POLISH TRADITIONAL DANCE- KRAKOWIAK

The Krakowiak is a fast, syncopated Polish dance in duple time from the region of Krakow and Little Poland. It became a popular ballroom dance in Vienna ("Krakauer") and Paris ("Cracovienne")— where, with the polonaise and the mazurka, it signalled a Romantic sensibility of sympathy towards a picturesque, distant and oppressed nation— and in Russia in the mid-nineteenth century. A krakoviak is featured in Mikhail Glinka's A Life for the Tsar (1836).
The first printed Krakowiak appeared in Franciszek Mirecki's album for the piano, "Krakowiaks Offered to the Women of Poland" (Warsaw, 1816). Frederic Chopin produced a bravura concert krakowiak in his Grand Rondeau de Concert Rondo á la Krakowiak in F major for piano and orchestra (op. 14, 1828).
In terms of its choreography, the krakowiak is set for several couples, among whom the leading male dancer sings and indicates the steps. According to the description in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the krakowiak is directed by the leading man from the first pair. As they approach the band, "the man, tapping his heels or dancing a few steps, sings a melody from an established repertory with newly improvised words addressed to his partner. The band follows the melody, and the couples move off in file and form a circle (with the leading couple back at the band). Thereafter verses are sung and played in alternation, the couples circulating during the played verses.

Otylia Jędrzejczak (born December 13, 1983) is a Polish swimmer. She is the current world and Olympic champion in the 200 metre butterfly. She took part in the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics, and twice broke the world record in the women's 200m butterfly.
Jędrzejczak was born in Ruda Śląska, Silesian Voivodship, Poland. She started swimming at the age of six as a measure to correct a slight curvature of the spine. At first she hated the sport. Her attitude towards it changed after she had won her first prize in a competition in Germany at the age of eight. Jędrzejczak took up swimming seriously in high school. Led by coach Maria Jakóbik, she won her first titles in the Junior European Championships in 1999. Medals in the Senior European Championships in 1999 and 2000 opened the way to her first Olympic appearance.
Currently, Jędrzejczak is a student at the Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw (Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego w Warszawie). Her coach is Paweł Słomiński. She stands 187 cm (6 ft 1½ in) tall and wears a size 43 (EU)/11 (US) shoe.

Wislawa Szymborska was born in Kornik in Western Poland on 2 July 1923. Since 1931 she has been living in Krakow, where during 1945-1948 she studied Polish Literature and Sociology at the Jagiellonian University. Szymborska made her début in March 1945 with a poem "Szukam slowa" (I am Looking for a Word) in the daily "Dziennik Polski".

During 1953-1981 she worked as poetry editor and columnist in the Kraków literary weekly "Zycie Literackie" where the series of her essays "Lektury nadobowiazkowe" appeared (the series has been renewed lately in the addition to "Gazeta Wyborcza"-"Gazeta o Ksiazkach").

The collection "Lektury nadobowiazkowe" was published in the form of a book four times.

Szymborska has published 16 collections of poetry. Her poems have been translated into many languages.

Wislawa Szymborska is the Goethe Prize winner (1991) and Herder Prize winner (1995). She has a degree of Honorary Doctor of Letters of Poznan University (1995). In 1996 she received the Polish PEN Club prize.

Lech Wałęsa

Biography

Lech Wałęsa was born on September 29, 1943 in Popowo, Poland. He attended primary and vocational school, before entering Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk (Stocznia Gdańska im. Lenina, now Stocznia Gdańska) as an electrical technician in 1967. In 1969 he married Danuta Gołoś, and the couple now have eight children.

Solidarity

He was a member of the illegal strike committee in Gdańsk Shipyard in 1970. After the bloody end of the strike, resulting in over 80 workers killed by the riot police, Wałęsa was arrested and convicted of "anti-social behavior" and spent one year in prison.

Presidency and afterwards

On December 9, 1990, Wałęsa won the presidential election to become president of Poland for the next five years. During his presidency, he started a so-called "war at the top" which practically meant changing the government annually. His style of presidency was strongly criticized by most of the political parties, and he lost most of the initial public support by the end of 1995.

Name: Robert Kubica

Born: December 7, 1984 in Krakow, Poland

Team: BMW Sauber

Height: 6'

Weight: 160 lbs.

Hobbies: Bowling, computer games, indoor karting.

Previous F1 Teams:
2006 - 2007 BMW Sauber

Victories: 0

Background:

Robert won six Polish karting championships before he moved to Italy at age 13 to pursue his kart racing career in the heart of world karting. He continued winning races and championships in Italy and elsewhere, racing as a salaried driver for a kart team.

First Polish F1 Driver:

In the middle of the 2006 season, Mario Theissen, the BMW Sauber team director, decided to try a daring, if

unorthodox test. He invited Jacques Villeneuve, one of the regular BMW drivers, to hand over his seat to Robert at an upcoming race in order for the team to see how Robert could handle a race. Villeneuve, a world champion with more than a decade of F1 experience, decided to retire rather than to cede his seat. Robert became the regular Grand Prix driver. At his first race, the Hungarian Grand Prix, he finished eighth and would have scored a point, but post race scrutineering found the car to be under weight. Even so, by his third race he finished on the podium, taking second place at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

BEETROOT SOUP (Barszcz)

This is a classic beetroot soup.

2 litres beef stock or vegetable stock

2 onions, peeled and chopped
1 bouquet garni

1 can mushrooms (or fresh)

3 uncooked medium-sized beetroot, peeled and sliced thickly

300 ml kwas

1 tsp sugar

Heat beef stock in a large pan. Add the onions, bouquet garni, mushrooms and beetroot. Boil for an hour. Strain the soup and stir in the kwas into the clear soup. Add sugar to taste and reheat, if necessary without boiling. Serves 8.

HUNTERS STEW (Bigos)

Poland's national dish, and one of my favourite dishes. There is a variety in ingredients, some have mushrooms and juniper berries, while others contain apples, venison, lamb or beef. It is best made a two days in advance and reheated on low heat before serving. This enhances the flavour.

50g butter

2 onions, peeled and chopped

1 jar sauerkraut

1 can tomatoes, peeled

1 small white cabbage

300 ml strong beef stock

250g smoked sausage

5 to 6 pork ribs salt and pepper

Melt butter in a saucepan and fry the onions until golden. Rinse the sauerkraut in cold water, drain thoroughly and mix with the onions. Add the tomatoes. Chop the cabbage finely and mix in. Add the stock, stirring well, and then the pork ribs. Slice the sausage and add into the stew. Allow to simmer on low heat for one hour. Season to taste. Remove from heat and leave covered for 24 hours. Refrigerate and reheat before serving. Serves 8. Note: If you prefer the dish to be more sour, add more sauerkraut.