There are children’s ensembles that need parents, as they have been maintaining their regional traditions for too few years. But there are also ensembles that themselves could be grandfathers or grandmothers, bowing their grizzled heads over the folk reality.
There is no doubt that MAŁY KONIAKÓW Children’s Folk Ensemble is one those ensembles, as this year they are celebrating their 70th birthday. It’s incredible! When in 1993, exactly 30 years ago, they were attending the 2nd edition of THE FESTIVAL OF THE CHILDREN OF MOUNTAINS, they were getting on for 40! Luckily, thanks to the subsequent generations of children joining the ensemble, it is still full of childlike vim and vigour, though it’s already 70 years old.
And this childlike spirit they emanate flows from the mountain pastures and woods of the Silesian Beskids and Cieszyn Silesia. It carries particles of history and traditions that float above the villages of Istebna, Jaworzynka and Koniaków, and encapsulates them in stage performance programmes like in precious coffers.
They will open one such coffer right in front of us during this year's Festival. It’s apparently nothing special, just ordinary “In the pasture,” but this everyday occupation from the past will only be a pretext for presenting extraordinary fun and games: ciciok, liwa liwa gynsi, ciympiónćka, as well as some dances: piekło placki, debołek, masztołka, wrona, koło młyński…
To the uninitiated this might sound like some cipher, right? Well, as we rummage in coffers from the past don’t we find messages incomprehensible to us? We can decipher some of these: berek (you’re it), berek kucany (you’re it in squats), gąski do domu (come home, ye geese)... Still, if we want to match these more common names to the traditional Silesian ones, we will have to come and see the concert of MAŁY KONIAKÓW.
And this childlike spirit they emanate flows from the mountain pastures and woods of the Silesian Beskids and Cieszyn Silesia. It carries particles of history and traditions that float above the villages of Istebna, Jaworzynka and Koniaków, and encapsulates them in stage performance programmes like in precious coffers.
They will open one such coffer right in front of us during this year's Festival. It’s apparently nothing special, just ordinary “In the pasture,” but this everyday occupation from the past will only be a pretext for presenting extraordinary fun and games: ciciok, liwa liwa gynsi, ciympiónćka, as well as some dances: piekło placki, debołek, masztołka, wrona, koło młyński…
To the uninitiated this might sound like some cipher, right? Well, as we rummage in coffers from the past don’t we find messages incomprehensible to us? We can decipher some of these: berek (you’re it), berek kucany (you’re it in squats), gąski do domu (come home, ye geese)... Still, if we want to match these more common names to the traditional Silesian ones, we will have to come and see the concert of MAŁY KONIAKÓW.