The ”Swojacy”Folk Dance Ensemble was founded in 2007 at the Association for the Developmentand Cooperation between the villages of Moszczanka and Skrzebowa and since 2008 it has been one of the departments at the Communal-Municipal Cultural Centre in Raszków. The Ensemble is divided into two age groups (children and youth) and it consists of about 60 members.

The Ensemble’s greatest successes include:

- 1st prize at the 3rd Festival of Children and Youth Song in Toruń (2019),

- 1st prize for both age groups of "Swojacy" at the District of Szamotuły Folk and Art Festival  "Jakżem jechoł do Szamotuł"(”As I was going to Szamotuły”) (2021, 2022),

- participation in 2nd National Folk Festival ”For the Cup of Black Diamonds” in Katowice (2016), where the children’s group took 1st place and the youth group took2ndplace,

- 2nd place taken by the "Swojacy" wreath group representing the Greater Poland Province at the Presidential Harvest Festival in Spała (2018),

- 2nd place at the National Festival of Folk Ensembles and Singers "Na Przydrożku" (”By the roadside”) in Wymiarki (2021),

- awards at theKalisz Land Folk Feast in Brzeziny (2018) – 1st place for the children’s group and 2nd place for the youth group,

- 3rd place in the children’s category at the 7th Castellan Folklore Meetings in Sierpc (2021),

- The Laurel of Culturefrom the Ostrów Governor (2013),

- The Kalisz Bishop’s Cup awarded for spreading a distinct cultural message and artistic expression at the Contest of Children and Youth’s Artistic Activity in Ostrów Wielkopolski (2010).

 ”Swojacy” have about 25 performances annually. While performing in Southern Greater Poland and beyond, the ensemble acts as an ambassador popularizing Polish folk culture andRaszków town and Commune. The ensemble has performed in a number of Polish cities and towns, includingWarsaw, Częstochowa, Białystok, Katowice, Poznań, Leszno, Gołdap, Kostrzyn Wielkopolski, Kowary, Syców and Wołów. The dancers have also performed in France (2010, 2011, 2022), Serbia (2012), Moldova (2013), Romania (2014), Latvia (2015), Georgia (2016), Russia (2017), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2018), Great Britain (2019) and the Czech Republic (2022). The ensemble is a co-organizer of ”Familiar Folklore Meetings” organized annually inSkrzebowa and Moszczanka, wherefolk ensembles from Southern Greater Poland and abroad demonstrate their skills.

The children and youth’s repertoire covers:

• Greater Poland dances: plays and dances from Western Greater Poland, Szamotuły dance suite ”Jak sie mocie” (”How are ya?”) and ”Domachowski gościniec” - a medley from the Biskupin region,
• national dances: the Krakowiak, Polonaise, Mazur,
• dances from the Lublin region,
• sądeckie dances,
• dances from the region of Rzeszów,
•  plays and dances of the Beskid Żywiecki region,
• Grape harvest in Zielona Góra,
• Greater Poland customs and ceremonies: the harvest festival ”Wieniec Wielkopolski” (”Graeter Poland Wreath”), staging of the ”The last day of the carnival in Biskupin” (”Podkoziołek u Biskupian”), ”Nowe lotko”, the custom of taking trimmed tree branches  round the village, the "Capping of the bride in Szamotyły” wedding ritual,
• Christmas carols and pastorals in the dance form.

The Ensemble has acquired original costumes from the Greater Poland region (the areas of Biskupin, Szamotuły, Western Greater Poland and Raszków), traditional outfits and nobility suits from the regions of Lublin, Kraków, Rzeszów, Beskid Żywiecki and Beskid Sądecki.

The Ensemble’s dances are accompanied by a folk band with Klaudia Szubert (violin), Jacek Konopczyński (clarinet), Wojciech Zieleziński (bass) and a children’s pipe band including: Wiktor Marszał (Greater Poland bagpipes) and Cezary Bednarczyk (fiddle).

The Ensemble’s choreographer and instructor is Jolanta Marszał - tel. 00 48 506 099 419.

Contact us: karolmarszal@wp.pl