Bridal Dance Polka (Slovak versus Polish)
abis...@gmail.com
there.....a friend of mine is getting married and asked me about a
Slovak version of the bridal dance. The only version that I know of
(which I have always taken to be the Polish version) is heard in the
background of this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-8puCckb80
Does anyone know of a traditional Slovak version? Or any version other
than the one heard here?
Thanks!
-Amber
actually at nostradamus.net
Take a look here:
http://www.iarelative.com/music/wedding.htm
--
Read my polka CD reviews, now with even fresher opinions!
http://www.nostradamus.net/polka_page.htm
twsea...@yahoo.com
polkabill
english called Slovak Wedding song. Very peppy polka.
Mark Buza has a version on their When I dance a polka CD called Bridal
dance. it is also in english. Very easy polka to dance to.
pangora
Just a bit of history. (Joe Rogers please verify, you're the polka
historian - tks) The Bridal Dance polka was composed in USA. This
song is not being played during "ODCZEPINY" (unveiling of the bride)
ceremony in Poland., I think the Krieger Brothers wrote the piece or
something like that in the 50's. Some people call it "Money Dance"
polka, the Trel Tones from PA (http://www.15122.com/TrelTones/) have
a nice rendition of it. This number is very popular in Western PA
although people don't understand the words, they still like to keep
the tradition going.
The "Money Dance" - "Bridal Dance" in Poland and here in Canada is a
waltz, the 12 Angels - Dwanascie Aniolkow. The bride sits on the
chair in the middle of the dance floor, her mom comes and takes the
veil of her head and pins a flower/bouquet in her hair, then she puts
the veil on the maid of honor and the maid of honor dances around with
her usher, then they pass it on down the line to the very youngest.
In mean time the crowd has song sheets and they all sing the 12 Angels
Waltz or some even call it "Dwanascie Listeczkow". Then, if people
want to dance with the bride? The groom holds a sack or a basket and
people throw in money and dance with the bride for few seconds and
next and next....
Sometimes the best man and maid of honor hold the basket/sack and
groom gets to dance with ladies at the same time as the bride.
Depends on the time and place and people.
So this is how we still do it here in Canada. Every place/region has
a different tradition.
As far as Slovak vs Polish tradition? our cultures are similar and
only the words and melody might differ. I have the Mark Buza
recording as well. If you need it? Please contact Mark at www.mborchestra.com
or get the recordings from either www.jimmykpolkas.com or from
www.polkaconnection.com
Thanks
John Gora
abis...@gmail.com
Thanks everyone..... I have the Trel Tones version...I am from
Uniontown, PA after all =) This is the only one I've ever heard.
I'll pass the information along to my friend. She's not very familiar
with polka music, but I'm sure she will appreciate the information!
Thank you again!
pajp...@verizon.net
I think you have it all down here in good order.
Growing up and living in the Buffalo area for the early part of my
life, the Twelve Angels was the dance at the wedding. The Odczepiny
was (as you stated) the unveiling of the bride.
Moving 200 miles south, and 10 minutes from the Pennsylania border, I
was introduced to the "Pani Mlode" Bridal Dance which directly
followed the Unveiling and 12 Angels. I suspect that was brought to
this area from Pennsylvania by the Poles and Eastern Europeans who
came up here from the coalmines of Pa.
What is obvious is how, in this area, the American weddings started
having Bridal (or money dances) using songs that were unrelated to the
actual tradition of the Poles or Eastern Europeans.
Just my input
Steve
On Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:23:36 -0700 (PDT), pangora <jo...@johngora.com>
wrote:
jrodg
> Thanks
> John Gora
You flatter me w/your reference, John, but I can't improve on your
excellent essay---once again, youre the man-:) However, the
gentleman will be pleased to know that there is a huge amount of
useful and fascinating info on this subject (Slovak wedding song/s) on
line: YOUTUBE, which is amazing in the amount of music from around the
world it carries ( most songs can be found there) has many great
Slovak wedding scenes ( just search for "Slovak wedding" or "redovy"
---Redovy, various informative sites, such as "Slovak Wedding
Memories" and/or Slovak Music Store , tells us, is the no. 1
traditional Slovak wedding song ---these sites give lyrics (words) ---
many verses , in the original Slovak and Lemko ( a dialect/language
spoken in the same general region of Europe) , with English
translation. Yo---u can see and hear many versions of this song, and
various other Slovak wedding songs, on youtube , and also see and
learn the dances done to the various tunes ( My favorite is the
youtube item, "Eva and Robert Redovy tanec" --- great dance steps, and
hear you can see and hear that Redovy is essentially the same song as
the Polish-American "Pani mloda tancuje", except that is done in the
Czardasz-like Slovak rhythm withhthe dissonant/minor chords
characteristic of Slovak and neighboring Polish góral music--the words
are virtually identical, since Slovak and Polish are extremely similar
to each other with very few striking differences. In the "Slovak
Wedding Store" you can see a list of recordings which include this
number and others ---at least one has the lyrics, too ( the recording
by Mickey (Michael Zahurak). --- Someone wrote in this discussion
( and pangora seems to confirm this by noting that he never heard
this number played in Poland in his youth) that although this number
has been played and sung in Polish by various bands ( Krygers, Happy
Tony/Coaldiggers and Happy Louie---especially by bands from the Pa.
coalmining areas , who were often partly or entirely or Slovak
descent) they don't think it was originally Polish ---that's the
impression I get, too: The song is a major part of Slovak folklore,
while it doesn't appear to have the same significance in Polish lore.
It may have appeared somewhere in the Polish (góral) mountain region
that borders on Slovakia , but was probably translated from Slovak
into Polish ( which wouldn't have been hard to do for anyone fluent
Polish since the texts are so close ---this may well have been done in
the US (probably Pennsylvania ) , where Poles and Slovaks lived and
worked in the same communities --- a lot of the early bands there ,
like the Kryger Bros.were bilingual ---at least one of their albums
was entitled "Polish and Slovak Songs" ---they seemed equally fluent
in both languages. Happy Tony performed inboth, too, while the
Stankies are actually much more fluent and authentic in Slovak than in
Polish. The main Slovak dance rhythm is czardasz, not polka, but the
Polish field has borrowed quite heavily from Slovak folk music---some
ofthe most famous such numbers, which Polish fans think are Polish but
are really translations ( sometimes quite clumsy and in strange
Polish) from the Slovak are
jrodg
can see and hear many versions of this song, and
> various other Slovak wedding songs, on youtube , and also see and
> learn the dances done to the various tunes ( My favorite is the
> youtube item, "Eva and Robert Redovy tanec" --- great dance steps, and
> hear you can see and hear that Redovy is essentially the same song as
> Czardasz-like Slovak rhythm with the dissonant/minor chords
> characteristic of Slovak and neighboring Polish góral music--the words
> are virtually identical, since Slovak and Polish are extremely similar
> to each other with very few striking differences. In the "Slovak
> Wedding Store" you can see a list of recordings which include this
> number and others ---at least one has the lyrics, too ( the recording
> by Mickey (Michael Zahurak). --- Someone wrote in this discussion
> ( and pangora seems to confirm this by noting that he never heard
> this number played in Poland in his youth) that although this number
> has been played and sung in Polish by various bands ( Krygers, Happy
> Tony/Coaldiggers and Happy Louie---especially by bands from the Pa.
> coalmining areas , who were often partly or entirely or Slovak
> descent) they don't think it was originally Polish ---that's the
> impression I get, too: The song is a major part of Slovak folklore,
> while it doesn't appear to have the same significance in Polish lore.
> It may have appeared somewhere in the Polish (góral) mountain region
> that borders on Slovakia , but was probably translated from Slovak
> into Polish ( which wouldn't have been hard to do for anyone fluent
> Polish since the texts are so close ---this may well have been done in
> the US (probably Pennsylvania ) , where Poles and Slovaks lived and
> worked in the same communities --- a lot of the early bands there ,
> like the Kryger Bros.were bilingual ---at least one of their albums
> was entitled "Polish and Slovak Songs" ---they seemed equally fluent
> Stankies are actually much more fluent and authentic in Slovak than in
> Polish. The main Slovak dance rhythm is czardasz, not polka, but the
> Polish field has borrowed quite heavily from Slovak folk music---some
> ofthe most famous such numbers, which Polish fans think are Polish but
> are really translations ( sometimes quite clumsy and in strange
> - Show quoted text -
(continued ---my computer freaked in themiddle of the last sentence):
Rozmaria ( Oj lesie, w lesie) and "Gdy bylem mlodym
chlopakiem" ( chorus= "Hulala, hulala, etc.) ---This tune was taken
from one of Slovakia's most famous songs,"Oj, lucka, lucka, zelena,"
to which some Polish American evidently wrote some relatively simple
words which have nothing to do with the Czech/Slovak original ---but
people seem to love singing the "hulala" chorus'---there is no
"hulala" in the Slovak tune.
Hope you have fun singing and dancing the redovy ---with the help
of the cool steps shown on youtube.