Polonaise dance added to UNESCO List

The Polonais - collective, dignified dance was added to the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Polonaise has become the main dance of high school pre-graduation balls. Citizens are invited to dance in the streets with officials and with professional dancers, to playback music. Sometimes the reason is the carnival and the school ball season like here in Lodz, Poland, on Tuesday 23 January 2024. This slow-paced procession dance evolved from a folk form called “walked dance” and by the 18th century, under the French name of “Polonaise” (Polish) it was widely danced at nobility manors, even at many European royal courts, as a parade before the monarch at the start of a ball. It still opens carnival-season Vienna Opera Ball.