The Day of the Dead, one of the most important holidays in the fall, is a time of reflection on your own life, unfortunately based on the completed lives of people we know. Taking into account the fact that “a person lives as long as the memory of him lasts”, we recall the profiles of people who have left us. We remember relatives, friends and acquaintances, asking ourselves about the time of passing, fragility and the meaning of life.

Every year, “Wielkopolanie” visit the graves of those who created the history of the band, cared for the national cultural heritage, and created the beauty of dance, music and costumes. They remember their managers, dancers, musicians, employees, and people who support the band’s activities with their knowledge.

           Among them, the most important role was played by Mirosława Bobrowska (1932-2017), an outstanding and distinguished educator and culture animator, folklorist and ethnochoreographer. She graduated in economics with a pedagogical specialty. She studied ethnography at the University of Adama Mickiewicza in Poznań, she graduated from folklore studies with a specialization in folk dance and spectacle directing, as well as theater courses for teachers. She devoted special attention and care to the training of instructors of folklore groups by organizing second and third degree qualification courses in Poznań carried out jointly by the Palace of Culture (currently CK Zamek) and the Board of Education. The extensive activity of Mirosława Bobrowska as a culture animator results from her broad interests, knowledge, diligence and thoughtful values, goals and passion for action, but also her creative talent and ability to cooperate with people and institutions. Her creative work is the basis for activities for numerous instructors and choreographers throughout the country. Through many years of research work, she discovered the most beautiful secrets of the Wielkopolska tradition and culture, which are now transferred by animators and creators to Polish stages. She devoted her entire life to cultivating national and regional culture, educating and passing on its historical values ​​to numerous groups of young people, showing them the richness of their fathers’ legacy.

           Roman Matysiak (1933-2009). Head of the Folkloristic Group “Wielkopolanie”, formerly “Cepelia Poznań” in the years 1962-1965. Dancer, choreographer, director, cultural animator, founder of the Song and Dance Ensemble “Wielkopolska” and co-founder of such bands as, among others. The Konin Land Ensemble, the Trzemeszno Song and Dance Ensemble, the “Lusowiacy” Ensemble or the Gypsy Terno Ensemble. He was a student at the ballet school in Munich. He graduated from the Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Jan Kanty and the Ballet School at the Poznań Opera and the School of Folk Dance Instructors in Jadwisin. He was the main choreographer of several bands, producer and screenwriter of large outdoor performances, shows for children, choreography for television music programs. He collaborated with outstanding creators of culture, he was a tutor of over a dozen choreographers. His interests were in dance, historical and scientific literature, ethnography and material folk culture. Of his own achievements, he most appreciated the choreography for the TV series “Qui pro quo”, as well as the authorship of scenarios for outdoor performances and the direction of the ritual part of the Wielkopolska-Archdiocesan Harvest Festival.

           Wacław Wróblewski (1924-2011). Head of the Folkloristic Group “Wielkopolanie”, formerly “Cepelia Poznań” in the years 1965-1983. Sports and dance educator, choreographer, certified Choreotherapist – Dance therapist, specialist in rehabilitation of blind people, precursor of dance pedagogy and gymnastic forms of blind and partially sighted people. He worked as: a teacher of folk dance and sports acrobatics at the State Ballet School in Poznań (1962-1970), choreographer and artistic director of song and dance ensembles (1965-2004): ‘Borowiacy’ (Tuchola), ‘Cepelia-Poznań’ (1965- 1983, Poznań), ‘First Piasts’ (Lednica), ‘PGR’ (Czerniejewo), ‘Gnieźnianie’ (Gniezno), he collaborated with the Polish Dance Theater as a teacher of the groups ‘Dance therapy for the blind’ during the International Contemporary Dance Workshops (2002 -2007), with the Department of Physical Education of People with Disabilities, Academy of Physical Education in Poznań (since 2000). Honored with: Medal of the Hipolit Cegielski Society ‘Labor Omnica Vincit’, Badge of Merit Cultural Activist (1969), Medal of Merit for Education, Culture and Sport (1993), Medal of the National Education Commission (2000). Honorary member of the Polish Association of Choreotherapy-Polish Dance Theater (Poznań).

           Henryk Maniecki (1953-2002). Head of the Folkloristic Group “Wielkopolanie”, formerly “Cepelia Poznań” in the years 1983-2002. Culture animator, educator, choreographer, devoted to Polish culture. Founder of the Children’s Folk Group “Cepelia – Poznań”, now “Wielkopolanie” in 1988. He collaborated with many bands from Wielkopolska, incl. Youth Folk Group in Środa Wielkopolska, as well as Polish groups in Brazil, Russia and Ukraine, creating for them numerous choreographic programs. Instructor, lecturer at numerous courses and workshops, including the School of Dance in the field of folk dance in Poznań. Originator of the International Folklore Meetings in Poznań. A man full of vigor, wit, with an amazing sense of humor, open, spontaneous, he loved people and folklore.

PK