Polish folk dances — with their colorful regional costumes and enchanting music — are both a beautiful and entertaining experience to behold. Their traditions are rooted many centuries in the past, when every region of Poland had its own dance and local style of dress. The most famous of the traditional Polish dances are:
The Kujawiak — a 19th century dance from the Kujawy region near the coast of the Baltic Sea;
The Mazurka — a dance from the Mazovian area surrounding the capital, Warsaw. An interesting fact is that the rhythm of the Mazurka dance is based on the rhythm of the work of peasants who used to tend the fields;
The Polonaise — The most elegant amongst the folk dances, the Polonaise was traditionally the dance of the Polish nobility.
When it comes to dresses, these were also unique in every part of Poland. They were normally worn with accessories such as hats, necklaces and capes. Tradition called for a married woman to wear a headscarf, while an unmarried one would wear flowers in her hair.
The Polish folk songs that underlie the traditional dances are usually about love or religion.