First steps

Mazury’s origins were in a small group of

Polish ex-servicemen and women, led by
Wiesław Gąsiorowski, who decided to meet
regularly to share their love of Polish national
dances. They were lucky enough to find a
home at the Polish YMCA, then in Cadogan
Gardens, and became known as the Dancers
and Singers of the Polish YMCA. To help
them develop their repertoire and prepare
for performances, Olga Żeromska, an actress
from the wartime Polish YMCA Theatre, was
invited to be their first instructor. Despite the First show at the Seymour Hall, 1950 Olga Żeromska at Cadogan Gardens
limited resources of the time, they managed
to put on a show at the Seymour Hall in
1950, and thereafter were in demand for
national and patriotic celebrations, charity
performances and social events, as well as
the first productions of Polish operas and
plays in London. Jan Ciepliński became their
Artistic Director and choreographer in 1951.
He quickly established a junior group which
performed regularly with the adults at events
such as the annual international folk dance
festivals at the Royal Albert Hall. When
Ciepliński emigrated to the USA, the group
was taught by Barbara Sławińska-Bojanowska
until Irena Różycka took on the role in 1959.
Barbara Sławińska-Bojanowska with two ‘górale’

Coronation Day Folk Festival, Guildford 1953

 Background - embroidered collar cape from a coat from the Kraków region
 1966
Commonwealth Institute
Theatre
Millennium Celebrations,
Godalming
Tysiąclecie Chrztu Polski,
White City Stadium
Acton Town Hall
St Mary’s Children’s
Hospital, Paddington Green

1967
Commonwealth Institute
Theatre
3ci Maja, Ealing
Polish Festival, Birmingham
Royal Albert Hall
Millennium of Polish Christianity celebrations at White City Stadium, 1966

1968
Amersham
Wycombe Arts Festival
Hammersmith Town Hall
Slough Festival
Hampton Court
The Carousel, Piccadilly
International Youth Festival,
St Paul’s Cathedral

1969
20th Anniversary Show,
Hammersmith Town Hall
Godalming
Zielone Świątki, Fawley
Court
Dożynki, Derry & Toms

The ‘Mazury Dancers and Singers of the Polish YMCA’ with Irena Różycka, kneeling front right

“Wydarzenie które zrobiło na mnie największe

wrażenie to uroczystość obchodu 1000 lecia
Chrztu Polski na stadionie White City w maju
1966r. Zespół był jednym z siedemnastu
zespołów, które miały zatańczyc dwa narodowe
tańce – krakowiaka i kujawiaka/oberka.
Pogoda była okropna – szaro, mokro, z bardzo
silnym wiatrem. Czekaliśmy ustawieni naokoło
stadionu, i nagle, jak muzyka zaczęła grać,
chmury się otworzyły i słońce zaczęło pięknie
świecić. To chyba naprawdę był cud!”
A Sągajłło
Dożynki with General Anders, Royal Albert Hall, 1962

12 Belt (left) and ‘pasiak’ for skirts from Łowicz (right) woven by Staś Sawicki in the 1960s
 The 1970s
In the 1970s, the postwar generation was growing up, and many
of the youngsters who had met through Mazury in the 60s
became married couples with children of their own. Mazury’s
regular venues for annual shows were Hammersmith Town Hall
and the Commonwealth Institute Theatre in Kensington. The
group competed in the SE region heats of Come Dancing and
made it through to the final - their first major TV appearance in
the UK. Dożynki (Harvest celebrations) moved to the prestigious
Hilton Hotel in Park Lane and Mazury’s participation in this
highlight of the Polish social calendar became de rigeur. They
continued to take part not only in Polish events but also in British
celebrations, including the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977.
Włodek Lesiecki took over from Irena Różycka as Artistic
Director in 1973 and continued to expand and extend the
repertoire. He established the name Mazury Dance Company
of the Polish YMCA by which the group is known today, and
instigated a new junior group to cater for the growing number of
youngsters who now wanted to follow in their parents’ footsteps!

14 Parzenice (trouser decorations) from the Podhale region, embroidered by Z M Behnke

 1983
Lycée Francais
60th Anniversary of Polska
YMCA, POSK
Hornsey YMCA
Opera ‘Straszny Dwór’, John
Lewis Music Society
Sue Ryder Foundation
Charity Ball, Nottingham
Banquet for Medical Aid for
Poland, Hatfield House
XXI Festival Folklorico de los
Pirineos - Chateau Cadillac,
Jaca, St Sever
Barbican Centre Celebrations
Dożynki, Cumberland Hotel
Zielone Świątki, Fawley Court Medical Aid for Poland Show,
Hawhurst, Kent

1984
Mary O’Hara and Friends
New Year Show, TVS
EFDSS Folk Festivities, Royal
Albert Hall
Lycée Francais
Commonwealth Institute
Portland Place
40th Anniversary of Monte
Cassino, POSK
Dożynki, POSK
Dances from the Szamotuły region of Poland Uroczystość 45 Lat Służby
Polsce, Sadler’s Wells
“Jesteśmy w starym pałacu przy
renesansowym Hatfield House, Queen Elizabeth Hall
siedzibie wielkiej przyjaciółki
1985
Polaków, Markizy Salisbury. Na
La Celle St Cloud, Paris
średniowieczną salę wchodzą
Książę Walii Karol, z żoną Cheltenham Town Hall
Dianą. Są politycy, artyści, Kongress Kultury Polskiej na
gwiazdy filmu, muzyki. Są też Obczyźnie, POSK
Mazury. Śpiewamy, tańczymy i Oxford & Cambridge Club
po występie jesteśmy zaproszeni Grand Ball
do stołu. Ja siedzę naprzeciwko Dożynki, POSK
książęcej pary, koło mnie Prezes 25-lecie Koła Lwowian, POSK
zespołu Ewa Behnke. Zaczyna Kidderminster
się licytacja: tysiące funtów
dla polskich dzieci. Następnie 1986
bankiet, rozmowa i znowu Queen Elizabeth Hall
czas na zabawę. Zapraszam XXIV Festival Folklorico
Księżną do pierwszego walca, de Los Pirineos - Chateau
Ewa prosi Księcia. Tymczasem Cadillac, Oloron St Marie,
nasza kapela ma dla mnie Capbreton, Mourenx,
In July 1983, Mazury were invited by the Marchioness of niespodziankę - gdy wchodzimy Seignosse, Navarrenx
Salisbury to Hatfield House, to a charity banquet to raise na parkiet, w sali rozbrzmiewa Duke of York’s Barracks,
funds for needy children in Poland. Among the guests were
the Prince and Princess of Wales. Mazury entertained, dined ‘Wszystkie rybki śpią w jeziorze’!” Chelsea
and danced with the royal couple. W Lesiecki

Sleeve embroidery from girls’ blouses from Łowicz 21

 The 1990s -
a free Poland
The high point of the 1990s was Mazury’s
tour to Poland in 1992 to take part in the
celebrations marking the return to a free and
independent Poland, when Mazury were the
only youth group to take part in the victory
parade in Warsaw and danced in the huge
Torwar Stadium as well as the beautiful
Łazienki Palace stage on the lake. Mazury
toured to Poland again in 1996 to take part in
the Festival of the Beskid Mountains in south Mazury in Warsaw in 1992 during the parade before Presidents Lech Wałęsa and
west Poland and the Czech Republic, where Ryszard Kaczorowski marking the official return of Poland’s ex-combatants to their
they received a rapturous reception and were country
able to experience the folklore of this area at
first hand. A new generation of dancers began
to join the group - as well as the children of
dancers from the 60s and 70s, there were the
children of the Solidarity emigration who
swelled the ranks of the younger groups.
Mazury’s 50th anniversary year in 1999 was
celebrated with a tour to Hungary to take
part in the Debrecen flower festival, and
culminated in a gala performance at Her
Majesty’s Theatre in London’s Haymarket.
Mazury also received honours from the Polish
Government to mark the occasion.
Two of the juniors who went on tour to Poland in 1992 - they are still dancing today!

The whole group at the Łazienki Palace in Warsaw in 1992

24
2000
Polish Week, Ealing Town
Hall
Dożynki, Amersham
Commonwealth Institute

2001
4th UK Polish Folklore
Festival, The Lowry,
Manchester
Tydzień Kultury Beskidzkiej
– Żywiec, Wisła, Oświęcim,
Szczyrk, Kraków, Poland
Dożynki, Amersham
Polish Evening, London
Oratory
Commonwealth Institute Dances from Rzeszów, London Oratory Theatre, 2005

2002
4th Polish Week, Ealing
Town Hall
POSK Theatre
Dożynki, Amersham
Commonwealth Institute

2003
5th UK Polish Folklore
Festival, Fairfield Halls,
Croydon
Tydzień Kultury Beskidzkiej
– Żywiec, Maków The boys of the junior group, London Oratory Theatre, 2005
Podhalański, Szczyrk, Wisła,
Kraków, Poland
Commonwealth Institute

2004
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
Wilrijks Volskunstfestival,
Antwerp
Penrhos, Wales
Dożynki, Amersham
Mazury CD recording

2005 The middle group in the Kołomyjka, London Oratory Theatre, 2005
London Oratory
Sherborne Festival
Pwllheli, Wales

2006
6th UK Polish Folklore
Festival, Swan Theatre, High
Wycombe
London Oratory
Festiwal Folkloru Polskiego,
Kaszuby, Poland – Chojnice,
Brusy, Wiele, Bytów,
Kościerzyna
The group in costumes from the Kurpie region, London Oratory Theatre, 2005

36 Buttoned undercoat and hat decoration from a Polish gentleman’s costume

 60th Anniversary Show 2009
Queen Elizabeth Hall

58