08/10/2021
We feel very emotional as today marks 10 years since Koniczyna’s first rehearsal. It is an important milestone that makes us look back at the past decade, at what we’ve achieved so far and at the people we met and worked with over the years. Let me tell you a story about us – Koniczyna.
It wasn’t easy at the start. Finding a good rehearsal space was a challenge, especially considering a limited (or in fact non-existent) group budget at the time. What was even more challenging was finding people who would have interest in Polish folk dancing. Other groups around the world with longer traditions established themselves very quickly as a substitute of Poland creating a place where Polish emigrants could speak in their mother tongue and cultivate their native traditions. For us in Dublin in 2009 the situation was quite the opposite – you could hear Polish language on every corner of every street, you could get Polish food in Polish shops, you could connect back with your family and friends in Poland over Skype in an instant. And so, in this digital and connected world we had to figure out what is it that we want to do as Koniczyna. We decided that we want to promote the beauty and richness of Polish culture, dances and songs to ALL nationalities in Ireland. We’ve been doing it ever since.
Despite the initial challenges we managed to kick off the first rehearsal (or as we call it próba) where we discussed what we wanted to do next, warmed up our non-dancer bodies and learned some polka. As the group grew, the rehearsals began to have a family-like feel not only because the group consisted of a good few actual family members 😉. We all really liked each other and enjoyed spending time together to a point where we everyone went out for late dinner (bułki at the Nangor Rd. petrol station near Woodies) after every próba. What really made the difference to everyone in the early days was that Gosia (Malgorzata Dulny) made everyone feel welcome; her warm and open style of teaching combined with everyone’s willingness to learn made attending próby a great experience.
We didn’t have any costumes at the time, no choreographies, better yet – we didn’t even have a group name back then. It took Koniczyna over a year before we performed for the first time with a solo dance at the Polish parish. Gosia & Piotr P***k were truly excited to finally have the opportunity to present Kujawiak z Oberkiem, but at the same time Gosia was so nervous that she was shaking 😉 What made it easier and gave them more confidence was the fact they were wearing Łowicz costumes (and on this note thank you to Mar Ko and Zespół Pieśni i Tańca Ziemi Szczecińskiej KRĄG for lending them to us 😊).
We think that people in general (including us) should show gratitude and recognize others more often and so we will start today by recognizing the organisations that have supported us since the very beginning – a BIG THANK YOU to Korpusy Pokoju w Dublinie, Dominikanie Dla P***ków. Kościół., Stowarzyszenie "Wspólnota Polska" and Dariusz Piotr Bonisławski. It is thanks to Wspólnota Polska that we have our beautiful rzeszowskie, lubelskie and sądeckie costumes and thanks to the Dominican Polish Chaplaincy in Dublin that we have a room to rehearse in – we wouldn’t be here today if not for their support.
We have done a lot of interesting things since October 2009 – we organized dance workshops for the group in Wicklow and in Virginia, went to Murzasichle in Poland for dance workshops organized by Sztuki i Edukacji Artystycznej. We continue to meet every year for Wigilia – a pre-Christmas group dinner where we cook, sing traditional Polish Christmas carols, exchange Christmas presents, where we've got Santa, elves and angels – like a family, only better 😉
We also participated in multiple charity events in support of our community (Puść oczko do Szymonka, International Charity Bazaar in RDS and others), performed at Dublin WOŚP (which we strongly support), performed at multiple events as part of PolskaÉire Festival, performed at countless events and cultural festivals in the Republic of Ireland as well as in Northern Ireland. We also established cooperation with The Federation of Polish Folklore Groups in the UK. and we had a pleasure of attending a fabulous Folklore Spectacular festival in Leicester in 2018 where we met some truly amazing and passionate people (, ZPiT Polonez Manchester, Doliny, , Młody Mazur, Karpaty Southampton, Mazury Dance Company of the Polish YMCA, London, ZPIT Wiesniacy, Młody Las, London, , Karolinka London, Polesie Leicester)
But the most important thing in Koniczyna’s story is not the repertoire, not the number of performances we gave - it’s our People. While the group members have changed almost completely over the years and each of them brought their own flavour to the group there are a few things that connect us all: passion for dance, good sense of humour and openness to diversity. We are all different, with different life philosophies, different jobs, different interests, with various dance skills proficiency levels, we don't always love each other and yet we all accept, respect and support each other. This is the real value of our group. And so on behalf of Koniczyna’s manager I would like to thank each and every one of Koniczyna’s past and present members for their continuous enthusiasm, eagerness to learn, patience and for their ability to see the bigger picture where we all support the future generations of Koniczyna 40 years from now. Our door is always open to all of you.
We’ve gone through quite a lot together, all of the performances where people’s trousers, halki (underskirts) or tights just dropped down to the floor level can build a really strong bond 😉 All of the times when we danced Krakowiak in back gardens or living rooms, when the girls sang the boys’ part and the boys sang the girls’ part, when we sang all of the happy birthdays to each other - no better group of people to be with than Koniczyna.
In 2016, Koniczyna has expanded to include junior groups led by Paula (who joined Koniczyna at the age 13 and developed her skillset to the level of a dance instructor). Adult groups now present the repertoire that includes national dances - Krakowiak, Polonez, Kujawiak, Oberek, Mazur; regional dances such as rzeszowskie, sądeckie, lubelskie, kurpiowskie, śląskie, and as of this year a bit of Irish dance - Cashel set. Our Kapela is strongly developing their repertoire and their knowledge of Polish music helps us improve our performance overall.
You might ask what’s next for us? We are not stopping here, we will continue to perform in Ireland as often as we can, we are planning to further expand our repertoire, we are opening a new adult beginner group in January and we want to start performing abroad. Most importantly, we will continue to invest in the junior groups – it is Koniczyna’s children that are the future of Polish folklore in Ireland. We see a high potential in them, and we are confident that they will grow up to be just the right people the world needs.
We would like to recognize several other organisations that have helped us/ we interacted over the past 10 years. If we've missed anyone - please don't feel offended - we appreciate you all 🍀
Polish Embassy Dublin - thank you for all your support you've given us over the years (theatre hire support, mirrors for our dance room, costumes)
Polska Grupa Improwizacyjna w Dublinie - Anielka Nowak thank you for the wonderful class you organised for us
Photographer Konrad Janik - thank you for the absolutely amazing photos
Polscy Fani z Irlandii - thank you for many years of fruitful collaboration
120 Na Godzinę / 103,2 Dublin City FM - thank you for EVERYTHING Jacek Jaszczyk
Hungarian Culture Days - thank you for your hospitality at every one of your events
Polish Runners Club Ireland
tortura
Slavic Inspirations/Kupala Night - Midsummer Night in Limerick
Polska Szkoła w Dundalk
Polish Arts Festival - PAF - Festiwal Sztuki Polskiej w...
Together-Razem Centre
Polska Akademia Wiedzy w Dublinie
gazeta.ie
- Alternatyva Alternatyvai
Metamorphosis
Korpusy Pokoju w Dublinie
Twoje Radio Dublin
PolskaÉire Festival
Klub Historyczny im. Hrabiny Markiewiczowej w Dublinie
POSK Dublin
Polska Szkoła w Waterford
Muzyczne Przedszkole Butterfly Naas Joanna Marczak
Punkt Konsultacyjny im. Ireny Sendlerowej w Cavan
Forum Polonia
Dominikanie Dla P***ków. Kościół. (Barnaba Dorda, o. Cezary Binkiewicz, o. Tomasz Martynelis, o. Robert Reguła, fr. John Walsh)
Biblary Polish Community Centre & Library
HelloIrlandia
Irish Polish Society
Shamek w Dublinie - Radio PL (thanks for all of the fun posts ;) )
The Federation of Polish Folklore Groups in the UK.
sztuki i edukacji artystycznej
Folklorystyczny Pokolenia
FC Blue Magic Academy
Tracey Solicitors - thank you for your continuous support over the years
Goltfood Tallaght
FirstCare
bozena sarek hairdressing
Liberty Hall
TVP Polonia
Anna Bernat Mscisz
Shah
Folkstar
Akces Dance
Kukajenka
Marvel Beauty and Health Ltd Dublin
The Strand Pharmacy
Butterfly Effect Beauty & Permanent Makeup Salon
BellaFurniture
Joanna Michulka
Medipharm
MartgosArt
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Malgorzata Dulny – Koniczyna’s founder and adult groups choreographer – is a long-time member of Szczecin Folk Song and Dance Group Krąg, and a graduate of Polish Folklore Group Instructors’ Training College at UMCS in Lublin, Poland.
Paula Pietron - Koniczyna's long-time member and a graduate of Stowarzyszenie Sztuki i Edukacji Artystycznej is the junior groups folk dance instructor.
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/Kasia Gurtowska
