Following Poland’s loss of independence, the dance became fashionable in higher social circles in Paris, then London, and other centers of Western Europe. During the 17th century the dance spread over Poland and began to appear also in neighboring countries distinct versions of these dances could be found in the repertoire of the countryside (the folk mazur-type dances and the mazur of the nobility), and the towns (urban mazurka).Īugustus II, the Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (1697-1733) was very fond of this dance and introduced it into the courts of Germany. The dance was known as early as the 16th century early lute and organ tablatures feature many instances of the mazurka rhythm in pieces entitled Polish dance, or in Latin, Chorea polonica. Riepel’s music dictionary published in Germany in 1752. This term appears for the first time in J. The name is much younger than the dance itself, and probably originated outside of the region. These dances are linked by common rhythmic and choreographic traits, especially the mazurka rhythm discussed below. The dances, known abroad as mazurkas, comprise more than one type: mazur or mazurek, the obertas or oberek, and the kujawiak from the neighboring district of Kujawy (see PMC entries on oberek and kujawiak). The people of the province were called Mazurs thus, the dance mazur bears the same name as the male inhabitant of the region.
small mazur), or in English mazurka, are general terms for a series of Polish folk dances in triple meter, which originated in the plains of Mazovia around Warsaw. Essay by Maja Trochimczyk Zofia Stryjeńska, 1927.