Ruishton Play Day

7^th September 2025

Time for one of our periodic trips overseas!

 It’s always interesting to learn about the music of another country and this foray into another culture from the comfort of Ruishton Village Hall was no exception.  Most recently, we’ve explored tunes from Australia and France but the destination for this Play Day was Poland.

Local musicians Rupert and Olga Kirby treated us to a whirlwind tour of traditional folk music and dance styles.  Olga has a Polish background (as she said, the clue’s in the name) and speaks Polish which came in handy for pronouncing all the names correctly!  She opened the session with a lovely song accompanied by Rupert on guitar.  They then switched to Rupert on violin and Olga on ukulele to demonstrate examples of the dance styles using music that was either traditional or Rupert’s own original compositions inspired by their visits and research.  Music had been circulated before the day so members were able to join in with some of the tunes.

First up was the Krakowiak from the Krakow region.  Lively and fast paced, we had our work cut out to keep up!  Video clips gave a flavour of all the dances in full flow and emphasised the associated folk costume which is now a significant symbol of national pride and identity.

 Then we learned about the history of the Polka (which actually means ‘Polish woman’ in both Czech and Polish) and had a go at some variations.  The guided tour continued with the spirited Mazur and fast whirling Oberek before enjoying the relative calm and elegance of the Polonez which is a walking, stately processional dance. With a distinctive rhythm to its accompaniment, the Polonez is often the opening dance at major events now like New Year’s Balls and National Days.

There was a lot of material so it was good to have another more leisurely look at it later in the afternoon.

A lunar eclipse was due to be visible that night so the suggested theme for the Shared Tunes was anything to do with the Moon. The theme idea is never compulsory but led to the 3 groups working ‘on message’.  Man in the Moon is perhaps well known but the group found an arrangement that hadn’t been used before.  The Long Winter Moon is a slip jig written by Rupert Kirby.  And a gloriously full version of Blue Moon rounded off the Showcase nicely.  Inbetween these groups, we enjoyed a performance of Lord Frog/ Young May Moon and Hunters Moon as an accompanied song. Josephine’s Waltz was also performed by a duo and the audience decided that Josephine no doubt wanted to be an astronaut.

The next Play Day is on Sunday 2 November.  The programme will include Yvette Staelens, a specialist on Somerset folk song so exploring a little closer to home this time!  Do join us if you can.