June meetings of "Master and Student"
Another month of the scholarship program of the National Institute of Rural Culture and Heritage “Master-Student 2025” has passed. The June stage of the project “Save from oblivion – dance culture of old villages of the city of Poznań” ended with further meetings of master Piotr Kulka and student Filip Laskowski.
The June meetings were devoted to continuing the study of native dances: “chodzone” and marches. The student became familiar with their division into ritual and customary. During exercises in the dance hall, the Master gave the Student characteristic steps and figures of these dances, used for women and men.
“Chodzone” as dances belonging to the native group were very popular and widespread in Poznań and in the former villages surrounding it. Their dance image is simple, dignified, avoiding the imitation of gestures and figures reminiscent of the national polonaise. In folk dance culture, they also took on other names: slow, polish, and even polonaise. They were performed in slow tempos, in 3/4 meter. They were very often performed with a song, in wedding rituals “to the ancestor”, they took on various dance images and methods of performance depending on the function they were associated with. These dances did not have a crystallized choreographic scheme, and their image and course depended on the invention, mood of the dancers, as well as the nature of the melody and the sung text.
Marches are occasional musical and dance forms performed in 2/4 or 4/4 meter. They played a special role in customs and rituals, primarily during the entry or exit of meeting participants from the room, on the way of the bride and groom to and from the church, the harvest festival procession, the processions of the masks, etc. They were performed at a lively tempo, faster than the walking ones. They appeared primarily in an instrumental version (without text), however, there were cases of marches with singing, including in games or in ritual forms. They also performed as independent songs, referred to as travel songs.
In addition to learning the walks and marches, the Student became familiar with the attributes characteristic of men and women. These include:
– bottle,
– copse,
– a figurine of a billy goat,
– beads,
– a rolling pin,
– a cheering tissue called “wiwatka”,
– a cart.
The aim of the project is to preserve the cultural heritage of the inhabitants of the former villages of the city of Poznań, its current districts, which is created by traditional customs, rituals, songs, music, dances and costumes.
We invite you to see photos from the implementation of the second stage of the project, as well as a short video summarizing the second month of work of the Master and the Apprentice:
Implemented as part of the scholarship program of the National Institute of Rural Culture and Heritage “Master – Student” from the funds of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
