During this workshop, you will learn basic dance steps you need to have fun at a dance party. It can also be a good warm-up and refresher for those who already dance a bit. We will learn how to twirl in mazurkas and polkas, discover the principles of dance movement, practice body rhythms, and have fun with simple traditional dance games. It is the epitome of learning through play!

Natalia Klamann – For over 11 years, Natalia has been exploring the world of traditional dances from Poland, France, Sweden, Italy, Portugal, and Hungary. She teaches dancing at festivals and camps in Poland (including EtnoBaltica and Tabor Kurpiowski) and abroad (India, Turkey, Belgium, Spain, Bulgaria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sicily, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic). She also teaches contact improvisation.

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The workshop includes basic twirling dance steps and a brief commentary on improvisation, etiquette, and dance health and safety. Among other things, you will find out: How many shirts to bring to a concert? Why is dancing easy for the thin, and even easier for the thick? Should you dance in sandals with or without socks? How to properly recharge your glycogen before dancing? Is sucking on cloves worth it? Do collagen tablets help you stomp your feet more? In short, how to succeed on the dance floor!

Arkadiusz Szałata – Dancer, harmonica player, bassist, and drummer at Kapela Kasi Chodoń, Raraszek, Tadirindum, and Bronowicki Teatr Społeczny Złoty Róg. He leads traditional dance and harmonica workshops (including at Tabor Kielecki in Sędek and Zawieruchy Radomskie). As an event host, he collaborated with groups such as Janusz Prusinowski Kompania, Kapela Brodów, and Wowakin.

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Tadeusz Jedynak (1924-2020) was a violinist from Przystałowice Małe near Radom (the Kajok region), a student of the legendary Jan Bogusz. He failed to adapt to playing with a squeezebox, which reduced his popularity in the countryside, but contributed to the preservation of old-school performance manners, richer variations, and improvisation skills. Paula Kinaszewska was his student from 2014 to 2020.

During this workshop, we will attempt to break down Tadeusz’s obers into simple rhythmic patterns to understand the ways in which this old-school, unique violinist played them.

Paula Kinaszewska – Violinist, singer, folklore researcher, and student of master Radom violinists. Leader and founder of the Wowakin ensemble, co-founder of the Poleski Skład Smyczkowy, SenJawaZabawa, and Zaświatycze. Since 2016, she has taught traditional music and led Wesołe Mazurki z Pragi children ensemble, operating at the Praga Północ cultural center in Warsaw. In 2022, she founded a traditional music center for adults which she continues to lead.

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We invite you to a singing workshop during which we will focus on the working with our voices and bodies more consciously. We will begin with a vocal and movement warm-up, which will prepare the vocal apparatus for safe and comfortable singing. Then, we will move on to the open-voice singing technique – we will work on the voices’ natural sound and carrying capacity, and the freedom of producing sound without tension. Breathing techniques will also be an important element of the workshop. We will also sing songs from the repertoire of Stanisław Brzozowy from Krobia (Kurpie).

Olga Kozieł – she has been working with traditional music since 2005 when, for the first time, she heard the natural, unhampered, resonant, meaningful singing which enthralled her. Since then, she has been learning from the rural singers, listening to archival recordings, and participating in various singing workshops.

She is fascinated by different musical cultures – she spent a few years visiting the Ukrainian and Belarusian Polesia, went to Russia, she is interested in the sound of traditional Serbian songs and their particular singing technique. In Poland, her heart belongs to her native Lublin region, and to the dark, deep, mysterious sounds of Kurpie.

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Led by Antoni Hasso-Agopsowicz
For intermediate players, you need your own instrument

During the workshop, we will learn how to hold the drum to extract sounds most effectively and discover how many beats Kajok obers actually have. Are they really three-beat? We will also learn what an ober phrase really is and how to emphasize it on the drum.
We will also learn about the ornaments used by Tadeusz Duda from Rdzuchów, try to come up with ways to maintain the rhythm and pulse characteristic for the old Kajok violin, and listen to archival recordings of Tadeusz Duda drumming for various musicians.

Antek Hasso-Agopsowicz – violinist, harmonist, drummer, singer. Leader of Kapela Agopsowicza, member of the Memento Mori Dance Club project. He has been involved with traditional music since childhood. He organizes and leads the regular singers’ meetings at the Embassy of Traditional Music and curates the Rdzuchówka traditional music summer festival.

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We invite you to learn violin melodies from Western Roztocze in the Lublin region. This is a unique, fascinating area where the same melodies are played by both violinists and brass bands. We will learn podróżniaks, polkas, and waltzes, which Katarzyna heard and learned directly from Leon Krzos, Stanisław Głaz, and Tadeusz Dudka. If time allows, we will also learn melodies from the archival recordings of Władysław Kucharski and Marcin Gilas.

Katarzyna Zedel – Ethnomusicologist, cultural studies scholar, musician, singer, and Gregorian chant enthusiast. Since 2008, she has been a student of rural musicians from the Radom region, including Jan Gaca, Jan Fokt, and Wiesława Gromadzka, musicians from the Lublin region, including Stanisław Głaz, Leon Krzos, and Tadeusz Dudka, as well as a student of folk instrument makers, including Zbigniew Butryn from Janów Lubelski. She independently builds membranophones.

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During the workshop, we will explore music from the East and Southeast of the Lublin region – an extensive geographical area, diverse in style, genre, and language. We will sing wedding ładkankas from Biłgoraj, folk songs from Powiśle, song from the Wieprz and Bug riversides, as well as songs for (almost) all other occasions, sung in local varieties of the regional language of the Polish-Ukrainian-Belarusian border.

Ewa Grochowska – violinist and singer. In her art, she draws on the sources of traditional culture and music she was raised in. Student of violinist Jan Gaca from Przystałowice Małe (2000-2013), Stanisław Głaz, Stanisław Witkowski (2013-2022), Janina Chmiel, Maria Kowalik, and Karolina Demaniuk. She loves the traditional wedding songs which cannot be sung half-heartedly – she has been studying them with village singers from Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus since 1999.

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The Old Tradition competition has been a part of Mazurkas of the World festival for 16 years now. It is addressed to young instrumentalists, singers and bands that are rooted in the traditional Polish rural music.

The goal of the competition is to promote young musicians and singers who carry on the traditions of music from particular, modern or historical, regions of Poland, and to search for a formula that would ensure the music’s presence in today’s culture. The winners of the competition perform at the laureates concert on April 22. There will also be an Audience Award.

From among the 32 submissions, the Jury – Ewa Grochowska, Dorota Majerczyk, Andrzej Bieńkowski, Kuba Borysiak, and Janusz Prusinowski – chose 14 laureates and awarded 4 honourable mentions:

LAUREATES:
Agatha Pradnik & Fer Monastier
Funda
Singers of the Młody OwCoK band from Jabłonka
Aż do rana
The Apostles
Kapela z Ropczyckiego
Kurkowicz / Braszak
Maksymilian Czerwiński
Laskowioki music band from Laskowa
Musicians of the Młody OwCoK band from Jabłonka
Śpiewu Przyczyna
Viktar Valko
BaranÁ
Simejka

SPECIAL MENTIONS:
Anna Skolimowska
Kapela Łola
Maryia Suvorava
Zyzula

We warmly congratulate the winners!

FREE ENTRY to the concert

Agatha Pradnik & Fer Monastier – Agatha and Fernanda are Brazilians from Curitiba who play music inspired by Polish and Ukrainian traditions. The duo was formed in 2023, after Agatha’s first trip to Poland, which motivated her to further musical exploration. A year later, during the Fundacji Muzyka Zakorzeniona foundation’s first trip to Brazil, Agatha and Fernanda had the opportunity to participate in traditional music workshops. They founded the band Rodanica, expanding their lineup to include violin, inspired by the Łowicz tradition.
Members:
Leticia Grockotzki Goularte (Agatha Pradnik, b. 1995) | squeeze box
Fernanda Picanço Prokmann (Fer Monastier, b. 2001) | baraban

Funda – The girls met in Warsaw and were united by their love of singing. They are exploring the singing style of Gałki near Rusinów and Przystałowice Małe. Their repertoire draws from visits to singers such as Marianna Hałas, Barbara Kietlińska, Marianna Oracz, and Bogusława Grzywa, as well as from recordings by artists such as Maria Siwiec.
Members:
Marta Gotfryd (b. 1997) | singing
Agnieszka Kalita (b. 1997) | singing
Aniela Barbara (b. 1998) | singing
Ania Kolanecka (b. 1996) | singing
Łucja Pękala (b. 2007) | singing

Singers of the Młody OwCoK band from Jabłonka – Founded a year ago, the group exists under the auspices of Orawskie Centrum Kultury. It is composed of girls from Jabłonka and the surrounding area who perform authentic Orava songs based on archival recordings. In developing their repertoire, they strive to preserve the original melodies, dialect, and traditional performance style. They represent their town and region with great commitment, treating singing as a way of protecting and consciously upholding Orava’s cultural heritage.
Members:
Ewa Kubacka (b. 2010) | singing
Natalia Gwizdz (b. 2010) | singing
Alicja Gargasz (b. 2010) | singing
Martyna Kulawiak (b. 2009) | singing
Martyna Olesińska (b. 2011) | singing
Agnieszka Kubacka (b. 2009) | singing
Kinga Śmiech (b. 2008) | singing
Zuzanna Kobroń (b. 2009) | singing
Julia Morzyniec (b. 2010) | singing

Aż do rana – A young band promoting traditional Kurpie music. Their mission is not only to preserve ancient melodies and sounds, but also to bring them to contemporary audiences in an authentic, energetic form. They received a special award at the prestigious Turniej Muzyków Prawdziwych competition in Szczecin.
Members:
Dawid Sutkowski (b. 2003) | pedal squeeze box
Miłosz Maśkiewicz (b. 2010) | pedal squeeze box
Wojciech Glinka (b. 2011) | frame drum

The Apostles – The band’s repertoire is based on the music that was played at parties in small towns and villages across Ukraine in Kolberg’s times. It includes kozachoks, kolomyjkas, polkas, mazurkas, waltzes and foxtrots, as well as dances related to Jewish culture – sabashivkas, moldavkas, the wedding dance, the wedding cheer Hasseneh, and the Jewish toast, which complete the multicultural picture of the music of old Podolia and Galicia.
Members:
Hanna Zhohlava (b. 1999) | violin, singing
Agata Weber (b. 1994) | basolia, frame drum, baraban, singing
Serhii Postolnikov (b. 1980) | dulcimer, violin

Kapela z Ropczyckiego – The band’s goal is to preserve the music of the former Ropczyce County in the Podkarpacie region. Their repertoire includes pieces preserved by artists such as Jan Marek from Kamionka, Franciszek Marciniec from Gnojnica, Balbina Darłak from Zagorzyce, and local folk bands. Apart from melodies from the surrounding area, they also play songs from the repertoire of Władysław Łoboda’s band. The band’s current members have been performing together since 2025.
Members:
Marcelina Bełzo (b. 1998) | first violin, singing
Jerzy Żegleń (b. 1956) | C clarinet
Ewelina Stępień (b. 1987) | Rzeszów dulcimer
Ola Napiórkowska (b. 1999) | second violin
Dawid Darłak (b. 1989) | double bass

Kurkowicz / Braszak – A duo formed in Poznań. Dorota is an archaeologist and violinist, Piotr a literary translator, song scholar, and multi-instrumentalist. They have been involved in Polish and East Slavic music for over a decade. In recent years, they have been primarily exploring the legacy of those displaced beyond the Bug River. In 2025, they carried out the project “Polyphony. Traditional Songs of Poles from the East and in the East,” and in 2026, they are researching repatriate instrumental traditions.
Members:
Dorota Kurkowicz (b. 1983) | singing
Piotr Braszak (b. 1993) | singing

Maksymilian Czerwiński – Heligonka player, instructor, promoter, and builder. Winner of numerous prestigious folklore competitions in Poland and abroad. Since 2017, he has been teaching the heligonka at Fundacja Braci Golec and his own music center in Koszarawa, educating approximately 50 people aged 6-80 from the Żywiec region and beyond. He is the co-author of a heligonka playing textbook and a member of the Dejcie Spokój band.
Members:
Maksymilian Czerwiński (b. 1993) | heligonka

Laskowioki – A music band from Laskowa, Limanowa County. It operates under the auspices of the Laskowioki regional ensemble. They perform songs typical of the Limanowa Lachy region. Their repertoire includes polkas, tramelkas, krakowiaks, sztajereks, and waltzes. The leader and one of the founders of Laskowioki is Piotr Jonik.
Members:
Amelia Duda (b. 2006) | second violin
Krystian Gołąb (b. 2003) | basolia
Jakub Sromek (b. 2001) | first violin
Radosław Szewczyk (b. 1997) | trumpet
Piotr Jonik (b. 1980) | clarinet

Musicians of the Młody OwCoK band from Jabłonka – A band from Orava, operating under the auspices of Orawskie Centrum Kultury in Jabłonka. The band consists of young musicians aged 16-17, who have been learning traditional Orava melodies since childhood under the guidance of masters, including Paweł Czaja. They have been playing together for three years, and for the past year and a half, they have also performed as a dance band for the regional group Młody OwCoK.
Members:
Paweł Kubacka (b. 2009) | first violin, singing
Krystian Basisty (b. 2009) | second violin, singing
Magdalena Litwiak (b. 2010) | second violin, singing
Oliwia Kowalczyk (b. 2010) | basolia

Śpiewu Przyczyna – A Kurpie Trio who have been passionately practicing the traditional songs of their native Puszcza Zielona for over three years. For them, singing together is a vessel for identity and an important story about their roots, but also a form of artistic expression. They regularly meet in the countryside to sing and spend time with the oldest generation, seeking to better understand the context of the old world.
Members:
Joanna Turek (b. 1994) | singing
Magdalena Samsel (b. 1994) | singing
Maria Weronika Kmoch (b. 1992) | singing

Viktar Valko – He has been singing since childhood. He listened to his father, who sang at home, and followed his voice. After moving to Poland in 2022, he began studying with Siarzhuk Douhushau, a Belarusian cultural activist, musician, and educator. He sings with the Kasary ensemble (winner of the 2025 Old Tradition Award). He is currently deepening his knowledge of Belarusian male singing, focusing on the traditions of his native Polesia.
Members:
Viktar Valko (b. 1984) | singing

BaranÁ – A creative community of women who, through singing traditional Belarusian songs, strive to maintain a connection with their homeland while living in exile. The group was founded by the participants of the “Belarusian Miracle” workshops in Vilnius in 2021. Together, the group’s members explore traditional song and dance cultures of Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, and Lithuania.
Members:
Sviatlana Chakushka (b. 1980) | singing
Hanna Paziuk (b. 1980) | singing
Darya Lukyanava (b. 1987) | singing
Hanna Baranava (b. 1999) | singing
Palina Kuranovich (b. 1994) | singing

Simejka – Established in 2025, the band focused on combining instrumental music with singing, reviving some of the traditions of Podolia, Prypeć Polesia, and Podlasie, based on recordings from 1980-1990 (made primarily by Iryna Klymenko). The repertoire includes ritual and lyrical songs, as well as chants. An important focus is the revival of the tradition of singing with violin accompaniment, which has already disappeared in these regions.
Members:
Mariana Markhel (b. 1990) | violin, singing
Sofia Romaniuk (b. 2016) | singing
Marta Bodnar (b. 1998) | frame drum, singing
Maksym Nakonecznyj (b. 2003) | violin, singing

SPECIAL MENTIONS

Anna Skolimowska – Folk singer from the Piotrków Trybunalski region. She records and documents songs and information about old customs, rituals, and traditions from the southern reaches of the region. She is the founder and director of the Ręczynianki folk singing group which continues the singing traditions of the Ręczno area and revives old customs and rituals.
Members:
Anna Skolimowska (b. 1981) | singing

Kapela Łola – The band, founded in 2018, plays the music of the borderlands between Lasovians and Rzeszów folk in a traditional three-person lineup. They perform mostly at dances – they are one one of the most active groups of the type in the region. Their repertoire includes characteristic melodies of the northern Rzeszów region, including polkas, obers, sztajereks, tramelkas, and chodzonys. Members of the band have played with masters such as Jan Cebula and Jan Boroń.
Members:
Aleksandra Siuzdak (b. 2003) | first violin
Wojciech Dulski (b. 1992) | second violin
Janusz Radwański (b. 1984) | double bass

Maryia Suvorava – She has been interested in traditional music since childhood. In 2024, she began singing with the traditional singing group Belaruski Miracle from Vilnius. She has performed with the group at local concerts and festivals. For the past year, she has been perfecting her vocal technique with Volha Baryshnikava. In 2025, she participated in the Pokrovo Varpai festival in Vilnius.
Members:
Maryia Suvorava (b. 2002) | singing

Zyzula – The group, headed by Monika Chudzik, has been active since 2023 at the culture and Sports center in Hanna, and features five girls of the youngest generation of folk singers in the Lublin region. Zyzula sings songs from Polesia, learning them in the local dialect from the talented and respected artist Karolina Jadwiga Demianiuk from Dołhobrody.
Members:
Katarzyna Goleman (b. 2013) | singing
Martyna Szmid (b. 2011) | singing
Antonina Chudzik (b. 2012) | singing
Maja Chudzik (b. 2010) | singing
Pola Szpyt (b. 2014) | singing

The dance music will be performed by the laureates of the Old Tradition competition.

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The border region between Podlasie and Polesia boasts numerous dances with paired rhythms (e.g., polkas). During this workshop, we will explore various polka variations – drobna, uginana and przechodzona, as well as dances such as wiatr, krakowiak, łysy, and the waltz. We will develop skills that will allow us to easily join in on the fun, work on our spinning skills, and elevate dance culture.

Grzegorz Ajdacki – Member of the Dance House of Poland Association since 2002, promotes traditional dances and regional games among children, youth, and adults. He leads dance classes, events, and projects in many locations in Poland and abroad, including a permanent, weekly program in Warsaw that has been in place for over 20 years. At the same time, he continually expands his knowledge and skills by traveling around the country and learning from rural dancers.

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