Contents About Kujawiak dance About Kuyavia S. Strzeleckis Kujawiak notes Kuyavias coat of arms Song Quiz

About Kujawiak It's a national dance created in It was derived from folk wedding dances from Kuyavia region. Folk names for the dance include 'sleepy' and 'lulling'. The music is in triple meter and fairly slow. The dance usually involves couples walking gracefully in a quarter-note rhythm, on slightly bended knees, with relaxed turns and gently swaying. Basic move is TRÓJKROK (tri-step, three dance steps are performed in just a one beat)

About Kujawiak Music for this dance was first played by Henryk Wieniawski. Kujawiak has introduction and three parts which are repeated two times. Introduction usually starts with only one note, which is due to the characteristic rhythm of this dance. Kujawiak is Masovian dance. The oldest study of Kujawiak comes from 1830.

About Kuyavia Kuyavia belongs to area in central Poland where dance rhythms similar to Mazurek dance dominate. Main dances from this group are Kujawiak, Mazurek and Oberek. They all are present on Kuyavia region. The leading dance was Kujawiak. It was danced in a circular manner, and was usually supervised by the best man during the wedding. No one was allowed to go into the center dancing. The change of direction of rotation was signaled by dance leader who stomped his feet or shouted commands.

About Kujawy Women's skirts have to flow like a water - this really showed dancing skills of dancers. This fluency and the harmony of movements in dance was strictly kept during dancing. The male dancer was walking out before the music band, paid the money and he gave a suggestion of what melody band should play. The female dancers also paid the money to the music band, but only during podkozio ł ek, i.e. on Tuesday during Carnival, which had a distinct ritual significance.

Notes

Coat of arms

Song Ja Kujawiak, ty Kujawiak, da wszyscy ś ma tu jednacy, mamy soli, mamy chleba, wody, wódki co potrzeba. (albo: mamy chleba co potrzeba, sól i wódk ę, a przy pracy.) Oj da da da. Ja Kujawiak, ty Kujawiak, wszyscy ś ma tu z jednéj strony; tobie B ł acho, a mnie Wacho6, szukajcie ż nam ludzie ż ony. Oj da da da. Ja Kujawiak, ty Kujawiak, wszyscy ś ma tu Kujawiacy,? i dziewuch nam nie zabraknie, tylko drewek ka ż dy ł aknie. Oj da da da.

Quiz 1. Name of the inhabitant of Kuyavia? A) Kuyavian B) Kujawek C) Two wrong answers 2. On which day during Carnival can girls pay the money to choose the melody for Kujawiak? A) Tuesday B) Monday C) Sunday 3. What does Trójkrok (tri-step) mean? A) there are only three steps in Kujawiak B) three dance steps are performed in just a one beat C) Two correct answers 4.When Kujawiak was created? A) 1845 B) 1827 C) What are the folk names for this dance ? A) steppy and gloomy B) walking and jumping C) sleepy and lulling