| Last year the committee and older group members of Kujawy made the decision to once again participate and travel to Rzeszów Poland for the “Między Narodowy Festiwal” which was held in July 2017. Kujawy travelled to the festival with a total of 28 dancers and 11 entourage members. Dancers had committed to a journey of hard work and training in perfecting their dancing skills.
In order to undertake this momentous journey to Rzeszów, money needed to be raised for accommodation, insurance, transportation of costumes to and from Poland. The Kujawy members held many fund raising events, from Bunnings BBQ’s to zabawy, and extra performances at various venues including weddings. The Kujawy family spirit held through, with the members of the Middle and Little group, together with their parents, helped with all the fundraising. We thank them for all their efforts.
A special thank you must go to Pani Maria Ejsak who in the last few weeks prior to our departure for Poland , managed to fit and sew 14 new costumes for the boys in the older group.
Many months of practices were held where Kujawy dancers rehearsed on Tuesday and Monday evenings. As the festival drew closer Friday evenings were also dedicated to practice. Our wonderful Artistic Directors, Marek and Wiesia Wojnicz travelled with Kujawy to Rzeszów. As always they were the backbone of Kujawy from the commencement of rehearsals, throughout the Rzeszów festival till the very end on 26 July when the festival closed.
I, on behalf of the committee and all participants would like to thank Marek and Wiesia Wojnicz for all their hard work behind the scenes and throughout the Festival. They were there every day to support the dancers in every possible way. They were also there to make changes to choreography at the last minute if injuries occurred.
Kujawy arrived at the Akademik in Rzeszów Poland 19 July 2017 to find our boxes with costumes waiting for us in the foyer of “Ikary” , our home for the next 7 days and so the adventure began.
The first night was a very exciting one for all, with an 8am start the following day. Rehearsals lasted all day and the evening was full of fun.
Our first concert was in the Rynek on Satruday. Kujawy performed My Slowianie, Goralski, Przeporeczka and Oberek. Kujawy’s successful performance was met with loud applause from an appreciative audience. In between dances a few of the Kujawy dancers were interviewed by Polish radio and TV. Straight after our last performance we were taken to the Millenium Centre to perform once again. This performance was a totally unexpected and unscheduled for us all. This proved to be a very hectic day for us all. However, Kujawy dancers were excellent in both concerts, even thought the day was an especially long one for them.
Here a special mention has to be made, that Marek and Wiesia were with the dancers each and every day, encouraging and supporting them. Thank you so much.
On Sunday after attending Mass at the Catherdral in Rzeszów, we travelled 75kms to a place called Łęki Dukielskie where we performed with some of the local groups. Kujawy presented My Słowianie, Góralskie, Oberek and Kujawiak. We were showered with applause after each dance and the villagers were very hospitable.
Monday saw another round of rehearsals, followed by the concert Kraj Zamieszkania. That evening Kujawy performed Road to Gundagai. This was a special moment for the dancers as they were recorded for TV with a massive audience of 2000 people. The night was a late one , but that didn’t stop everyone from having a great time. Tuesday would be our last performance.
After an all day rehearsal on Tuesday, it was back to the Hala Sportowa in the evening for the Gala performance where Kujawy presented Góralski. Our dance finished to loud applause from the audience, as the Góralski danced by Kujawy was different to all the other dances presented that night.
Overall the trip to Rzeszów was a very memorable one for all who attended. Many new friends were made from different continents and countries. One observation I have made this time around, the Festival was very full on and did not leave time for dancers to do some sightseeing.
Before we all realized it was Wednesday 26 July 2017. Sad farewells were said as everyone departed Rzeszów for further trips to Europe or to visit family and friends in Poland.
Kujawy can be proud of their achievements, where they performed to a high standard at the Festival and have brought back many fond memories of the festival and Poland.
While the Older group was in Poland the Middle and Little group were ably taught by Elizabeth Donati and Janet Lukasiewicz.
On the 2nd of September 2017 Kujawy held their Fathers Day zabawa. Our Middle and Little group performed to the delight of the audience and most of the older group had returned from Poland and performed with gusto. The Bankstown Polish Club was full with all eager to celebrate Fathers Day.
The following week our Middle and Little group represented Kujawy at the Eurofest in Fenches Forest, which we have been invited back to perform over many years.
Kujawy were invited to attend a function for the “Bicentenary of Kosciuszko’s Death”, which was held at Rhodes' "Connection". Two pairs of Kujawy dancers dressed in Kujawski costumes greeted guests at the door.
Kujawy will once again be holding an end of year zabawa on ther 9th of December 2017, where the M&M band will be entertaining us. We invite you all to attend this function. Further information will be forthcoming.
We look forward to commencing our preparations for PolArt 2018 to be held in Brisbane.
As you can see Kujawy have been very busy and we are happy to say we have new members attending and joining the Kujawy family.
We welcome everyone from the age of 4. Our Little group has practices on Saturday at the Bankstown Polish Club from 1:30pm to 2:30pm and the Middle group from 2:30pm to 4:30pm. The Older group practices on Tuesday nights from 7pm to 10:00pm.
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