The Beginning
As we go into the future, It’s very important to pass our knowledge and pay the tribute to the extraordinary Polish-Canadians, who promoted Polish Folk-Dance Traditions in our Polonia Community of Vancouver area, BC, Canada. We are nicely surprised how far it’s goes.
Polish Folk Dancers have been sharing their love of Polish traditions and culture through dance for over 70 years! The centre started with a small number of enthusiastic members who arrived to Vancouver after the Second World War. The first dancers from started performing in 1948. Since then, the Polish Centre on Fraser Street has hosted many dance troupes, from Karpaty, to Zgoda and nowadays Polonez.
There was the Polish Youth & Children Dance Group initiated by Mr. Roman Żurowski in 1962, which was possible thanks to his talent, dedication, trust and help of many parents and leaders of the Polish community. The whole group was close to 130 children and youths by the years of its growth.
Next, Mrs. Carol Coulson contributed herself to history of Polish Folk Dance in Vancouver. Carol Courson, is classical Ballet teacher and Choreographer, who in New York studied Polish dance with Yurek Lazovski, then was teaching Polish regional folk dances in PT 'Zgoda' for 50 years! Mrs. Coulson also got choreographer Polish Folklore Dance Diploma at the ‘Polonia Cultural and Educational Centre’ of the Mari Curie-Sklodowska University, in 1976.
Then, Polonez Dance Group was founded 1989 through the initiative of Steve and Lucy Ozdoba and choreographer Jacek Niemirski in association with Zgoda Polish Friendship Society, which is located in Vancouver. In October 2005 Polonez Polish-Canadian Society was establish and started a new chapter as an independent society. In the beginning, the group was small and largely composed of older enthusiasts, followed by their sons, daughters, nieces, and nephews. It wasn’t long before the group could perform with 8-10 couples.
The success of the group has been possible due to the strong support of the Polish community, and hard volunteer work from the parents involved with Polonez for many years.
Our history and present are so important to all of us, and
we all looking forward what the future brings us- Polish Folk Dancers of Vancouver, BC, Canada
The First Performances of Polonez Dance Group
After the first year of hard work, Polish Folk Dancers from 'Polonez' gave their first performance at the Polish Community Center in Vancouver. The first few performances enticed more children and youths to join the group, and to help promote and maintain Polish culture and traditional folk dances. Polish folk dance is not only an interesting and dynamic hobby, but also enriches the lives of the dancers and their audience.
Over the years, the group has become a permanent future at the variety of multicultural events in the Greater Vancouver area, all over BC. Canada and abroad. In fact, in 1993, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2017 and 2023, the group participated in an International Polish Folk Dance Festival in Rzeszow, Poland. This was an amazing experience for the dancers and it became a benchmark in their history Polish Folk Dance. It was during the first trip that many of the dancers realized why it was so important to maintain the Polish culture, and its traditional folk dances. From October 2005, Polonez become a non-profit organization and started a new chapter as an independent society. The success of the group has been possible due to the strong support of the Polish community, and hard volunteer work from the parents involved with Polonez for many years. The Polish Folk Dancers are continuously working to further the Polish culture in Vancouver, with our travels and performances in Canada and all over the world.
