Kujawiak (okrągły)
Description
Regional names:
okrągły
Oskar Kolberg noticed that the folk version of the kujawiak was on the wane already in the 19th century. Today, the kujawiak is most often performed in its stage version, like other Polish national dances. In the past the kujawiak was performed as a suite of three dances: the chodzony, the proper kujawiak, and the oberek. Kolberg called the suite “okrągły” (round). Every part had a different, growing tempo, yet all had the mazurka rhythm. The dance was performed by pairs which walked or whirled along a circle, led by the leader (or the leading pair).
The dance took its name from the name of the region of its origin, Kujawy, although it was also known in the neighbouring regions of: Pałuki, Ziemia Łęczycka, Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) and Western Masovia. In the region of Kujawy, the proper kujawiak was the middle part of a suite consisting of three dances: the chodzony, kujawiak and oberek. Every part had a different tempo, all had the mazurek rhythm, and the metre 3/4 or 3/8. Pairs danced all three parts walking or whirling around a circle, led by a leader (or a leading pair). That is why the suite was called “okrągły” (round). The kujawiak was commonly danced during weddings and the village dance parties. The dance was not devoid of elements of wooing. The proper kujawiak was characterised by the rubato tempo, and it was danced calmly and smoothly by pairs in a closed position. The original version of the was fully described by Oskar Kolberg in the second volume of his monograph about the region of Kujawy (originally published in 1867). At the end of the 19th century the kujawiak entered the canon of Polish national dances, and was danced also during great balls, under the direction of the master of ceremonies.
Bibliography
- Kolberg, Oskar. Dzieła wszystkie Oskara Kolberga. T. 3–4, Kujawy, cz. 1–2. Wrocław–Poznań: Polska Akademia Nauk, 1962.
- Lange, Roderyk. Tańce kujawskie (w:) „Literatura Ludowa”, nr 4, 1963, s. 13–20. Lange, Roderyk; Krzyżaniak, Barbara; Pawlak, Aleksander. Folklor Kujaw. Warszawa: Warszawa: Centralny Ośrodek Metodyki Upowszechniania Kultury, 1979.
- Sroka, Czesław. Polskie tańce narodowe. Systematyka. Warszawa: Centralny Ośrodek Metodyki Upowszechniania Kultury, 1990.
Music
- Kujawiak
Jan Twardowski b. 1912 Kowal, pipe.
Recorded in 1975 in Kazimierz.
Muzyka Źródeł, CD 20: Kujawy - Kujawiak jasny od Twardowskiego
Muzyka Źródeł, CD 20: Kujawy
- Kujawiak
Muzyka Źródeł, CD 20: Kujawy
- Kujawiak from Strugienice
Muzyka Źródeł, CD 1: Mazowsze part. I
- Kujawiak
Jan Bagrowski, born in 1931 in Witaszewice, Łęczyca district, domiciled in Zagaj Stary, Łęczyca district – three-row accordion
Recorded on 27 June 1968 in Zagaj Stary, Łęczyca district.
Phonographic Collection - Kujawiak
Stanisław Kiciński, born in 1907 in Czarnopole – accordion
Recorded on 7 July 1968 in Głupiejów (Czarnopole).
Phonographic Collection of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences ©ISPAN - Chodzony, kujawiak
Piotr Trawiński, born in 1885 in Michalin, Aleksandrów Kujawski disctrict, domiciled in Niszczewy, Aleksandrów Kujawski district – violin
Recorded in 1956 in Włocławek.
Phonographic Collection of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences ©ISPAN - Kujawiak
Grzegorz Gać – violin
Recorded on 16 September 1959 in Skowroda.
Phonographic Collection of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences ©ISPAN - Kujawiak
Chwaliła się przede mną, że ma dwadzieścia sukien, Władysław Kwiatkowski, born in Jaranowo, Aleksandrów Kujawski district, domiciled in Kwiatkowo, Aleksandrów Kujawski district – violin
Recorded in 1995 in Kwiatkowo.
Phonographic Collection of the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences ©ISPAN
Map
- Kujawy
- Łęczyckie
- Łowickie
- Mazowsze
- Pałuki
- Wielkopolska
