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The
Polish American Folk Dance Company (PAFDC)
was organized in New York City in 1938 by Frances Wesolowska-Poplawska
with the goal of preserving Polish folk song and dance among Americans
of Polish descent. With the assistance of other community
organizations, such as the Kosciuszko Foundation and the
Polish-American Aid Fund, Ms. Poplawska built a Polish folk dance
group which combined traditional folk elements with the grace of
classical ballet.
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In
1968 Ms. Poplawska turned over the artistic direction of the group to
Stanley Pelc. For almost
30 years, Mr. Pelc’s passion was to expand the repertoire and the
wardrobe of the Dance Company. It
is because of Mr. Pelc’s vision and determination that PAFDC today
enjoys the reputation of being one of the premiere Polish folk dance
groups in the world. In 1979 PAFDC received its highest honor to date when the
Polish government presented Mr. Pelc with the Oskar
Kolberg Award for his work in researching and presenting Polish
folk culture to American audiences.
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Currently,
PAFDC has a repertoire of 23
folk dance suites from different regions of Poland, and owns over 600
individual costumes.  Under its current management of Margaret Pawelkiewicz as Executive Director and Ryszard Sudol as Artistic Director, PAFDC enjoys outstanding acclaim throughout the United States. PAFDC is also proud to present its youngest talent at the concert, PAFDC Kids, under the direction of Ms. Alice Bajno. Most members of PAFDC are Americans of Polish descent, who
volunteer their time from school and business to maintain Polish
culture and traditions. The Company’s members are knowledgeable
about Polish handicrafts and customs as well as folk songs and dances.
Demonstrations of handicrafts, embroidery patterns and costumes
at the Museum of Natural History and presentations of ancient Polish
traditions, such as Dozynki (the harvest festival) and
Andrzejki
(St. Andrew’s Eve) are part of the active repertoire.
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 PAFDC’s
performing history is rich and varied. The Company has attended nine World
Festivals of Polish Folk Song & Dance in Rzeszow, Poland.
The most recent Festival took place in 1999.
PAFDC’s performance locations included Poznan, Gdansk, Sopot,
Lublin, and Rzeszow. In
1998 PAFDC celebrated its 60th anniversary with a sold-out concert at
Lincoln Center in New York City, one of many times that the Company
has performed at this prestigious venue.
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 PAFDC’s
repertoire is not limited to Polish dances.
Over the years, PAFDC has presented Italian, Japanese, Scottish
and Greek dances at the International Bal Polonaise in Miami, Florida.
In 1999, to mark the 150th anniversary of Chopin’s death,
PAFDC was invited to do a special performance at the Smithsonian
Institution in Washington, DC. Pope
John Paul II, Princess Grace of Monaco, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Henryk
Gorecki and other dignitaries have been honored guests at banquets at
which PAFDC choreographed special dance pieces. Among other noteworthy
performance venues are the Waldorf-Astoria and Plaza Hotels in
Manhattan, and the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.
In more intimate settings, PAFDC performs at weddings and
wedding anniversaries, charity fund-raising events, and parties.
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In
1983, PAFDC became one of the founding members of the Polish Folk
Dance
Association of the Americas. Comprised
of 35 Polish folk dance groups in the United
States and Canada, the
Association regularly sponsors week-long Polish folk dance
festivals in various locations around the continent. Recent festivals have been held in
San Francisco, Chicago,
Montreal, Los Angeles, Detroit, Minneapolis, Boston, and New York
City. The current
festival took place this year in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
At this festival, Daniel Dziadura, PAFDC’s artistic director,
was elected as President of the Association.
Stanley Pelc, PAFDC’s previous director, served as the
Association’s first president in 1983.
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PAFDC
has grown to become recognized and appreciated by the local New York
City performing arts community, having been featured in a recent issue
of Brooklyn Bridge magazine,
and receiving an annual grant from the New York State Council on the
Arts. The Company has
performed on numerous occasions at City Hall in Manhattan and at
Borough Hall in Brooklyn.
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PAFDC
is an organization with an impressive history, but we feel that the
best is yet to come.
Always focused on the future and mindful of our past, PAFDC
stands poised to embrace the new technologies of the Information Age
to assist us in spreading the wealth of Polish culture.
To this end we have recently installed a state-of-the-art sound
system in our rehearsal hall to give centuries-old Polish music a new
feel as it is played on CDs and mini-discs.
And we are very proud of award-winning website, www.pafdc.org,
created and maintained by members of the Dance Company.
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 The
Polish American Folk Dance Company is proud to have presented
authentic, energetic, and interesting performances to the Polish and
American communities for over 60 years.
We believe that our strength lies in the community of people
who lend their talents to us to help us to achieve our goal, which is
to realize the vision of our founder: to preserve and perpetuate the
spirited songs and dances of Poland in the melting-pot of America.
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The Polish American Folk Dance Company
is not-for-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. All donations are tax
deductible and are used to help achieve the goal of spreading knowledge of
Polish folk culture to Polish and American audiences. For more information
about making a tax-deductible donation to the Company, please contact the
Executive Director, Margaret Pawelkiewicz.
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