about the n obrotów group

"n obrotów" group are enthusiasts of traditional dances, often very spinning. They are fascinated by musical and dancing traditions of northern Polnad and the countries in which Polish dance has been adopted, Sweden and France in particular. They travel in search of ancient masters of dance, playing or singing. They not only dance, but also make music. They lead dance parties called 'potańc' or 'potańcówka' regularly in Toruń, which are open to all dance enthusiasts.
They share their passion and skills with others during workshops. They go in a stage with small dance forms based on traditional dance steps, dressing up in scenic words what goes on in the depths of the dance, encouraging and inspiring others to go in a dance floor. And thery reach for the roots in search of eternal, eminent and refined beauty.

idea & specialization

The group's activities are centered around Europe's music and dance traditions. We draw from the musical patterns worked out by generations of our grandparents and great grantparents to create in our environment a valuable kind of community in which and dance serve people's encounters. Traditional music and dance culture returns having today the recognition of wide circles of young and old people in many countries, and the events are popularly referred to "balfolk" (France, followed by almost all of Europe), "fest-noz" (Brittany), Stamman (Sweden) or dance house (Hungary, Poland).

The theme particularly extensively undertaken by "n obrotów" group are dances of Polish origin, which have gained recognition in other European countries over the centuries, have developed there and are still danced nowadays. Particular dances in this context are polska from Sweden and pols from Norway, which have roots dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries and the common contacts of the Polish and Swedish courts. The second such dance is mazurka which presence in France, Italy and Scandinavia dates back to the 19th century.
In the "n obrotów" group we explore the exported Polish dances by combining them with currently known Polish dances from Poland, in particular kujawiak and Kuyavian chodzony (walk dance), wiwat from Greater Poland and powolniak from Kurpie (Mazovia), which seem to be the most archaic, and thus probably closer to sources of Polish dances in Sweden and France than other Polish dances popular nowadays.

looking for tradition and master-apprentice relation

The essence of the way to get to know old dances and the traditions associated with them is very much based on direct intergenerational communication. Neither interpretations of the written word, including the elements of tradition selected by the writer, nor a position of non-aligned observer, guarantee a proper take over of the tradition. Therefore, wherever possible, we try to get to know the Masters, from whom we could learn to dance, sing and play instruments and learn old customs. The search area for the "n obrotów" group are Kuyavia and Kurpie. We also use the work of the most experienced disciples who have found their Masters much earlier before us.

dance parties and music sessions

The natural way of sharing knowledge about traditional music and dance culture and enjoying the beautiful traditional music are organized by "n obrotów" group monthly dance events (called potańc) and weekly instrumental session meetings and dancing classes. Special events based on old customs are the Kuyavian "podkoziołek" at the end of the carnival, St. John's Night, unveiling and capping ceremony, which in "n obrotów" group successfully refers to in large extent.

presentation group

Many traditional dances, including those of Polish origin, may seem inacessible at first and require significant amounts of time to master, which is often more than all of us, busy people, or an everyday cultural institution can spend. So as to allow people to stay in touch with the culture and inspire them to undertake a long-shot dance adventure, we have assembled a presentation group consisting of dancers and musicians alike. Its task is to introduce the more challenging dances in attractive forms of short dance-and-drama performances, for both stage or dancehall applications.

agregandado and napiętaCH (charged heels) band

Traditional dance (Polish dances in particular!) drives best with live music. The old fiddle masters used to emphasise that during folk parties musicians and dancers functioned as one organism. Thus, n obrotów can not go around without live-played dance music. agregandado and napiętaCH groups specialise in Swedish and Polish music. agregandado is an instrumental ensemble born out of regular monday Sessions of Traditional Dance Tunes. The band's original sound is composed of fiddles, brass and woodwinds. On the other hand, napiętaCH is a lineup born purely out of the Polish tradition: fiddles, basolia and frame drum.

music and dance event organization

We combine our energy and free time to invite and aid foreign artists, instrumentalists, singers and dancers to introduce a great variety of fascinating traditions of the world we are interested in. We do our best to create a friendly environment for them to share their style and emotion in Toruń, to offer cultural experiences for those who couldn't afford them otherwise.

offer

Would you be in need of our services, feel free to contact us! We offer our expertise as traditional culture specialists of Kuyavia, Greater Poland, Kurpie and Scandinavia regions, live music and dance performers and experienced event organisers.

join us!

If you like what we do as n obrotów, share our interests and wish to join, you are more than welcome! We would gladly share our experience with you and invite you to join our dance and music undertakings. Feel free to join us on any of our events, we would love to meet you!