While waiting for all the members of the folk ensemble to arrive, I look at the certificates hanging on the wall. “There are none from this year,” says Edward Braszko, the ensemble’s director. “And we took part in the Voivodeship Easter Dish Competition, the Voivodeship Review of Carol-Singing Ensembles, the Voivodeship Folklore Gatherings and the National Review of Folk Bands and Singers in Kazimierz nad Wisłą.”
They brought back one of the main prizes from Kazimierz—the “Solidarity” prize, a high-quality video recorder. I counted 54 certificates. From reviews and events in Kielce, Wocław, Świeradów, Kazimierz, Jelenia Góra and, of course, Bolesławiec.
The rehearsal began. The repertoire included Polish and Yugoslav folk songs. Why such a repertoire? “Our parents lived in Galicia. During the difficult interwar period for Poland, they emigrated to Yugoslavia, where they preserved and passed on to us the beauty of Polish songs. In 1945, we brought these songs back to Poland, but together with Yugoslav ones. And that is how it has remained,” explains Mrs Katarzyna Zioła, the ensemble’s first director and its inexhaustible source of repertoire. The Ocice Ensemble was established “on the basis of” the Rural Housewives’ Circle in 1070, and its founder was the late Paweł Król. Edward Braszko accompanied the singing women on the accordion; in time, other musicians joined him, creating an original folk band.
The ensemble’s first “serious” performance was recorded in the chronicle with the date 8 March 1081. Before that performance, all the women sewed skirts for themselves from the same fabric, contributing towards its cost. In subsequent years—but by then, when the ensemble was achieving successes—the Municipal Cultural Centre purchased costumes for the ensemble as well as a piano.
Until autumn 1082, the ensemble rehearsed in apartments and wherever else it could. In spring 1082, the ensemble embarked on a very serious and even more daring undertaking. Its members decided to adapt a drying shed allocated to them by the production cooperative (four posts supporting a roof) into a real community centre and club. No one believed the undertaking would succeed; some even said that “a cactus would grow in their palms” if the drying shed were transformed into a cultural facility. Funds for materials were found at the Municipal Office, but everything else had to be done with their own hands. And they did it—they achieved their goal! They began construction in spring, and in autumn a ceremonial performance was held in the new, beautifully furnished club.
Ten years have passed since then, filled with hundreds of performances. Polish Radio came to Ocice twice to record the ensemble and broadcast the songs sung in Ocice throughout Poland. On another occasion, the ensemble recorded its programme at the Wrocław broadcasting station. A few years ago, a delegation from Germany was staying in Bolesławiec. Since they were interested in Polish folklore, it was decided to take them to a rehearsal in Ocice, and the ensemble was informed of their arrival the day before. The Germans arrived, stood confused in the doorway of the community centre and asked the interpreter: “Is it some kind of wedding, or what?”
It turned out that the lavishly laid tables were “only” refreshments for the guests. When they prepared and baked everything is difficult to determine. “That’s just how they are,” Director Popek commented the following day. Enchanted by the hospitality and the programme, the Germans immediately invited the ensemble to perform for them.
Recently, the OCICE ensemble has regularly performed in Jelenia Góra at Orbis events organised for Germans, Danes, French people and tourists of other nationalities. After their performances, they receive praise and expressions of sympathy. On the occasion of the past tenth anniversary of the rich, selfless activity of this hardworking yet modest ensemble from Ocice, the editorial staff of Głos Bolesławca, together with the Municipal Office and the Municipal Cultural Centre, extend their highest respect to its members and wish them to remain together in the same line-up until their silver jubilee.
Here is its line-up: Women: K. Jakieła, A. Braszko, A. Klimek, two Helenas Karaban, E. Biegacz, K. Zioła, G. Nowak, St. Król, St. Struś, Ł Szczur, M. Flis, St. Szuk.
Men: Fr. Szuk, E. Braszko, J. Faltyn, J. Oleksiak, P. Karaban