In former days in the countries and in

towns games were considered to make

people indolent and make themwaste their
time. That is why adults didn't create any
conditions for fun. Children often had to conditions for fun. Children often had to
show great ingenuity to have a nice time.
A yard, a pasture, a meadow were usually
the places for games. So children spent a
lot of time outdoors in the fresh air.
Team games prevailed . There were games in
a circle, in a line, in rows and games with the
division into groups or in pairs.
Each game was accompanied y a song and a
dance and first of all there was so!called
mtowanie i. e. counting out, drawing a person mtowanie i. e. counting out, drawing a person
who has to do a certain task when it is his " her
turn. Some group games were ased on
competition, the other ! on the imitation of
adult activities.
Boys games
Boys often played at soldiers, musicians playing
the musical instruments made by themselves
and of sticks, bark ans stones. Their favourite
game was riding a stick. game was riding a stick.
Boys organised chasing, racing, they shot with
bows and arrows made by themselves. Boys
played football so-called zoska, they also played
with bottle caps.
Riding a stick
Stick
Playing
with
bottle
caps
Girls games
Girls plaited garlands of flowers, toys of grass
and straw, made beads of blueberries
and seeds. and seeds.
Moreover, they eagerly imitated a house- they
were mums and dads. If they were lucky a
boy oined the game and he was
a dad or a son.
Plaited
toys
Former
prams for
dolls
Favourite children games in Kujawy were:
tag ! the participants of the game were chasing each other
blind man"s buff #$ciuciubabka%& - blindfolded participant
was looking for the other and guessed the person he found'
tag of war, tag of war,
games performed in a circle such as ""The fo( is walking
along the road"", "" )ing a ring o roses"", ""I"ve got an
embroidered handkerchief"", "" I don"t want to know you"", $
The old bear fast asleeps% or ""Maple # awor, awor, aworowi
lud*ie&""
Other popular games were also:
counting out rhymes # e.g. $Entlic%ek, ptlic%ek, c%erwony
stolic%ek. &a kogo wypadnie, na tego c'( and
gessing games # e.g. $)gadu*, %gadula, w kt+re* rce %,ota
kula-
Some of these games are perhaps a fragmentary form
of ancient magical rituals connected with spring
welcoming, rining rain aout or chasing away evil
spirits. .served y children they could penetrate
into children game repertoire and thus these games
survived hundreds of years.
Blind
mans
buff
Game performed in
pairs - '' don't want
to know you''
Game performed in a
circle - '''!e got an
embroidered
handkerchief''
Kujawiak
Polish folk dance coming from Kujawy Region and connected with the wedding rites of Kujawy.
Its name appeared for the first time in /012.
The folk names of this dance are 'sleeping' and
'lulling'. The oldest arrangements of 3u*awiak
come from aout /045. The arrangements of
6enryk 7ieniawski and 8ryderyk Chopin are
well!known. The music of this dance is lyrical
and romantic. Some people say that the melody and romantic. Some people say that the melody
of 3u*awiak reflects the landscape of 3u*awy
9egion ! wide and calm. It ecame popular all
over :oland in a short period and was
performed during folk celerations, weddings
and feasts.
This is a slow dance in the time signature of three ;uarters.
3u*awiak is ased on a walk in a ;uarter!note rhythm on slightly
ended knees, with rela<ed turns and gently swaying.
The asic steps of 3u*awiak are a alance step, a step!down, a
step!up, a walking three!step = i.e. three steps are performed in one
time"ar>.
8igures of 3u*awiak are called sleeping, lulling, so!called odsika 8igures of 3u*awiak are called sleeping, lulling, so!called odsika
and four directions of the whirl. This dance consists of an
introduction and three parts repeating two times. It often egins
with the introduction performed on one note, ased on a
characteristic rhythm of this dance. The melody of 3u*awiak is
often ased on a minor key, that's why it seems to e sad, ut it is its
characteristic feature. In 3u*awiak there are graceful, springy,
decisive and sometimes dynamic movements.
This dance is always danced in a circle, in an arranged order.
Origin of the dance
The prototype of the polonaise was a folk
walking dance. First at the turn of 16
th
and 17
th
centuries the polonaise was danced by a lower
class of society and was called hop. With the
passing of time it was caught on with magnates.
At the courts of Polish kings the polonaise was a At the courts of Polish kings the polonaise was a
part of the court ceremonial and the gentry took
part in a parade in front of the monarch. At that
time it was danced at the beginning of the ball
and currently it inaugurates some e!ents in
order to emphasi"e their solemn character e.g.
studniwka # a formal e!ent held a hundred days
before the school#lea!ing e$ams.
Name
%epending on the region the polonaise
was called& Polish dance, walking, slow,
round, old, old-fashioned, hop, gooses,
great. great.
There is an opinion that the name
polonaise appeared only in 17'(s and
it was translated into Polish from
French polonaise.
Structure
Typical rhythm of the polonaise
"he polonaise is a ceremonial dance
where grace is accompanied by a where grace is accompanied by a
swagger# $sually the polonaise is two-
part music% its tempo is moderate rather
slow# "he characteristic feature of the
polonaise is a repeated rhythmical
pattern#
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