Continuing the spark

North End

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This article was published 18/10/2023 (929 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The S.P.K. Iskry Polish Dance Ensemble will celebrate 55 years of teaching and performing with its Footsteps Through Poland performance at the Centennial Concert Hall on Nov. 5.

The show will feature over 100 people, including the organization’s senior ensemble of 50 dancers, alongside 12 junior dancers, and several alumni who have danced with the company throughout ensemble’s lengthy history.

S.P.K. Iskry has “put Winnipeg on the map” since its foundation in 1967. The group performed at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, and won a world championship at the Mazur Dance Competition in Rzeszów, Poland, in 2002, after which it was honoured with an outstanding achievement award by Glen Murray, then-mayor of Winnipeg. And those are just a couple of its achievements.

“I think there will probably be a lot of people (coming) who maybe haven’t seen this before, or us before,” director Magda Pawlak said. “So I think being able to show off our entire repertoire and the entire show, it’ll be something to behold.”

Every performance will tell its own story, pulling elements from different Polish cities, folklore, music and culture.

“We want to show the diversity of the regions and dances that we cover,” said Chris Malkiewicz, group historian, who also handles public relations. “We’re lucky enough to have a variety of costumes from different regions of Poland and we want to be able to showcase that.”

“I think (that’s) something that a lot of people don’t understand about Poland,” Pawlak said. “For being a country smaller than Manitoba, there’s an insane amount of variety between steps and costumes, and even different dialects and languages.”

Pawlak, 32, and Malkiewicz, 30, are both dancers, and have been dancing since they were six and seven respectively. There have been many times when they’ve both wanted to quit, they said with a laugh, but now the ensemble is like family to them.

“When you’re about 17 or 18, you’re able to join the senior dance ensemble … and it’s intimidating, right?” Pawlak said. “Back when we were little, and it was just a small little place, and we used to sit up front when the senior group was dancing, we would say, ‘Oh my God, they’re so good. I want to dance like them.’

“When you’re little, it’s incredible to see, right?

“And then you get to that age where you’re that person. Then you have little kids watching you, and it’s so cool when it comes full circle, and you remember those feelings … I used to want to do this dance, and now I’m actually performing this dance.”

Pawlak now aims to wow people, just as she was impressed when she was young.

“Not like the ‘good old days’ but wanting to give the kids that are watching us now the same inspiring moments I had,” she said.

Asked what she wanted people to take away from the show, particularly those who haven’t seen Iskry perform, Pawlak was resolute in her conviction.

“We’re unstoppable,” she said. “(S.P.K. Iskry has) changed my life in all the greatest ways. It’s a pleasure to be a part of.”

“Iskry means ‘spark’ in Polish,” Malkiewicz said. “I just want to live up to the name. (Back then) we were dancing so feverishly that it looked like sparks were coming off the stage, that’s where the name came from 55 years ago, and it’s something rare. It’s something incredible.”

Tickets for Footsteps Through Poland can be purchased online: iskry.com/iskry-55

Physical tickets will also be sold at Holy Ghost Parish (341 Selkirk Ave.) on Sunday, Oct. 29.