Polonez

An ancient folk dance with a dignified three-dimensional rhythm. It is also called Polish dance, as Z. Gloger writes in the Encyclopedia Staropolska. It was a ritual, wedding dance, also known as hop, goose dance – at the end of the wedding. The original melody was interrupted in carols. Dzisiaj w Betlejem or W żłobie leży. The polonaise also developed as a stylized artistic work, created by the most outstanding composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin. The hypothesis that it was also played during the coronation ceremony of Henry III Valois in Kraków on February 15th 1574 is considered false. It is true that it was danced in the Gray House at 6 Rynek in front of the king after the ceremony of taking the oath from the councilors and the tribute from the townspeople. On June 21st 1787, King Stanisław August Poniatowski organized a ball that began with a polonaise led by the king with his sister, Elżbieta Branicka.