Dance ensemble nurturing roots for 50 years
S.P.K. Iskry creates everlasting connections with Polish culture
Advertisement
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/09/2017 (2975 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
What started as a one-time presentation to celebrate Canada’s 100th anniversary of Confederation in 1967, continues to foster Polish culture in many generations in Winnipeg through traditional folk dance.
This year, the Polish Dance Ensemble S.P.K. Iskry is celebrating its 50th year of being the cornerstone of keeping the Polish culture and folklore alive in Winnipeg through song and dance.
Founder Henryk Lorenc was very involved with the community and with the Folk Arts Council in 1967 when they approached him and asked if he could get a group together to perform Polish folk dance during a festivity to celebrate Canada’s century. Lorenc, who was a member of the Polish Combatants Association Branch No. 13 gathered his friends and family and formed the ensemble.
Today, they have more than 50 members and have nurtured the culture to many generations.
“I feel like I have to keep the Polish traditions alive in order to identify, to say that I’m Polish because I know Polish dance steps, I know Polish songs. Even at practice, we speak Polish which is something a lot of people lose,” Magda Pawlak, president of S.P.K. Iskry, said.
Bozena Langtry, Lorenc’s daughter, said the group has a significant impact on the lives of the first-generation Canadian children, who most of the time only have a more intensive contact with their roots through the ensemble.
She commented many children would learn Poland’s history from the parents, but not always the folklore, why and how it came to be.
“It’s a lasting understanding and appreciation of the Polish culture and the folklore,” Langtry, who has a Polish dance school, said. “I don’t know where else they would’ve been exposed to the variety of dances and the variety of steps and variety of costumes we have and each area, how they have their culture and their tradition. I don’t think they would’ve received that anywhere else other than the ensemble.”
Pawlak was born in Winnipeg, but her extended family still lives in Poland. She said when she visits she feels they’ve even lost some of their traditions.
“They don’t understand because they are in Poland,” she said. “Why would they do something that is so old? But for us, it’s so beautiful. I think it’s something that we keep alive.”
Throughout the 50 years, S.P.K. Iskry has represented Polish culture in several events in Winnipeg and Canada. They host Folklorama each year, and in 1976 they performed at the Olympic Games in Montreal. In Poland, they represent Canada by participating in the prestigious World Festival of Polish Folk Dance and Song in Rzeszow every three years.
The group, which practices every Thursday at the Royal Polish Canadian Legion 246 (1335 Main St.) outlived Lorenc who died in 1997, and Langtry said he and his wife Janina, would’ve been proud to see what he spearheaded became. Both of her children, Krysia Kovach and Robert Langtry, are the ensemble’s artistic directors.
“He was a strong worker and a very loyal man to his culture, to his community and Canada. He fostered that not only me but to my brother as well and of course the result is that I fostered that to my own children,” Langtry said.
The organizers put a lot of effort into making their performance as authentic as possible. Their 15 colourful costume styles are hand-made and imported from Poland or carefully replicated in Canada. Langtry and Krysia have both studied in Poland to become Polish dance choreographers. Their repertoire has captivated many around North America and Europe, ranging from the traditional dances Kujawiak/Oberek to the dynamic Goralski.
S.P.K. Iskry is holding a concert at the in celebration of their anniversary with performances by Iskry Alumni, Junior Iskry, Natalia Weichsel and the Lowicz Polish Folklore Ensemble of Edmonton. The event happens on Sept. 9 at the Centennial Concert Hall (555 Main St.) at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $30 for adults and $20 for children 12 years old and under and can be purchased through iskryexec@gmail.com
