Traditional Polish Folk Dance and its Importance to the Growth and Continuity of the Detroit Polonia.

One of the significant cultural contributions of Polish Americans to the greater society and its own continuity is traditional Polish dance. There is a whole subculture of activity involved in carrying on the very fine and colorful tradition of Polish dance. First of all there needs to be an infrastructure of some kind to carry on this tradition which is in the form of Polish dance schools steeped in the history, tradition and skills required to perform in the manner of “the dance” of the “old” country, Poland.

















Next, there needs to be women that are familiar enough with the traditional costumes of the region in Poland that the dance they are involved in wear for the dance. More often than not many of the women have the sewing skills necessary to make these costumes from scratch. But, there is a whole industry shooting up that provides traditional Polish costumes that come from Poland or other parts of the world that provide inexpensive hand sewn costumes.

















The next two components are the resources human and material to make this tradition a reality. First of all it takes a significant amount of money to pay for the dance lessons, costumes, shoes and transportation to and from the dance classes and recitals. But, behind all of these resources is the real contribution that makes it all happen which is the commitment on the part of the parents that pay, spend time, support and spread the word about this important cultural contribution. Don’t forget the children because without them there is no future for traditional Polish dance. They have to make the commitment in time, energy and enthusiasm for this important cultural endeavor. In the beginning it is, “Do I have to? But it rapidly becomes an activity that provides community, continuity, accomplishment and excitement for the children.












PRCUA Halka Dancers



Polish traditional culture has two distinct styles of folkloric dance – one from the nobility and one from the peasantry. In Poland there are nearly 40 distinctive cultural regions – each with their own specific dances, melodies and songs as well as folklore. The five “national” dances of Poland, recognized throughout Poland as being quintessentially “Polish”, include the Mazur and the Polonez from the nobility tradition, and the Oberek and the Kujawiak from the peasantry, and the Krakowiak, a courtship dance from Southern Poland.
Both men and women wear leather shoes with pressed-in ornaments, called the kierpce, and heavy woolen hand-knit socks. The men’s wool trousers have a pom-pom on each leg and some yarn decoration. Their vests may be either bright red or blue and are decorated with tassels and their hats are either white or black wool.












PRCUA Halka Dancers


The women’s dress features wool skirts that have flowery patterns of roses on green, red, blue, black or white background. They wear white blouses finished with lace, tight ornamental velvet vests of burgundy, green, blue or black with a peplum of little overlapping tabs, and strings of coral beads on their necks. The vests and beads are tied with ribbons, and women wear flowered wool shawls.













PRCUA Halka Dancers


There are a number of traditional Polish dance schools and troupes in the Metro-Detroit Area. Just a couple of them are the PRCUA Halka Dancers and the Wawel Dance Ensemble. Here is just a snapshot of continuity of these young and gifted traditional Polish dancers from the current era as well as an earlier time in the evolution of this cultural GEM of the Polish Community. Many of these photos are current photos of the PRCUA Halka Dancers taken at the Michigan State Fair on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2006 @ 12:00 Noon in the Family Grove.











PRCUA Halka Dancers


If you have interest in helping the dance troupe or have children of dance age you can contact them at:
Halka Dancers PRCUA
Our Lady Queen of Heaven Activities Building
Detroit
Ages 3 to 17
Saturdays
Rita Cerankowski (313) 891-2403










PRCUA Halka Dancers












PRCUA Halka Dancers



















Last generation Polish Folk Dancer Alfreda nee Grygiel and current generation Polish Folk Dancer from the PRCU Halka Dancers














Polish Folk Dancers -- Alfreda Grygiel front center 1961



















L to R Marsha Lewandowski and Alfreda Grygiel Circa 1956














Bottom row L to R Marsha Lewandowski and Alfreda Grygiel with other Polish Dancers in Traditional Dress with Felician Nuns at Our Lady Queen of Apostles Polish Roman Catholic Church Circa 1956



















Alfreda Grygiel in Traditional Polish Dance Dress in her backyard on Caniff on the Detroit/Hamtramck Border. Alfreda's Mother Frances Grygiel was a Master Seamstress and made all of Alfreda's beautiful clothes and costumes from scratch July 1959
















Annual Polish Constitution Day Parade on Belle Isle starting at the Scott Fountain, May 8, 1961. Polish Dance Troupe in Traditional dress from the Cracow region of Poland. Alfreda Grygiel in back 2nd from left of the tall girls, smiling with dark hair

Detroit's Polish Pioneers and Their Remarkable Progress ~~ The Detroit Free Press ~~ Sunday, June 3, 1906

St. Albertus Polish Roman Catholic Church and the history and Pastorate of Fr. Francis A. Mueller .

The 1st Polish Roman Catholic Church in Detroit was St. Albertus Polish Roman Catholic Church. There is much interest in this the mother church of all Polish Roman Catholic Churches in the Polish Community of Detroit.
One of the more successful and interesting pastorates in the history of St. Albertus was the pastorate of Fr. Francis A. Mueller. A very fine if not the best historical Centennial I have ever read of any church anywhere was written and photographed by some gifted priests and a lay photographer.
What follows is the exact excerpt from that Centennial book reproduced here as a service to the Polish Roman Catholic Community for research purposes because the book is so hard to find. I have included a copy of the cover and credits page so due credit can be given. I hope you enjoy reading about this fascinating priest and his contribution to the history of this living thing called St. Albertus Polish Roman Catholic Church.

St. John Cantius Has Passed Into the History of the Polish Roman Catholic Village of Delrey in Detroit, Michigan!

Ironically the 105th Anniversary of St. John Cantius on October 28, 2007 was the saddest day in the lives of Genevieve Rakoczy, 77 and Leon Strameck, 85 both livelong parishioners of St. Cantius Polish Roman Catholic Church in the Polish Community of Delray, Michigan because it was the final Mass. Father Edward Zaorski said the final mass at this venerable “old” Roman Catholic Church in the Polish Village located at 844 Harbaugh at Thaddeus and north of W. Jefferson Ave. in this exclusively industrial community along the Detroit River.

Here we have another of the architectural gems among so many precious places of worship built as a gift to the City of Detroit by the Polish settlement to enhance the fabric of the city over the many decades. This is a beautiful stained glass window in St. John Cantius Polish Roman Catholic Church depicting the patron saint of the church St. John Cantius.

St. John Cantius Roman Catholic Church Profile 1985

Pope Pius XII: "I hear all around me innovators who want to dismantle the Holy Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, throw away her ornaments, give her a remorse of her historical past. Well my dear friend, I have the conviction that the Church of Peter must assume her past or she will dig her own grave."

St. John Cantius Has Passed Into the History of the Polish Roman Village of Delrey in Detroit, Michigan!

Pope Pius XII: "I hear all around me innovators who want to dismantle the Holy Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, throw away her ornaments, give her a remorse of her historical past. Well my dear friend, I have the conviction that the Church of Peter must assume her past or she will dig her own grave."




Ironically the 105th Anniversary of St. John Cantius on October 28, 2007 was the saddest day in the lives of Genevieve Rakoczy, 77 and Leon Strameck, 85 both livelong parishioners of St. Cantius Polish Roman Catholic Church in the Polish Community of Delray, Michigan because it was the final Mass. Father Edward Zaorski said the final mass at this venerable “old” Roman Catholic Church in the Polish Village located at 844 Harbaugh at Thaddeus and north of W. Jefferson Ave. in this exclusively industrial community along the Detroit River.

Here we have another of the architectural gems among so many precious places of worship built as a gift to the City of Detroit by the Polish settlement to enhance the fabric of the city over the many decades. This is a beautiful stained glass window in St. John Cantius Polish Roman Catholic Church depicting the patron saint of the church St. John Cantius.

The article written by Mark Hicks of the Detroit News with powerful comments by Fr. Z is definitely not to be missed. So, take the time to paste this URL into your web browser and read this wonderful article at this link:

http://unamsanctamcatholicam.blogspot.com/2007/10/st-john-cantius-in-detroit-mi.html

St. John Cantius Roman Catholic Church Profile 1985

	844 S. Harbaugh, Detroit, MI 48209
	842-2276
	Closed (2007)	School in Operation:	No
	1902	Year Present Church was Built:	1923
	Rev. Fr. Walczak	Pastor in 1985:	Rev. Fr. Edwin A. Szczygiel
	Saturday 6:00pm (English); 8:00am (English), 10:30am (Polish), 12:00pm (English)
	425	Percentage of Polish Descent:	75%

Fr. Mueller...

This is the funeral cortege for the very beloved Fr. Francis A. Mueller, Pastor of St. Albertus Polish Roman Catholic Church in the heart of Poletown at Detroit, Micigan. The date of this solemn procession was April 23, 1913 a very sad day, indeed. Photo: WSU Virtual Motor City

Mr. Ski on E. Canfield...

Here we see a member of the Polish Catholic “tribe” that will not be driven from his home by the blight in the city. He lives in the St. Albertus Polish Roman Catholic Church “old” Parish neighborhood on E. Canfield just a few blocks from St. Albertus. We’ll call him Mr. Ski and he is a hearty soul if there ever was one. He walks all through the neighborhood impervious to the blight, crime, destruction and devastation in what was a thriving Polish-American enclave that has turned into the worst kind of ghetto this city has spawned. He walks to go shopping, take care of chores and travels to the bus stop so he can go to get the services that no longer exist in his home neighborhood. He has turned his home into a fortress to ward off the worst elements of the ‘hood that will come in to try to steal, rob, scrap or use for a “crack house” that will eventually be burned down by drug addicts and “crack hoes” in a drug induced high. Mr. Ski walks around smiling which makes all of us smile to see the “weed” that is growing out of the only crack in the “cement”!








The structure looks like one of the old fashion storefronts with living quarters in the back. Many Polish immigrants established mom and pop stores to service the neighborhood in these types of dual purpose structure so they can be on the scene to take care of business. They could also, be near home by taking advantage of the economies of scale in building a structure for these dual purposes. Being so close to the neighborhood parish established their legitimacy for servicing the parishioners of St. Albertus.



This was a thriving neighborhood with people coming and going all the time, day and night. For Mr. Ski it is still a thriving neighborhood where he comes and goes but only during the day because the night is owned by the lower elements in the ‘hood. You make us proud Mr. Ski with your coming and going and we hope to see you for a long time!

Mr. Ski on E. Canfield...

Here we see a member of the Polish Catholic “tribe” that will not be driven from his home by the blight in the city. He lives in the St. Albertus Polish Roman Catholic Church “old” Parish neighborhood on E. Canfield just a few blocks from St. Albertus. We’ll call him Mr. Ski and he is a hearty soul if there ever was one. He walks all through the neighborhood impervious to the blight, crime, destruction and devastation in what was a thriving Polish-American enclave that has turned into the worst kind of ghetto this city has spawned. He walks to go shopping, take care of chores and travels to the bus stop so he can go to get the services that no longer exist in his home neighborhood. He has turned his home into a fortress to ward off the worst elements of the ‘hood that will come in to try to steal, rob, scrap or use for a “crack house” that will eventually be burned down by drug addicts and “crack hoes” in a drug induced high. Mr. Ski walks around smiling which makes all of us smile to see the “weed” that is growing out of the only crack in the “cement”!



The structure looks like one of the old fashion storefronts with living quarters in the back. Many Polish immigrants established mom and pop stores to service the neighborhood in these types of dual purpose structure so they can be on the scene to take care of business. They could also, be near home by taking advantage of the economies of scale in building a structure for these dual purposes. Being so close to the neighborhood parish established their legitimacy for servicing the parishioners of St. Albertus. This was a thriving neighborhood with people coming and going all the time, day and night. For Mr. Ski it is still a thriving neighborhood where he comes and goes but only during the day because the night is owned by the lower elements in the ‘hood. You make us proud Mr. Ski with your coming and going and we hope to see you for a long time!

Detroit Cornice & Slate repairs St. Albertus Polish Roman Catholic church's roof

Wednesday, August 27, 2008 - 11:46 am

8 days later and $12,000 poorer the "wound" in the roof of St. Albertus Polish Roman Catholic Church was repaired by roofing company Detroit Cornice & Slate a reputable and experienced company that has worked on many of the area churches and recently did the roofing on the Book-Cadillac Building. PAHSA remains as dedicated as ever to the preservation of St. Albertus! Any support for this project would be greatly appreciated. Make checks payable to PAHSA and mail to:
PAHSA
4231 St. Aubin
Detroit, MI 48207
Here are a couple of photos with the "wound" to the roof repaired.

St. Albertus Polish Roman Catholic Church roof attacked by scrappers

I received this email just today:

I'm sad to report that two days ago St. Albertus Church was broken into and a portion of the copper roof was stripped. It appears the thief entered through a small window on Canfield and then went up into the bell tower and got on to the roof where three sections of the copper standing seam roof were stolen from. A police report was filed and measures have been taken to prevent this from happening again. However, PAHSA is now stricken with the task of repairing the damage that was done. We are in the process of getting estimates for the repairs, but if past repairs are used as an indicator then I doubt if we will be able have the repairs done for less than $10,000. Anyone who wishes to support PAHSA in our efforts to repair the roof should please send donation to the rectory address:
PAHSA
4231 St. Aubin
Detroit, MI48207
Your help would be greatly appreciated. I've attached photos of the effected area. I will send updates of the situation as they develop.

PAHSA President

What you are looking at is the wound caused by the terrible damage done by the scrapper that ripped off sheets of copper roofing from St. Albertus Polish Roman Catholic Church under the darkness of night in this brazen attack on this venerable "old" institution in Detroit, Michigan. The scrappers are dismantling the City of Detroit piece by piece of copper with no end in sight and no law enforcement agency within the city limits that has either the manpower or the will to stem this terrible tide of destruction.