Crank Lyre / Songs of the Dziad, Slavic Aoids
Traveling through the lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, wandering lirniks sang religious songs about saints, the beginning and end of the world, miracles, death, and the posthumous journey of souls; stories based on biblical and apocryphal motifs; and secular ballads about major events both globally and locally. These songs illustrated universal human truths while reminding listeners of the moral principles derived from them.
These reflections, like a precious metal refined over centuries on the backroads of Europe, took on a vivid and beautiful form, still astonishing today with the craftsmanship of their melodies and the richness of their content.
Unfortunately, most of the Dziad repertoire—as well as the figure of the wandering lirnik himself—was lost in the depths of history, along with the wisdom of generations embedded in these songs.
Jacek Hałas, an artist who has explored various fields of folk art for many years, traced the few remaining traces of this forgotten wealth. Combining experience with imagination, and practicing the crank lyre—a string instrument of Eastern European wanderers—he created his own version of the Dziad’s artistic form.
Music for Dance, Dances to Music – Meetings, Games, and Workshops
Dance, its practice, and teaching have always been for me primarily a social experience. I use my own collection of dances and folk games, always accompanied by live music.
Circular dances, the most archaic, concern the “I,” the participation of the individual in the group, the individual as a creative element of the community. In Polish dance tradition, this form disappeared long ago, and traces of it are found only in descriptions of wedding rituals and annual ceremonies. Some figures and steps survived in certain regional specialties.
Partner dances represent “We.” They are mainly spinning dances, related to the oldest ritual forms practiced by dervishes or associated with the healing power of tarantella. They allowed participants to recognize and manage emotions related to gender, sexuality, and physical closeness.
Dances and games in trios, quartets, and larger groups. We, you, they – exclusion and assimilation of the “other,” building walls, crossing bridges. It is no coincidence that such dances were once the basis of children’s games, teaching integration and rejection, and group functioning, using a nonverbal language of body and physical contact.
Theater, Stories, Original Projects
I have composed music for over 70 theatrical productions. I work in repertory theaters, off-stage productions, and radio projects. My compositional work often draws on folk traditions and performance techniques.
I collaborate with storytellers as a musician, singer, and narrator.
