The folk ensemble HONAJ is merely a teenager. It has been fifteen years since - on the initiative of the members of the Association of the Polish Spiš, affiliated with the Community Centre in Łopuszna - a group of children and teenagers from Dursztyn got together and formed an ensemble, the task of which was to present dances, songs, games, as well as traditional customs and forms of work performed in the Polish part of Spiš.
What then is Polish Spiš? And what is the non-Polish Spiš? The majority of Spiš, which stretches over an area of around 22,000 km2, is Slovakian. There is only a tiny section of it (approx. 200 km2) that is tucked in southern Małopolska, at the confluence of the Białka and Dunajec rivers. It is enveloped in such mountain ranges as Pieniny, Gorce, Rocky Podhale and Lowland Podhale, but at the same time it has been able to preserve its distinctness from the Pieniny and Podhale lands, while allowing the local customs to interpermeate, which typically happens between the neighbours.
Honaj is a hill in Dursztyn, on which during the Second World War couriers travelling between Poland and Hungary met.
HONAJ is attending the Festival of the Children of Mountains for the second time. This year, under the direction of Stanisława Sołtys, they are going to present a programme entitled “As the lads graze the cows”.
Authors of ancient literature associated shepherd’s life with Arcadia, a land of eternal bliss. Arguably, those who used Arcadian motifs never pastured any animals.
Will the Dursztyn lads and lasses be able to show that the shepherd’s work is after all work, while the child is still merely a child, and it is not only concerned about the cows not straying off and causing some damage, but also about being on friendly terms with representative of the opposite sex, who are now coming along, carrying basketfuls of raspberries? We will see!
Honaj is a hill in Dursztyn, on which during the Second World War couriers travelling between Poland and Hungary met.
HONAJ is attending the Festival of the Children of Mountains for the second time. This year, under the direction of Stanisława Sołtys, they are going to present a programme entitled “As the lads graze the cows”.
Authors of ancient literature associated shepherd’s life with Arcadia, a land of eternal bliss. Arguably, those who used Arcadian motifs never pastured any animals.
Will the Dursztyn lads and lasses be able to show that the shepherd’s work is after all work, while the child is still merely a child, and it is not only concerned about the cows not straying off and causing some damage, but also about being on friendly terms with representative of the opposite sex, who are now coming along, carrying basketfuls of raspberries? We will see!