| It’s only been a little more than a month since our return from Pol-Art in Hobart and we’ve been busy in preparation for our first NSW performance of the year in Canberra. This is a multi-cultural festival which is held annually in Canberra where various artists/groups of many different cultures perform - something that Lajkonik has been delighted to take part in.
It was to be our 4th trip to the capital state. So, 6 pairs travelled by car on the Saturday afternoon for our performance at 10pm.
The most exciting and also terrifying experience of the trip occurred just as we passed Mittagong, when it began to hail really hard! We were forced to pull over to the side of the road and wait under the protection of a large tree, as there was absolutely no visibility of the road. As we sat there, we began to wonder if Canberra was experiencing similar weather conditions and if so, will the festival still be going ahead ?
We were greeted in Queanbeyan with heavy rain, as we began to locate our accommodation, which was a small caravan park close to the city centre. Once at our accommodation we got settled in and began to prepare for the concert ahead of us, but unfortunately there was no sign of improved weather conditions. Our performance was cancelled.
At this point there was definitely a degree of disappointment among the group, as we had travelled such a long distance to be part of the festival. At the same time we all knew it couldn’t have been helped as the organisers of the festival couldn’t have possibly fought this battle against nature. So, we took the opportunity to relax and unwind with our closest friends!
Come Sunday morning, we all packed and began readying ourselves for another long road trip, this time to Wollongong. We had breakfast together and set off on a 2.5 hour drive. We had lots of heavy rain along the way, which made the drive on the Federal Highway a lot scarier than normal. For the passengers, the views of the surrounding forest along the windy Illawarra Highway and the several waterfalls along the way was a much needed escape from the pollution, hustle and bustle of Sydney life.
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The concert at Wollongong was organised as a thankyou gesture from Lajkonik to Zwiazek Polski (Polish Association) Wollongong for loaning us several Kujawiak-Oberek costumes for Pol-art. In Pol-art, we performed Kujawiak-Oberek for 14 couples, the most we’ve ever had on stage! We were short 4 guys and girls costumes and the Zwiazek Polski was very generous to loan us the costumes that we greatly needed for Pol-art. Lajkonik performed a continuous program, so in between costume changes were short intermissions, during which the audience waited patiently.
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Our first dance of the concert was Sacz, a dance we hadn’t performed regularly since it was taught to Lajkonik in 2006 by pan Pogonowski of Zespol “Jawor” - Poland. Following Sacz was a Krakowiak duet performed by Lisa Marie Gadd and Robert Mitas, and then our 4 couple Rzeszowski, also the debut of another dance called ‘Podlaskie’. Our final dance was a Mazur performed to the music of the Opera, Straszny Dwor (The Haunted Manor) by Moniuszko.
Overall, the 45 minute program was well-received by the large crowd on that afternoon. We were complimented and we received plenty of positive feedback.
A highlight of the concert for me in particular was our debut of Podlaskie. With time constraints and busy schedules leading up to Pol-art journey, our group didn’t really have many opportunities to learn the words to the sections of the dance that involved singing. I felt uneasy as to how things would turn out but, as always, we did our best and performed to our expectations!
During our travel, we shared the CD of the music to the dance amongst the cars and each of us had a go at singing the words. We all tried to learn as much as we could in the short time that we had. The most comforting moment for me personally, was that each person in the crowd was given the words to the songs and they all sang along while we danced. It was really supportive and it sounded really good hearing the crowd getting involved with the performance! It’s also extra special hearing all the positive feedback from our performances!
Remembering all the little annoying things that happened on our trip (for e.g. the crazy weather!) is easy, but at the end of the day, the annoying things don’t seem to matter because it is the performance and seeing a satisfied crowd that we will never forget.
I can’t wait till our next adventure this coming weekend. To Jindabyne and Mount Kosciuszko!
Ania Fraczek
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