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ceglorz

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It's a fun folk dance, popular in the regions of Wielkopolska, Silesia, Kieleckie and Mazovia, danced to the popular song "Tyś jest ceglarz, ja ceglarka, ty jesz z miski, ja jem z garnka..." (You're a brickmaker, I'm a brickmaker, you eat from a bowl and I eat from a pot...). It is performed in pairs and consists of two distinct parts. In the first part, dancers stand opposite one other performing gestures with their hands and stamping in place to the rhythm of the song. In the second part they dance a fast waltz or the polka in pairs.

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The name of the dance derives from the first words of the song. The tempo may be moderate (as in Wielkopolska) or lively (as in Silesia), the meter is 2/4, 3/8 or 3/4. There can be as many participants as one wishes. They dance in pairs, spaced evenly around the hall in a circle. In the first part, danced in place, the dancers stand opposite one another without touching. They sing along and perform a sequence of gestures: each extends their right hand in front of them and claps their right palm against their partner's right palm; then the same sequence is repeated with left hands. Finally, they do three accented stamps with a slight bow towards each other, do a single stamp, and straighten up. When that is done, the whole sequence is repeated once more by all dancers and then they break in couples and whirl in a closed position, around the circle, against the sun, in the pace of a fast waltz. In some regional variations of the ceglorz, e.g. in Sieradzkie, Kieleckie or Southern Mazovia, instead of clapping hands, the dancers may point towards each other with the index finger and the bows may be performed more sideways than to the front.

Glapa, Adam; Kowalski, Alfons. Tańce i zabawy wielkopolskie. Wrocław: PTL, 1961.

Dąbrowska, Grażyna W. Tańcujże dobrze. Warszawa: Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne, 1991.

Marcinkowa, Janina; Sobczyńska, Krystyna. Folklor Górnego Śląska. Warszawa: Centralny Ośrodek Metodyki Upowszechniania Kultury, 1973.