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warszawianka

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This is a folk adaptation of polka-mazurka and varsovienne, the fashionable salon dances of the late 19th century which made their way from Paris to the Polish manor houses and salons in the cities. With time, folk musicians introduced them to villages, although in a significantly modified form. The folk dance of warszawianka combines the elements of waltz, mazurek and polka.
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Henri Cellarius, a renowned French dance teacher and author of a popular handbook La Danse des Salons, released in 1847 in Paris, was a great admirer of Polish dances. He particularly appreciated the mazur, but believed that its original form was too difficult for salon dances. So in 1847, he proposed La masurka – a dance based on mazurek steps, but much simpler, and closer to waltz. A few years later, La masurka and salon mazur served as the basis for creating La Varsovienne. Some sources cite a dance teacher named Désiré (a pseudonym, possibly?) as the author, other mention a Spanish dancer who created warszawianka in 1853 in Paris. It seems rather difficult to establish the facts today, nevertheless, it is clear that for several years both La masurka and La Varsovienne were very popular in France and Europe, and quickly travelled the world, reaching, for example, Cape Verde Islands, The Philippines and Mexico, where they are danced until present day. Both dances were also fashionable in Polish salons, and later made their way to the countryside, in greatly simplified versions altered by village musicians and dancers.

The name warszawianka is derived directly from the French name. The folk version of this dance was performed mainly in Małopolska region (Krakowskie, Lachy Sądeckie) and in some areas of Podkarpacie region (Krośnieńskie, Rzeszów area). It is danced in moderate or slow tempo, 3/4 metre (mazurek rhythm) or 6/8. It was most often performed to instrumental music, although some regional variants with an accompanying song (przyśpiewka) were also noted, for example, in Brzesko area in Małopolska: Com zarobiła, tom zarobiła, toś Jasiu przepił.

The couples in closed hold move along a circle line, most often against the sun (counterclockwise). Every three steps (closing feet) they perform half-turns to the right or left, followed by a single accented stamp (woman with the right foot, man with the left foot). The end of the melody or the eighth bar ends with a pronounced turn to the right or left and a double stamp. All the time, the couples keep moving slowly along a circle line on slightly bent knees. Warszawianka was also danced by Lachy Sądeckie group, in a slow and dignified manner, moving along a circle line on flat feet (brushing walking steps). Like in Krakowskie area, after three brushing steps the couples performed half-turns to the right or left, ending them with a single stamp. The stamp was followed by a pause, three brushing steps to the right and an ample turn ended with a double stamp by both dancers. Then, a next pause and the same sequence of steps to the left, and a turn. For the accented sideways steps, the dancers slightly sway toward the leg.

 

Cierniak, Jerzy. Dwa tańce ludowe: Warszawianka. Tańce ze wsi Zaborowa. „Teatr Ludowy”, R. 27, 1935, no. 9, pp. 163-165.

Kuryło, Edward. Taniec ludowy, dworski i towarzyski. w: Taniec, ed. Mateusz Gliński. vol. 1, pp. 45-146. Warszawa: Nakładem Miesięcznika „Muzyka”, 1930. 

Michalikowa Lidia; Chrząstkowska, Zofia, Chrząstkowski, Stanisław. Folklor Lachów Sądeckich. Warszawa: Centralny Ośrodek Metodyki Upowszechniania Kultury, 1974.

Turska, Irena. Krótki zarys historii tańca i baletu. Kraków: PWM, 1962.