“Tatry” Folk Ensemble comes from the village of Ratułów located in the commune of Czarny Dunajec, Nowy Targ County, the region of Podhale. Ethnographically, they represent Podhale highlanders, who are the most popular group among the Polish Carpathian Highlanders. They dwell in the Orava-Nowy Targ Valley, whose western boundary runs along the valley of the Czarny Dunajec river, and the eastern one is delineated by the Białka river. Owing to its highly distinctive and expansive character, the Podhale folklore exerts its influence much further than the originally demarcated borderlines. The ensemble was established by the married couple of Czesława and Stanisław Sobczyk in 1993, and has been operating under the aegis of the Ratułów Branch of the Podhale Inhabitants Association. “Tatry”, which is now educating a third generation of performers, numbers around 50 members aged 6-20.
The ensemble will show a programme entitled “Making oscypek” (smoked cheese made of sheep’s milk). The Festival audience will thus have a chance to see how to make oscypek, how children play while grazing cows and sheep, a series of the region-specific dances (ozwodno, po dwa, po śtyry, trzy a roz, zbójnicki), as well as highland songs in the form of ditties performed alongside dance, zbójnicki (a traditional highwaymen’s dance) and the so-called mountain peak songs.
The dancers will be accompanied by a band playing the violin, double bass and pipes.
Czesława and Stanisław Sobczyk are the ensemble leaders and choreographers.
The ensemble will show a programme entitled “Making oscypek” (smoked cheese made of sheep’s milk). The Festival audience will thus have a chance to see how to make oscypek, how children play while grazing cows and sheep, a series of the region-specific dances (ozwodno, po dwa, po śtyry, trzy a roz, zbójnicki), as well as highland songs in the form of ditties performed alongside dance, zbójnicki (a traditional highwaymen’s dance) and the so-called mountain peak songs.
The dancers will be accompanied by a band playing the violin, double bass and pipes.
Czesława and Stanisław Sobczyk are the ensemble leaders and choreographers.