An exciting new television production celebrates Polish culture and heritage this March - The Music & Dance of Poland: Mazowsze. This high-energy performance by the world famous troupe at the Polish National Opera House will premiere on Public Television March 1 throughout the country.
The program premieres tonight in New York on WLIW Channel 21, but is airing across the country in various places. If you go to the PBS website, you can search out various stations that it is airing on. It's a beautiful program and shouldn't be missed!!
I am pleased to see the performance of Mazowsze on public television, however I am disappointed with the editing and camera angles. This is not a true represenation of the company and it's choreography. It appears very artificial.
Bobby Vinton's lack of Polish pronunciation is very apparent, inexcusible and, quite honestly, laughable.
The dances have been savagely shortened with editing. Any choreographer would be furious to have his work cut in such a manner that it doesn't make artistic sense. Check out the 1971 film by Jerzy Hoffman or the "Mazowsze in Russia" recording for a better document of the work.
I will say that it was a wonderful touch to have The Polish American Journal's culture editor Stas Kmiec offering commentary during thise pledge sequences. I saw him in the Philadelphia showings and friends have sent me his two appearances in New York. He was the only one who pronounced the Polish names and words correctly. Well done!
The DVD has additional full-length footage, but the original program still appears in the edited version on the DVD.
It is a shame that my NYC friends can not see Mazowsze when they are on tour. New York the only significant city in the U.S - New York City: the entertainment and theatrical capital of the world. Why they are not appearing there is a mystery!
