- 'Looking into the depths of the Polish tradition we keep reading it anew,' - says Barbara Madany, the organisational manager of the Ensemble. - 'The idea behind the jubilee celebrations can be summed up in one sentence - "Jantar is a history written by people".'.

Jubilee concerts of the Ensemble have been announced for the coming weekend.

The Gdańsk University Song and Dance Ensemble Jantar, comprising of students and graduates of the University of Gdańsk and other universities of the Tri-City, has been performing continuously since 1970. The group presents its programme at numerous concerts in Poland and abroad. Thanks to consistent work and the constant broadening of its repertoire, Jantar has been winning recognition and awards at many festivals and competitions.

Celebrating its 50th Jubilee, the ensemble wants not only to look far back and recreate forgotten choreographies performed in previous decades but also to present what is new in its repertoire - grown out of the legacy of Polish folklore and processed by the contemporary sensitivity of the people who make up the ensemble today.

The Jubilee celebrations were given an original name: zGłębiNowe, because, as they claim in the Ensemble, looking into the depth of Polish tradition they still read it anew. - 'The idea behind the jubilee celebrations can be summed up in one sentence: "Jantar is a history written by people",' - emphasises Barbara Madany.

Two jubilee concerts of the band will be held: November 26 (Friday) at 7 p.m. and November 27 (Saturday) at 4 p.m. in the Theatre Hall, UG Neophilology Building. Past and present members of the Ensemble will celebrate together. - 'For us, this is a unique opportunity to meet people who used to and still do make up the Ensemble. The joy of the upcoming celebrations is all the greater as, due to the pandemic, the joint celebrations have been postponed for a year,' - adds Barbara Madany.

Almost 90 former members of Jantar, who call themselves Jantarosaurs, have announced their presence. According to the organisers, some of them will perform on stage in an intergenerational Cracovienne and a Polonaise. - 'We are very pleased that we managed to invite musicians who formed the Yantar's band in the past decades to participate in the concert,' - says Barbara Madany. Thanks to this a wide repertoire of the Band will be presented. - 'We want to show both historical and contemporary choreographies, but also to emphasize how important people are in its creation,' - sums up Barbara Madany.

On one stage, in addition to the current members of Jantar, there will also be presentations by people who used to be members of the Ensemble. The performances will be accompanied by an intergenerational band which will perform songs composed especially for this occasion.

The ensemble is led by Milena Jurczyk - choreographer, Barbara Madany - organisational manager, Anna Barszcz - music manager, Jakub Musik - band manager.

The event has been co-financed by the City of Gdańsk.

November 26th, 19:00 and 27th, 16:00

Theatre Hall, Building of Neophilology UG, ul. Wita Stwosza 51, Gdańsk

Admission free of charge - information at https://jantar50.ug.edu.pl/

Jubilee of ZPiT Jantar

From the history of 'Jantar'