Music for download – "Siekany - Równy"

belongs to the group of regional dances from Wielkopolska and it closes the triad of folk wedding dances (wiwat dance – przodek/ancestor dance – równy/even dance). In the past, the even dance also functioned under the name chodzony (walking dance) or okrągły (round dance). The even dance from the Biskupizna region is played in triple meter (3/8) at a moderate tempo, and it can be performed by any number of couples, who are spinning in circular okroczak steps or walking with small even steps (hence the name of the dance).

An interesting description of the even dance can be found in Jan Bzdęgaʼs book entitled Wesele biskupiańskie (Wedding in the Biskupizna Region):

The dancers are facing each other, the man puts his hands on his partnerʼs hips, she puts her hands on his shoulders, or, she puts one hand on his shoulder and the other one on his waist. They are moving peacefully with the basic triple step, in an anti-clockwise direction, i.e. the man has his back facing the direction of the dance, whereas the woman faces the direction of the dance. During the second part of the melody (t.9), the couple begins to spin, while still moving around a circle. In this spinning motion, they continue transferring their weight from one foot to the other, using the sliding step similar to that of a waltz, so that their turns are large. In this part of the dance, when the couples are spinning in a circle, it is very common that two or three couples move into the centre of the circle and dance to show off, while the other couples continue dancing in the traditional way.

At the end of the dance, the master of ceremony performed an exclamation “Chos!”, which meant that the dancers should start a new dance in the opposite direction.