weddings, and later - at all folk festivals. The progenitor of his specialists are inclined to consider a dance called "hodozny". Another polonaise and its prototype is called "foot", "roving", "old-world". From all this it is clear that the dance is slow. The more recent name "polonaise" is considered a French interpretation of the word "Polish". "Hodozny" was popular in all corners of the country, where it acquired its characteristic movements and received the names Krakow, Kujawski, Schloss. There were French and Russian variants. In the presence of a huge number of figures in all its interpretations, the slowness, solemnity and importance of performance are sacredly kept.

Country property

But Krakowiak is a national Polish dance, which is a kind of visiting card of the country. Judging by the name, this paired fast dance, which does not lose its relevance for 6 centuries, originated in Krakow, and then spread to the whole territory. It is in Krakow, the city that is considered the heart of Poland, that the annual dance festival called Krakowiak takes place. This festival, which is under the patronage of the city authorities, gathers dozens of collectives from all parts of the country and from abroad.

The history of the origin of dance and costumes for him

Appeared in the Krakow voevodstvo in the XIV century cracovian first performed only by men, and it sang the Cracow guys, but later it became a Polish folk dance.

The costume for this dance retains the features of the colorful national clothes of the inhabitants of the Krakow voivodship. So, the guys wore a white shirt, the spacious sleeves of which ended with wide cuffs. Black trousers were filled with white trousers in a red strip. The camisole worn over the shirt was, as a rule, blue. A red confederate with peacock feathers and a yellow belt complemented this magnificence. The girls did not have such a colorful outfit. The sleeves of the white blouse, like the red sleeveless shirt, were short. Over a fluffy and colorful skirt was worn a snow-white embroidered apron. The crown was worn on the head, ending on the back with numerous colorful ribbons. Complement the dress red beads.

Folk, popular, widely known ...

This Polish folk dance was popular with the szlachta. Like polonaise, it was considered solemn, was called "big dance" and included elements like waltz and polka, and march. Krakowiak is a fast dance, the number of pairs in it is usually even, it is performed, as a rule, accompanied by folk instruments.

The knee in the dance is a separate device or figure, which is distinguished by a certain spectacularity. Krakow is a two-edged dance. It is important to show yourself in it, therefore the performer's posture is always straight, and the head is proudly raised. The cracks of the ballroom and the national-stage cracks are distinguished by certain movements, their consistency. In our country, the most famous is the Krakowyak from the opera "Ivan Susanin" by M. Glinka. Popovaren and Krakovyak BV Astafyev from the ballet "Bakhchsarai Fountain".

Other dances

Initially, absolutely every folk dance was the most important element of rituals and rituals, it had to drive away evil spirits and bring good luck. As noted above, there are quite a few national dances in Poland. Very popular are the Polish folk dances, the names of which are given below: "kuyaviq with a birch" and "mazur", "guralski zbuynicki" and "vivat Wielkopolska", "povoljak" and "troyak slanski". Need I say that the mazurka is also from Poland? And that the great Polish composer Frederic Chopin wrote 60 mazuroks? And how popular was the most universal Polish dance, which was performed not only in all corners of Poland itself, but also in every pioneer camp of pre-war and post-war Russia!

Performed by threes

Polish folk dance "troyak", as the name suggests, is performed by threes - two girls and one young man. He consisted of two parts - slow and fast. In the first section, the guy solemnly leads the girls in a circle, and in the second - the girls quickly spin under the clapping of the guys, and then, when the young man is spinning in dance alternately with one of the girls, the second, dancing, runs around them. A cheerful and playful Polish dance can be imagined as a Polish folk dance of triples, that is, performed by three dancers.

Regional dances

The following dances - "Jacek" (Carpathian Voivodship), "Povolnyak" (Kielce is a city in central Poland, located 170 km from Warsaw), "Oberek" (Mazovia is a historical region centered on Warsaw) are among the unlisted. These are regional folk dances. The Polish Kujawyk is from Kuyavia, a historical Polish region located in the north of the country (in the interfluve between Noteci and Vistula). This dance is considered to be a bright contrast to the quick, cheerful collective turnaround "Oberek", which is characterized by a high tempo, rehearsals and shouting. Kouyaviak was originally called "sleeping" - very slow and smooth movements of the dance ended in not very strong treads. So in Kuyavia there was also a landscape - quiet, quiet, free.

Dance of "noble bandits"

The dance "guralski zbuynicki", or "noble bandits", comes from the highlands of Poland. The crooks lived and hid in the mountains, they plundered the rich in favor of the poor.

This dance of the Polish "Robin Hoods" is performed around the fire and is accompanied by bellicose songs, performed only by men. The presence of hatchets is mandatory, as individual elements of the dance mimic battles. The number of dancers ranges from 4 to 16.