The Music & Dance of Poland: Mazowsze is a thrilling kaleidoscopic display of dazzling movement, vibrant color and stunning beauty. The incomparable Mazowsze (Mah-ZOF-sha) performance troupe whirl and leap, stamp and glide in a glorious outpouring of sound and motion, rhythm and music that celebrates the cultural legacy of Poland. Polish-American entertainer Bobby Vinton narrates.

While the choreography and musical arrangements represent 39 distinctive ethnographic regions of Poland with traditional performance styles, the appeal of Mazowsze’s dynamic stage show goes beyond audiences of Polish descent. An ensemble of 65 dancers and singers are arrayed in a seemingly never-ending series of handmade traditional costumes — more than 1,000 in total, one more dramatic and colorful than the next and some weighing as much as 30 lbs., making their energetic gravity-defying leaps, twirls and lifts even more impressive. A full 23-member orchestra performs music ranging from Chopin to simple folk melodies beloved by the Poles for centuries. Strategically mounted high definition cameras and microphones capture this stellar performance, recorded live at the Polish National Opera House in Warsaw, Poland.

Mazowsze is internationally recognized as Poland’s cultural ambassadors. In the last 50 years they have performed more than 6,000 shows in cities around the world. The troupe’s founders, singer/actress Mira Ziminska and conductor/composer Tadeusz Sygietynski, dedicated themselves to preserve the rich music and dance traditions of Poland after the devastation of World War II.

Performances

• “Kolem, Kolem” (In a circle, In a circle)
• “Piekna nasza Polska cala” (Poland is Beautiful)
• Tramblanka Polka
• Oberek
• Kujawiak – dance from the region of Kujawy
• “Co ja mysle” (What I Think) – sung in costumes from the White Kurpie region
• Carnival time in the town of Wilamowice
• Krakowiaczek
• Krakowiak
• Songs and dances from Jurgow in the Podhale mountain region
• Bamberki
• Jokes and dances from Podegrodzie
• Wine gathering dance from Lubusz
• Dances of the highlanders from Tatras
• Handkerchief dance from Zywiec
• Chodzony or Polonaise
• “Cyt, Cyt” (Hush, Hush) – sung in costumes from the Lowicz region
• “Furman” (The Coachman) – sung by Stanislaw Jopek
• Lowicz dancers
• Sanniki region Mazurka
• Finale

A production of WLIW21 for WNET.ORG. Executive Producer/Director: Roy A. Hammond. Producer/Editor: Roman Brygider. A presentation of WLIW21 in association with WNET.ORG.