South of Clermont Ferrand lies the small, charming French town of ISSOIRE. The town’s residents, passionate about folklore, organize annual festivals of song, music and dance, offering hospitality to folk ensembles from around the world. For many days, during the summer festival, music, dancing and singing can be heard in almost every corner of the town.
This year, as two years ago, thanks to the “Bolesławiec” song and dance ensemble, the organizers could count music and rhythms rooted in Polish folk culture among the festival’s strongest features. The local press noted this fact, publishing photographs from the performances alongside articles favorable to the ensemble and, incidentally, emphasizing the beauty of our young people.
It was another successful trip abroad for our ensemble. Let us recall that, since its establishment more than 20 years ago, the Bolesławiec song and dance ensemble has visited Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Belarus, Germany, Spain and France. In some of these countries, it performed several times. The residents of Issoire, for example, welcomed our ensemble members like good old friends, addressing many of them by their first names.
During the concerts, both the French and Poles living in Issoire and the surrounding area, who longed for Polish rhythms and melodies, could be heard cheering (“Boleslawiek! Boleslawiek!”). After concerts, members of the ensemble were often “spirited away” to hospitable Polish community homes for wine or coffee. There were also congratulations, compliments, questions about Poland and tears of emotion.
Our ensemble stayed in Issoire from 17 to 23 July. The concerts and street animations in temperatures approaching 40 degrees were exhausting, especially since our national costumes are neither light nor airy. The young members of “Bolesławiec”, displaying admirable stamina, presented our national folklore, which is rich in lively rhythms and brisk tempos. The concert programs had to include a krakowiak, mazur or polonaise. This was what the French and Polish audiences looked forward to most. The repertoire also included folklore from the regions around Mazovia, Greater Poland, Lublin and Lower Silesia, presented in suites lasting several minutes.
Each performance was carefully conceived and arranged by Elżbieta Andrusieczko Tor. There were no breaks; costumes were changed efficiently during the band’s performances, and the program was characterized by variety, good pacing and artistic discipline.
There were more than 20 performances in total, three a day—or, more precisely, within each 24-hour period, since some took place as late as midnight.
Elżbieta herself—a choreographer, manager, instructor and wardrobe supervisor all in one—could have shared her fitness and energy among several professional athletes. She worked tirelessly, almost around the clock, finding time both for substantive matters and for maintaining a smile and composure in difficult situations.
The program presented by ZPiT “Bolesławiec” was greatly enjoyed by everyone, as shown by the fact that the Bolesławiec ensemble was the only one to perform several encores at the final concert. And there were outstanding ensembles from many parts of the world: Siberia, Italy, Spain, Peru, Mexico, Moldova, Quebec, Slovenia, Angola, Brittany and several regions of France.
The Festival Miss contest organized by the hosts brought great joy and satisfaction. Edyta Staniewska, a member of our ensemble and a graduate of I LO, was presented with the VICEMISS Festival sash to loud applause from the audience. The Miss crown went to a girl from France.
Overall, the trip to France by the “Bolesławiec” ensemble can be regarded as a promotion not only for the ensemble but also for our town. The ensemble represented Bolesławiec and Polish culture with dignity, especially as the young people also demonstrated great discipline, modesty, artistic maturity and, well… resistance to the heat.
The transport of the ensemble to France was organized by ADRIAN TOURS Travel Agency. Upon arriving in Bolesławiec, the entire ensemble greeted its happy and swift return to Bolesławiec with warm applause, thanking the agency’s head, Mr. B. Dolecki, for the opportunity to visit Paris on the return journey, including the Eiffel Tower, Montparnasse, Place Pigalle and even two Triumphal Arches.
The ensemble members also remembered a trip to Prague that lasted longer than planned, while an unusual adventure near the Želihovskoho Metro station was carefully recorded in the ensemble’s chronicle.