Mazury Dance Company

Come and enjoy an evening of Polish dances and song by the internationally acclaimed Mazury Dance Company of the Polish YMCA. Mazury Dance Company is a bold, bright, colourful group that performs and displays the national dances and songs of Poland.

The group was founded in 1949 by ex-servicemen and women who moved to London after the war, and wanted to keep their Polish traditions alive. Having been passed down through the generations, their rich and vibrant cultural heritage is still thriving 67 years on. Today the company consists of over 120 dancers, singers and musicians in three groups from age seven upwards.

Mazury takes pride in the fact that most of its 3,000 costume items have been made by members themselves, from woven materials with intricate embroidery, to belts and ornamental axes and swords. The group has its own band (also known as a ‘kapela’), a nine-strong group of musicians who regularly accompany the dancers during major shows and tours.

Mazury have performed for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and several other heads of state, and have entertained the Prince and Princess of Wales. In 1992 Mazury took part in the celebrations in Poland marking its return to a free and independent country, and more recently they represented Poland at the Foreign Office on the occasion of Poland’s entry into the EU.

Mazury’s 65th anniversary in 2014 was also marked by a sell-out gala performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at London’s Southbank centre.