About Orleta Polish Folk Dance Ensemble
Ours is a well established amateur folk song and dance group. We are an energetic, enthusiastic and friendly group of young people. Orleta has always been a fun-filled, family affair, with many of us following in our parents' footsteps and,from a young age, dancing in our thriving junior groups.
Most of our dancers are of Polish origin and are first, second or third generation. We also have occasional non Polish members, who with our help cope with our difficult language and learn the words of all our songs.
Our Style
Imagine walking through a village in Poland, as the light is fading. The sound of music, singing and merriment reach your ears. So you peek through a well-lit window. There you see a traditional Polish party in full swing. People are flirting, teasing, singing, dancing and just plain showing off! They are simply abounding in energy.
This is the unique style of performance that we in Orleta love to present. In fact it could also well describe our rehearsals.
Junior Group
The junior group was started in 1980 when Basia's elder daughter was three and at play school. The younger daughter started performing at two a half ! At the request of the mothers at play school Basia set up two classes. The 'babies' (aged 3-7) were taught simple dances, songs and plenty of traditional children's games. The older group (8-11) were taught more exciting dances as well as songs and games. That format continues today.
We now have three thriving junior groups totalling over 50 children aged from 5 to 14, with equal numbers of boys and girls.
They love to perform and do so with little or no shyness, on the contrary, they seem to enjoy themselves thoroughly on the stage.
History
In the spring of 1973 (after completing her Polish folk dance teaching diploma), Basia was looking for an opportunity to start up a new Polish dance group in London. An old friend told her over coffee that he was a Polish scout leader in Balham (South London) and that his scouts and the local girl scouts wanted to learn how to dance, so that they could enjoy the saturday night dances they had started to attend. So the dance group Orleta was born.
Artistic director
Basia Klimas BA,MA (East European History)London University SSEES Orleta's founder, manager, choreographer and teacher. She also makes many of their beautiful costumes, paying great attention to authenticity and detail.
In 1973, she was among the first Poles living abroad to graduate from a new teaching diploma course in Polish folklore, singing and dancing. She graduated with honours.
Since then she has taken time out of her busy life several times to go back on refresher courses.Our shows
Orleta have given concerts and have performed at many arts and ethnic festivals, for various charitable organisations and on countless other occasions, but amongst the most memorable were: The Albert hall, St.John's Smith Square with John Ogden, The South Bank, The Purcell Room, TV performances and for Royalty. In 1980 Orleta were the first British group to take part in the International Polish Folklore Festival held in Poland every three years. In 1999, 2002 and 2005 they returned to great acclaim and now plan to go every three years. They have appeared frequently on Polish TV. They have also performed at festivals in Lithuania and Germany including the Munich Oktoberfest.Orleta has participated in all of the Polish Folklore Festivals in the UK and plan to continue to do so. The first three were in Royal Leamington Spa Theatre, then The Lowry in Manchester, the Ashcroft Theatre in Croydon (London) and The Swan Theatre in High Wycombe.
