Bialystok group “Padlaski Wianok” celebrated a decade of its existence with a three-hour anniversary concert.
The children’s and youth collective is a performer of Polish and Belarusian folk dances from Podlasie. The artists present original stage choreographies based on traditional regional dances in a peculiar way, which makes it possible to popularize the cultural and folklore wealth of Podlasie, including the Polish-Belarusian borderland, says the head of the ensemble Oksana Prus.
“We danced the Belarusian program, Belarusian dances, regional dances, Polish dances. And today we also showed a multinational inflorescence. A generation of children has grown up, who go out into the world and new young people come. It’s a lot for the team, such a good piece of time when we were able to do something. They showed their artistic finish, and it was worth showing it, because it is there,” she said.
“Padlaski Wianok” is a participant and winner of numerous festivals in Poland and abroad. The band has performed in countries such as Italy, the Czech Republic and North Macedonia. According to Anatol Vap, director of the Center of Belarusian Culture in Bialystok, young artists are the pride of the whole Podlasie.
“There are a lot of Belarusian singing groups in Bialystochyzna. Both children’s and adults, and pensioners. But there are very few dance groups. The “Padlaski Wianok” is one of the most important. There has not been such a team for a long time. Other dance groups in the voivodeship appear on the model of this collective. And this is very good,” the director notes.
The ensemble “Padlaski Wianok” was created in September 2015 as part of the cultural and artistic development of the association for the benefit of children and youth “AB-BA” in Bialystok. Now there are more than 50 participants in the team studying the Belarusian language at primary school No. 4 and other secondary schools in the capital of Podlasie.