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przytrampywanie

nonstylized dancesmap
One of the oldest folk dances in Poland, and a relic of ritual women's processional dances, the dance of przytrampywanie may currently be encountered only in the area of Kurpie. Girls or married women form a semicircle or circle holding their hands and stomping in the stationary position to the rhythm of the lively song.
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The name of the dance most likely comes from the German word trampeln (to stomp one's feet), preceded by the Polish prefix przy-. Literally, it means to stomp one's feet in the place, and this is precisely how this dance is performed - simple and archaic in its form, but fortified with the former magical and ritual character. In his description of the dance included in the 4th volume of "Mazowsze" [Mazovia], devoted to the surroundings of the village of Myszyniec, Polish ethnographer Oskar Kolberg derived the przytrampywanie from the customary invitattion to the wedding by the bride. Apart from that ritual, the przytrampywanie was performed by girls, or most often by married women, during village feasts, often between other dances, when musicians took a break. Although it is performed in the stationary position, the tempo of the dance is very fast (3/4 metre). Girls or married women form a semicircle (sometimes a circle may be encountered) joining their hands. Steps are accompanied by a lively song sung a capella. According to the rhythm of the song, dancers lift their joined hands forward and backward, stomping simultaneously at the same time. Also, small bends of the torso to the right and left may be seen to accompany the movement of hands.

 

Dąbrowska, Grażyna W. Tańce Kurpiów Puszczy Zielonej [Dances of the Kurpiowska Forest]. Warsaw: CPARA, 1967.

Dąbrowska, Grażyna W. W kręgu polskich tańców ludowych [In the Circle of Polish Folk Dances]. Warsaw: Ludowa Spółdzielnia Wydawnicza, 1979.

Dąbrowska, Grażyna W. Taniec ludowy na Mazowszu [The Folk Dance in the Mazovia Region]. Cracow: PWM, 1980.