MALI JURGOWIANIE

Edition 2020/2021
Jurgów is a small village located in Spiš, on the right bank of the Białka river, in the Bukowina Tatrzańska commune. Spiš is a region of which only a small part lies today within the Polish national borders. These lands are inhabited by mixed, Polish-Slovakian population. Over the centuries, because of the complicated history of these lands, the Spiš dwellers have long been doing their best to preserve cultural identity, cultivating their region’s ancient traditions with utmost care. Jurgów boasts three buildings included in the Wooden Architecture Route in Małopolska: a wooden church dedicated to Saint Sebastian and Our Lady of the Rosary, which was founded in 1675, the Sołtys family homestead from 1861, which represents a once typical and now uncommon kind of a peasant's wooden cottage, and a unique complex of several dozen shepherd's wooden chalets. The origins of MALI JURGOWIANIE Children’s Folk Ensemble date back to 1955, when at the Primary School in Jurgów an ensemble was established; as of 1958 it was a part of “Małe Podhale” Interschool Song and Dance Ensemble, which brought together groups from the four regions of the Subtatra District, and which was established and led by Andrzej Haniaczyk. As of 2021 the ensemble uses the name “Mali Jurgowianie,” and its members are children from Jurgów and its environs. At this year's edition of the Festival of The Children of Mountains, the ensemble will present a performance showing children's games, as well as songs and dances from the Polish Spiš, e.g. “czardas”, “wartko polka”, “kółecko” (a girls’ dance), “mazurka” the so-called bear (a boys’ dance), and “zbójnicki”.  The performance entitled “Jako to bemy kopać te grule” is set in the 1940s, and shows work connected with lifting potatoes, which are called “gruel” by the highlanders. After the potato harvest, one of the farmsteaders organizes “hołdomas”, i.e. a snack after work.  This meeting of the adults is also an opportunity for children to play, and so they ask the musician - “uncle Morcinek” to accompany their dances. Judyta Ptak is the ensemble instructor and choreographer.