Englishman Reacts to... Mazurka - A renowned dance from Poland 

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Rob, each region of Poland has a different costume (different clothes). Mazurek is a traditional folk dance. Polonez is a traditional court dance. Currently, it is danced mainly at high school proms.

I've Never danced Mazurek, but I can ashure you that everyone will dance Polonez before "Matura" on "Studniówka".

Each region of Poland has its own costume and dance!

Polonez is a great Polish dance.

I have one linguistic note. This dance is called Mazurek. Mazurka is a woman born in Masuria (Mazury is a region in Poland - the land of a thousand lakes). I have no idea why this bizarre name Mazurka was created in English instead of Mazurek. These are folk costumes. These were the peasants' festive clothes.

Mazurek was dancing in the willages squers rather than in the casstles. It was a pesants dance not the knits.

Mazur is a polish name for this folk dance, mazurek is a chopin's composition, while mazurka is an english name for both ( dance and music composition).

Check out "Polonez" dance- it is the only historical dance that is danced in modern times (I mean, other dances are too, but there is one occasion that this will be danced at a modern party), on Prom Balls ;) It was a dance of our nobility - a court dance, it is danced at the end of a movie (based on a book by Adam Mickiewicz) "Pan Tadeusz" (at a betrothal party). Edit: "Mazurek" started as a peasant dance. No, at school we are predominantly taught "Polonez", because it is danced at the prom ball, as I mentioned above. *fun fact there is also a car named Polonez ;) * There is a saying: "History is a politic today" (what we name "history" in relation to the past, in the present its name is "politic").

I learned polonez (effectively) and karkowiak (with poor effect) in school. Not marurek or mazur. It depends on the region I guess. I live in Wielkopolska.

Not every school in Poland teaches national or folk dances. But it's true that schools have dance clubs that teach traditional dances. The mazurka is one of the dances. Others dance too. Such dance groups are often groups with traditions. Some of them were established 50 years ago and have not stopped developing even though we were in Russian captivity for 70 years. There was a folk dance group in my school. I didn't dance myself, but many of my friends did, and new arrivals to the school were encouraged to join this dance group every year. The memories are amazing. But I also have memories when I could watch them at rehearsals or in the media, when they danced at performances even abroad. Some dance professionally after graduation. What about costumes, in different regions of Poland these costumes are different. The cut itself may be similar, but each region will have a different leading color scheme. I believe that this is a fantastic piece of Polish identity that should be continued in my country and is being continued for now.

In Poland, for several hundred years, a mazurka always opened all balls, and another mazurka closed it (a sign that the ball was over). My parents learned to dance the mazurka at school (me not). Mazurka and polonaise are Polish national dances, commonly danced since the 15th century. In the 17th-19th centuries, they also became fashionable at courts in Europe.

This dance is called Mazur I’m a polish folk dancer

Parents of Fryderyk Chopin were: Justyna Krzyżanowska and Nicola Chopin, who died in Poland and is burried in Warsaw.

Children of polish heritage born overseas (because their families were exiled and became refugees as a result of ww2- mine were victims of Russian aggression and slavery) were often sent to Saturday schools to learn the language and dance…..I did this as an Australian born child of a polish father. 😊

I was taught "polonez" in school. But i live in Gdansk and MazurEK might be more common on the south?

If someone learns to dance mazurkas at school, it is rather optional (e.g. as part of sports lessons), they are not compulsory classes. On the other hand, in high schools there is a tradition that at the ball called "studniówka" - which takes place about 100 days before the start of final exams, young people dance another dance - the polonaise (polonez). Here's a link to what it looks like: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-n2N8vrOeO5k.html

Everyone in Poland once learned to dance the Polonaise at the end of the 8th grade of primary school or for the prom.

Mazurek is the right name. I live in Wielkopolska/Greater Poland and I haven't it at school. But there was an option to participate in after-school Folk Dances group. But our high school prom dance is polonez, another Polish dance. I ended high school education in 2004 and maybe something changed since then. In my city is, for example, Folk Dance group for university students: Zespół Pieśni i Tańca Łany Uniwersytetu Przyrodniczego w Poznaniu.

It feels nice watching someone reacting to my country

There are more folk dances in Poland. Mazur, Krakowiak, Kujawiak, Highland Dance called "Zbójnicki" / "Rogue Dance", Oberek, and Quite a special dance, one can say majestic/noble called Polonaise, danced to this day at pre-matura parties.

The traditional folk dances are connected to particular regions of Poland. So, for example mazurek comes from NE Mazowsze/Masuria , zbojnicki from the Tatra mountains, Kujawiak from Greater Poland , Krakowiak from Cracow., and so on. Each region had its own dialect, traditions, outfit, but now a lot is forgotten , maybe you can see it in some open-air museums. Still, I think highlanders are very attached to their music and dialect and it's fantastic. (Try Zbojnicki by Trebunie Tutki and Twinkle Brothers, it's Polish folk music plus reggae.) So nice an English guy digs into Polish traditions and can see far beyond pierogi and vodka :) Good job, Rob!

I learned and performed dances from all over Poland, including the Mazurka, in college. I'm not Polish but absolutely love everything Polish folk even 50 years later! Love your video!🌿❤🌻❤🌿

In Poland, we traditionally dance the Polonaise 100 days before the school-leaving exams in high school (the exam is called "Matura"). This event is called "Stódniówka" and it simply means a good party with friends and teachers ;). In addition, I remembered that I learned the Oberek and Kujawiak in extra dance classes (I was about 7-8 years old at the time, and the classes were extra, not mandatory, this was in the 90s). Greetings from beautifull Poland ;) Thanks for the cool material!

In Poland I once danced the 'Polonez' in kindergarten, and another group danced the 'Krakowiak' that day. But I don't think I've ever even seen a 'mazurka' with my own eyes. Sooner polonez at the studniówka

Fun fact: the meaning of the place where Fredrick Chopin was born is Iron will

Great post! Yes, I grew up in NY in the US and learned the Mazur in the Polish community I grew up. It’s one of my favorite dances.

In Poland we have 5 national dances: polonaise, mazur, oberek, kujawiak and krakowiak. When composing his mazurkas, Chopin combined the following styles under one name: "Mazurka" (gives energy), oberek (liveness) and kujawiak (melancholy).

I not but my 13yo daughter is doing all traditional polish songs and dance. She even have this traditional attire

Very good work. Greatings from Poland

Balet Mazaowsz it's Polish National Treasure. Of course I never learned Mazurka Danced in various Polish schools.But very well I know what is Mazurek Danced.Yes I Danced Polonez on Studniówka.

We don't learn how to dance Mazurek, but I think everyone knows how to dance polonez. In the last year of school, 100 days before final exams, there is a ball/party, that traditionally begins with Polonez. Mostly the first couple is a student and the headmaster. It's a really nice tradition. There are plenty of examples on yt. Just look for " studniówka polonez". ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-q1nYt7BS-dM.html

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mqsebpuJkgM.html That's very nice example of polonez on studniówka. This particular one is really cool. We've danced more basic version on our studniówka. Studniówka is a party/event organised 100 days before graduation from high school. Besides that, In Wrocław every year there is organised an event for young people that graduate in particular year. They dance polonez on a mass scale in the very center, in Rynek square. My son was thaught polonez this year because he ended KINDERGARTEN. 😮That was cute. But usually is tought in the end of high school. Every high school in Poland basically.

Im from kraków so insted of Mazurek i lerned how to dance Krakowiak and after 6 years i still love it

Hey Rob. I'll go with other comments here and say yeah you should check out Polonez. You can find it here with no problem. I'd suggest to watch scene from film Pan Tadeusz. They dance polonez in most beautiful manner and its filmed beautiful. Film was based on one of most important piece of polish literature. Highly recommended 👌

@RobReacts1 for example in Greater Poland Voivodship, one of traditional dance is WIWAT Biskupiański, BTW check the traditional dances with name of "Oberek", "Wiwat Taniec", "Przodek", "Wiatrak Taniec"

Polonez for sure, bc this is the dance that is taught as an opening dance in studniówka - sth like prom party and the name means 100 days for the final matura examination.

We don't learn the Mazurka in school, but we almost always learn the Polonaise for the graduation party.

Yeah, I learned this and other folk dances because I attended dance classes for 10 years. I think that at school they teach polonez more than mazurek. And in my area the most popular is krakowiak. Folk dancing depends on where you live, but all dances are beautiful 😌

Of course not, nobody as I assume learns this dance at school. Only if you have some special interest in that. There's one exception, a dance called Polonez, which all students of high school dance while graduation party, but it's not very complicated to comprehend. My dad e.g. was dancing several polish dances and traveling all over the world showing it, but he was a member of national dance team from Łódź city.

Mazurek is just the tip 9f the iceberg. We also have Polonez, Oberek, Kujawiak and Krakowiak, just to name a few traditional polish dances.

I was taught this dance at pre-school, but I can't remember even one tiny step now LOL.

Hello Rob. All Polish dances are beautiful. Perhaps the Polonez is more of the national dance of Poland though I think. I was born and raised in the USA, but after studying and living in Poland...the land of my grandparents, i returned to live here permanently. I love it! BTW you yourself look like you could have some Polish background. Am I right? Trzymaj sie!

Mazurek is not a part of our shool curriculum and i believe that 99,9% of poles don't know it. Most of the time it is learn by those performance groups aimed at preserving old historical attributes of poles like old clothing, music and dance. However we learn Polonez in mid-school to eventual preform it during our proms. I believe it is widely spread modern tradition.

I would say polonez is taught at school (we do dance that at the prom - by the way most popular polonez these days is the one composed by Wojciech Kikar for Wajda's "Pan Tadeusz"; try to watch the polonez scene). There are many folk clothes - Upper Silesian (Rozbark),Cracow's ones, Łoeicz, Kaszubian, Greater Poland (Poznan's Bamber), Piotrków, Podhale, Łemkowie, Sądecki Highlands and many many more. But try Karolina Żebrowska's 100 years of Polish beauty. She's quite popular youtube costume historian. EDIT: if you would visit Poland again and still interested in Polish costumes - go to Warsaw's State Ethnografical Museum (Państwowe Muzeum Etnograficzne) or in Cracow Ethnography Museum (Muzeum Etnograficzne), it's located in Kazimierz District.

I learned all folk dances at sport class in primary school in 90's.

There are 3 national Polish dances: Mazur, Kujawiak, Oberek, which Mazurka consists of. Mazur is more noble, and proud, Kujawiak is slow melancolic, nostaligic, and Oberek is fast, vivid and very energetic. Chopin combined them all together in his works called Mazurkas (Polish: Mazurek). So - what they actually dance in your video - is a dance called Mazur.

I don't know how to dance Mazurek however me and probably most of Polish students were tought Polonez. It's a dance that we dance at the "ball" at the end of school (last grade of primary/high school). And during other events you can see Polonez being danced. I also don't think there is one universal traditional clothing in Poland. There are regional ones. Traditional clothing in Tatry or Kaszuby is completely different. I, however, was never into Polish traditional dancing. I used to learn, and dance, Irish and Scottish dances though 😅

Funny Fact: In most cases the Polish anthem is played in wrong rhythm,it should be rather fast,when it is played usually too slow.

There is a big inaccuracy in this video. The narrator confuse "Mazur" with "Mazurek" (both translated as "Mazurka" 😁 ). Mazur is polish national dance (together with Oberek, Kujawiak, Polonez and Krakowiak). The woman at the beginning talks about Mazur. Mazurek is not treated as national dance. Its stylized dance made as combination of Mazur, Oberek and Kujawiak. Chopin wrote Mazurek-s. Polonez - is now a traditional dance of prom party. Danced by students as an introduction to the party 😉 Mazur is often danced as a final part of a show (like opera, etc). I think it is one of a most spectacular and demanding dance.

I don't remember dancing Mazurek, maybe it's more common to central Poland. I remember adncing rakowiak in preschool. The most common is Polonez opening every polish highschool prom / graduation bal..

I was a bit of a pariah up till the high school years, but I did learn Polonez for the prom. My dance partner was the english teacher's wife and shools general PE coach ( I say general cos we had tennis classes too xd) xd

That's the last one, I promise 😂. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-oG9OzZdAWz8.html World Guiness Record in dancing polonez. By the way, it took place in stunning reinessance town of Zamość in eastern Poland. I know, it's my 5th comment under this video 👀 but I love polonez so I couldn't help it but send and send and send.... I adore the dance. It is a bit slow and somewhat static but thanks to that, everyone can dance it regrdless of ones level of fitness, age and so on. Besides that it looks to me very noble and elegant and it doesn't make you tired and sweaty - good to warm up before more lively dancing.

Każdy taniec odzwierciedla relacje między kobietą a mężczyzną w konkretnym kraju i epoce: inny jest walc, inne tango, inny chopak, inne tańce kaukaskie czy brazylijskie. Polskie tańce salonowe polonez i mazur oraz ludowe mazurek, oberek i kujawiak są grą, gdzie mężczyzna jest silniejszym ale ochraniającym partnerem, a kobieta jest wesołą współuczestniczką dobrej zabawy

My Mother talked me that all balls started from mazur. Chopin's mazurkas include not only mazurka but also kujawiak (a slower dance than mazurka) or oberek (faster then mazurka).We can say that mazurka composed by Chopin is a mixture of certain folk dances, but always tacted for 3 with the stress on 3. Not for one like in waltz.

We don't learn how to dance Mazurek at school but in high school we learn how to dance Polonez and we dance it on prom 😊 all Poles know how to dance Polonez

Najszybszą odmianą tańca „mazurek” jest „oberek” taniec ludowy i ten to daje „czadu” (bardzo szybki), obecnie jeszcze tańczony na wsi Mazowsza, Rawskiego i w Radomskim. *** The fastest variety of the "mazurka" dance is the "oberek" folk dance and this one is rocking (very fast), currently still danced in the countryside of Masovia, Rawski and Radom.

Kiedy chodziłam do szkoły, to część lekcji wychowania fizycznego była przeznaczona na naukę tańców ludowych. to było fajne:), Uczyliśmy się tańczyć mazura, oberka, poloneza i krakowiaka. super zabawa

In primary school, I tried to dance mazurkas and other Polish dances (oberek, kujawiak), but it was quite difficult because of the specific rhythm and accents. These are not easy dances at all.

I'm not sure if we can all dance the Mazurka, but we can all dance the Polonaise (Polish dance). We all dance it because 100 days before graduation in Poland there is a ball (Studniówka) which traditionally begins with a Polonaise. And it is always Ogiński's Polonaise "Farewell to the Fatherland".

Not MazuREK, but we do learn Polonez at school. And we then dance it for our prom. Every school and every class has to dance it for every prom every year. So yes, we do know our dances, although I don't know much about Mazurek

There are five official national dances : polonez, oberek, kujawiak, krakowiak, mazur. There are also other regional dances typical for the region. Most of us learned polonez at school, some know how to dance krakowiak. Mazur us the most difficult and is danced by professional or amateur folk dance and song groups or in a dance competition such as latin or ballroom dances.

Every Pole who graduates from college learns to dance the Polonaise, which is also the Polish national dance of the 16th century. 100 days before the exam, is organized a ball where beautifully dressed young people begin the ball with a Polonaise. At my graduation prom, I was the first couple with the school's headmaster😄

Not really, it's specific to Mazowsze region. I was born in Krakow and I was taught to dance krakowiak (though i didn't manage to learn it)

Very Polish dance is Polonez Ogińskiego.

I can dance mazurek, oberek, krakowiak, kujawiak, polonaise. I learned these dances in primary school.

I learned it during ballet classes when I was in primary school, but that was extracurricular

Hello Rob, Mazurek is more popular in Warszawa and it was made national by communist regime. Polonez is more national dance as its reminder of free/uprising Poland. So please try to find video of Polonez or find finale scene of film going by title "Wesele". To be honest watch whole film and if you get tea 🍵 and cake 🎂 🥮 🍥 I explain to you historical message it carry. Every region has different traditional dance, try "zbojnicki" for mountain part of Poland, " krakowiak" for Krakow region and so one Rob. And you can keep " Morris dance " in the south, we in North are not interested in it😂😂 Good job, carry on buddy

I was taught to dance this at school but I never thought it's norm, just in my primary school there were dance lessons once a week and our teacher taught us traditional polish and not only polish dances. However, the only dance I still remember how to dance would be polonez probably 😂

Mazur, potem mazurek polonez czyli chodzony krakowiak kujawiak..mamy ogromna tradycje wspanialych tańców.. muzyki śpiewu, wyjątkowe w stosunku do innych krajow .Wprawdzie i inne maja piekne tradycyjne tańce czy kostiumy np bardzo oryginalne i mało znane te z Sardynii

Look here. It’s one (in my opinion) of the best mazur composed by Stanisław Moniuszko from opera „Halka". Mazurek (Mazurka) was a court dance, as you know. You can also see more-less traditional polish noble clothes. Not high quality, but... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SM3Zw4APPQI.html

It should be 'Mazurek', 'word 'Mazurka' being a case in the genitive. But Eanglish version is Mazurka :DI think it's a bit confusing. Also the word Mazuerk means festive Easter cake and bird(Eurasian tree sparrow )

I could dance Mazur when I was young. My Mum taught me. The problem was that under commies flats were not spacious enough to make dancing Mazur possible. The dance requires a lot odf space. :) (BTW Mazur that people used to dance in Polish manor houses is not quite the same as folk Mazurka) Here you can watch Mazur danced in manor house way: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V3KlzshujHA.html

Ja pamiętam tańce tradycyjne z przedszkola w latach 90..fajnie się tanczylo😁😍...wtedy..bo dziś już nic nie pamiętam hehe

I've learned it in a dancing club.

Currently, in schools we learn to dance "Polonez"

Umiem jeszcze kroki mazurka mimo, ze uczyłam sie tego tańca 60 lat temu w szkole ,a poloneza jeszcze bym zatańczyła.

We had a few lessons of traditional Polish dances in the 2nd or 3rd grade of elementary school, total basics and nobody remembers anything...

As others mentioned, Polonez (Polonaise) is the dance that basically everyone learns. But we have a lot more national dances and in schools we learn another one which is popular in the particular region (e.g Oberek, Kujawiak, Góralski or even Zbójnicki). I'm from Kraków area so I learned Krakowiak personally. Of course what we learn are quite simple version of the dances so anyone can do it, the versions danced by the dance troupes are a lot more elaborate to put on a show (which is understandable as they travel the world to perform in front of audiences) but the key components are preserved of course. When it comes to the traditional clothing, the same case as dances, they depend on the region. They are even more varied. I'm sure you have probably seen the Kraków ones (strój krakowski) as they are the most widely known (the image of them are on the logo of the beer brand Żywiec lol) or the Łowicz ones (strój łowicki). Those costumes are what peasant people wore for celebration and what we can see today emerged mostly in 18th-19th centuries to show their identity as far as I know. They are beautiful and colorful. The male Kraków outfit has quite a history especially since a simple version of it is what the peasant participants of the Kościuszko uprising wore. And till this day one branch of the military as well as some boy scouts and would wear a hat as an element of the uniform that is called "rogatywka" which has the shape ( a square base) exactly like the Kraków hat one.

Polish people also have "Krakowiak" it's a dance from Kraków

Well...in the Chopin's time Poland was divided between Germany, Russia and Austro-Hungarian Empire so the lass has lied. That's the first thing. Secon thing, Chopin's music was influenced by traditional Polish folk music, no other way round. And finally, mazurek is not the only traditional Polish dance. There are quite a few of 'em although, but I think, that if Mazurek is pretty well known outside of Poland, it is thanks to "Mazowsze" National Folk Song and Dance Ensemble. Regards.

Mazurka :)

we haven't learn Mazurka but we did have Polonez

Hello Rob! At the beginning I woul like to say, that my english isn't quite well, so sorry for mistakes. Few days ago I found Your channel on RU-vid, and it very intrested me. I really like that You are intrested in polish culture. Here I would like to present to You links to 5 polish national dances, whitch are: Polonez, Krakowiak, Mazurek, Oberek nad Kujawiak, here they are: Polonez - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dVbtSCYQ-YM.html Krakowiak - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OeQ6jYzt6cM.html Mazurek - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PRo0xXWlPps.html Oberek - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tWsi2wDMp44.html Kujawiak - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RjV1bpxi0bc.html All those are performed by most famous polish dancing group Mazowsze, so it is highest level of dancing, that I can present to You. I hope You will enjoy it. I definitly subscribe Your channel! Pozdrawiam (greetings to You).

Do find out about Morris. It's deep.

Well, I'm not sure if you can call it a proper dancing BUT I did dance Mazurek in kindergarten actually. It wasn't anything marvellous but they did teach us the dance.

I can do Kujawiak - other polish tradicional dance from my voievodeship

Polonez !!!!

in an interview for some German television, they forgot to mention that Poland was then not only under Russian rule

I learned in school polish dances

Krakowiak is great i dance when I have 5 years old

Of course it's not taught in schools, or at least it's not common at all. I'm a musicologist, I've worked in an ethnological society and I don't know anyone who'd know how to dance mazurek 😂

I didn't learn Mazurka but the Poloneza and Krakowiaka

Hi Rob. You are the best Polish Philologist!

I think most children at school learn krakowiak and kujawiak, because they are easier, personally in elementary school I had krakowiak

Yes Robert, of course I learnt it at school! What? Of course I didn't learn this at school.

At school we were taught the polonaise, but for me it was boring, but the mazurka is great in various forms super great

Poland is not ethnic uniform. There are many regions with it's own clothes, music etc. If You want to see polish dance similiar to Morris dance, we got it also - Taniec zbójnicki, danced by highlanders - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NTRngq0sZ4c.html

👍

I only know Polonaise from school ;)