The Harnam Folk Dance Ensemble (alternatively The Representative Ensemble of The à Âódà º Voivodeship; in ) is the oldest folk ensemble in Poland. It was established in 1947 by Jadwiga Hryniewiecka. Harnam meets in the Ludwik GeyerâÂÂs White Factory in à Âódà º.
Harnam was originally established by the Szymon Harnam Textile Industrial Works No. 8 in à Âódà º. Its first artistic director was Jadwiga Hryniewiecka and then her students: Sà Âawomir Mazurkiewicz (1979-1990) and Maria Kryà Âska (1990-2008). In 1994 Kryà Âska and Krzysztof Sitkowski founded a therapy studio for children and teenagers with Down syndrome and they worked until 2008. In 2012 Harnam and Sitkowski were awarded the Silver Medal for Merit to Culture â Gloria Artis. Sitkowski (a student of HryniewieckaâÂÂs) has been artistic director since 2012.
Folk Dance Ensemble Harnam shows authentic character of Polish folk dance adapted to principles of theatre. Dances are with stage dramatization.
The OFF HARNAM group has also been working since 2008. It combines folk motifs, legends and basic steps with modern dance. It is the first group which represents the style of Folk Jazz â a combination of Polish folk dance with Jazz dance.
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