Day of the slovaks and the żywiec highlanders / main concert

THE FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF THE MOUNTAINS is like a time capsule and a time machine all in one. In the time machine, we travel back centuries to see the results of the work of historians, ethnographers, ethnomusicologists, instructors, and the children themselves. They have all explored and continue to explore how their ancestors played, worked, and rested. A time capsule, as we know, serves to pass down the most precious things to the future. And that is exactly what happens. Electronic recordings, descriptions, and scripts are created from all the concerts… The more there are, the greater the chance that this vast wealth will remain for centuries to come.

"He created man and woman..." It cannot be otherwise: since yesterday the hero of the evening during the first national concert at this year's FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF THE MOUNTAINS was mum, today it is fitting for dad to be the hero. Let these two pillars of our childhood complete each other. Two dads: one from Żywiec and one from Slovakia, cuddle their little ones on the screen behind the stage. Touching. It especially moves the heart of a father who cannot hug his children today. If only because they are far away.

As usual, distinguished guests are welcomed. Today, the special guests are: the Mayor of the Łodygowice Commune Tadeusz Karolini with his wife, the Director of the Municipal Cultural Centre in Łodygowice Anna Maślanka, and Alicja Wierzbanowska from the "Dom Ludowy" Bukowina Cultural Centre in Bukowina Tatrzańska.

– Who was here yesterday? – ask Aunty Hanka and Uncle Patryk.
– Me! – replies the audience. Or at least the part that was here yesterday.
– And yesterday was dedicated to…
– Mum!!! – comes the loud reply again.

And today dad is the hero of the day. So right away, to the tune of "Czyżyk", we sing how much we love dad.

We are heading to Łodygowice for Pentecost (Green Weekends), and the Third Divine Person is associated – as it must be – with flame.

However, before the bonfire is lit, the performance by MALI MAGURZANIE begins with a lonely little shepherd playing a wooden pipe. He sings about herding sheep and about the sister he is waiting for. Cows graze in the background. A view that is becoming rarer… A few years ago in the Berlin Zoo, the author of these words saw none other than a beautiful, brown cow in the very first enclosure near the entrance… Can you imagine? A cow on display in a zoo!

The shepherds enter one by one. There are more and more of them. And they need to build the fire, because the girls will arrive shortly. A real flame cannot burn on stage, but on the LED screen at the back, it certainly can. On stage, there is only a prop resembling a mountain bonfire (watra).

"Mountains, our mountains..." – the girls enter with a declaration of love for what is dear to them. They also sing about herding. Beautiful open-throat voices echo around. They have plenty of good things in their baskets. The boys announce scrambled eggs.

"A crow sits on a ladder..." – a counting-out rhyme shows who will be the cat and who will be the mouse in the first game. A frying pan sits over the flame under the care of three boys. They look at the scrambled eggs being prepared from beneath the rims of black hats adorned with red cord. A circle of girls glides peacefully around the bonfire.

Before eating, one must make the sign of the cross. There is a chance that after the prayer, a miraculous multiplication of scrambled eggs will take place. Especially since they eat divided into groups, just like on the Mount of Beatitudes. And again, the sign of the cross. A prayer of thanksgiving. Everyone has eaten, or at least they will stick to that version.

Jumping over the fire. The youngest ones jump. Straight and with a spin. An older boy jumps not only over the fire, but over a stick as well…

A call to play: "Ulijanka" for the girls, trials of strength and agility for the boys. Shepherd sticks briefly turn into brigand hatchets (ciupagi).

First, singing flows from backstage, ahead of the sounds of the strings. Five girls with violins and small basses play at the request of the celebrating children. They play "Dziad" for the male part of the shepherd youth. The boys walk in a line, one behind the other. They sing. And when the singing stops, the first boy is to tap with a stick as many as possible of those walking at the end. The snake gets shorter from stanza to stanza.

The girls dance in small circles to the accompaniment of string music and that most beautiful sound born in the hearts and lungs of the shepherdesses. The boys with sticks walk around the bonfire. Stick taps against stick. Stick taps against the stage floor. Jumping over sticks. Jumping over one's own leg. In pairs, in fours... And peaceful cows graze in the background. They do not wander off. The girls whirl in pairs. Sticks clatter against the floorboards. They whirl like a skipping rope. So much is happening on stage. So diverse. Girls in the middle, boys on the outside. And now in co-ed pairs around the bonfire. They have come a long way to finally meet. Future mums and future dads.

"Thank you, musicians..."

At the end, a clear, pure, loud girls' singing. Like a farewell to the fire being extinguished by the boys. And the song they carry off the stage calls out for tomorrow. Because time does not stand still. It flows like the mist on the screen behind the stage.

Aunty Hanka and Uncle Patryk teach the audience to shout like in a mountain meadow: hop, hop, or in the Lachs style: hoś, hoś. And once again, anyone who steps up has a chance to sing how much they love dad into the microphone, as Uncle Patryk wanders through the audience with the mic while Aunty Hanka leads the singing from the stage.

Yesterday, we were over 10,000 kilometres away. Across the ocean. Today, we take a step just across one border. To Slovakia, the homeland of the children from the KOPANIČIARIK ensemble.

Two boys begin. First, instructions for the band to play. A moment of singing, but two girls are already walking out from behind the scenes. So, dance time. Two pairs. And five more pairs. Singing and dancing, dancing and singing. Blue, white, black. Smooth movements. But soon, faster. Five bows dance on the strings of the violins and double bass, and the hammers bounce on the strings of the cymbalom. And the boots! Combined with the stage, they make a perfect percussion instrument.

And what catches the audience's eye most in the dance of the Slovak children? In the land of scattered settlements known as Kopanice, characteristic dances with tossing partners into the air were born, now inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

An interlude. Likely time for the ensemble to change costumes. A small heligonka player draws our attention. He plays while accompanying himself, singing at the same time. The band freezes so as not to disturb the young artist with any sound. A change of tempo. A different melody now, more like a march. A fast march. With a new melody come new words. And it speeds up again, while the audience lets itself be carried away by the notes, supporting the musician with rhythmic clapping.

A change. A girl takes the boy's place on stage. She sings a cappella. Three boys join her. Surprised that the girl is singing so sadly (indeed, it wasn't cheerful) when no one has died. A second girl enters with a button accordion. The boys call for a livelier song for themselves, one to sing and dance to.

Just as a shark can sense a drop of blood from miles away and swim toward it, anyone who loves singing and dancing will be drawn in by the music. It does not take long for a group of boys to appear. As expected: no longer in blue, but in white and black.

And their hats are black. Now the game is to take the hat off one's head and place it on the head of the friend next to them, while the friend on the other side places his hat on yours. And so on in a circle. Faster and faster, until someone fails to keep up. Drops a hat. And drops out of the game. Two are left in a showdown. Only one will remain…

As if they swapped colours: now blue dominates the girls' attire. On the boys, the eye-catching feature is the characteristic curved feathers on their hats.

And now the feathers fly – after all, that's what God created them for – over the stage in a men's dance. And the girls' skirts whirl.

The three youngest boys are as hard to tear away from dancing and singing as some are from Minecraft, so the older ones have to carry them off at the end.

The presenters remind everyone about the contest to name the little hedgehog.

The stage belongs once again to MALI MAGURZANIE. This time in festive attire, they sing about the field. They move in pairs, small circles, and lines.

The main part of Tuesday's concert concludes with dynamic dances by the children and youth from Slovakia. We thanked them with their native "ahojte!".

The presenters, full of an educational spirit, describe their attire: Hanka – in Podhale folk dress, adorned with five strands of coral beads, while Patryk wears one of the variations of the Lachs folk dress from Mystków. Less ornate, but reminding Patryk of his grandfather. Festive attire.

At the end, the stage is taken over by the ensembles we will see tomorrow. Highlanders from Zakopane and from Georgia.