There is no other art form to which music is as closely related as dance, as this is a relation associated with rhythm – a basic element in both music and dance. (Bohdan Pociej)

My fascination with dance music began during my last visit to Mexico, from where I brought the pieces Danzas Tarascas – dances of the Michoacán region, which were hitherto unknown in Europe. At that time, in 2014, Maria and I were preparing for a series of concerts in the Planetarium of Warsaw’s Copernicus Science Center. There, against the „cosmic backdrop”, the music was to spin together with the planets, stars and fractals, becoming part of an extraordinary audio-visual spectacle. Our mutual experience and sensitivity inclined us to consider the deeper sense of this undertaking. Choosing the repertoire – in such a way that the music could keep up with the dynamics of genuine space – became a formidable challenge for us. Under the influence of this inspiration, it became obvious to us that both lyrical and audacious compositions could resonate, yet full of that particular energy, so that those present at the concert would also feel like stars swirling through the blue firmament on our journey of light. The music we chose for the concert repertoire are dances, including compositions created in various time signatures, and from various periods and places. But that is only the notation. Just as with dance, music truly exists only at a given time, in the moment when its notes sound. Therefore, it is cosmic, it’s timeless and – though transitory – eternal…Two well-known Argentinian tangos and a little popularized Cuban cha-cha – which Maria found in her home collection – correlated at once with the above-mentioned, rhythm filled Mexican dances which became our starting point. On the basis of contrast, the Latin music was joined with European court dances, such as the pavanne, menuet, polonaise and English waltz, due to their highly engaging melodiousness and power of musical expression. The program was filled out with rhythmic pieces, pulsing with energy, of a folk provenance: Bulgarian, Hungarian and Polish dances – all types of mazurkas, czardases and obereks. Next, the „danced up” repertoire selected by us received its own life, independent of the planets. It traveled with us to various concert halls, and soon afterwards – as the culmination – made it onto this album, titled Beauty Dancing (allusion to a certain film intended). The dance pieces included on it convey a variety of cultural content. This diversity is an asset, and the connecting element is the rhythm which defines them. Rhythm which, after all, is nothing other than a reflection of the heart beating… Because through the beauty and transience of music, as in dance, we participate in eternity, where one forgets about the past and doesn’t think about the future. All that exists is a free and perfect „now”, with its full beauty, its presence, conveyance and dynamics.

I praise the dance!, wrote St. Augustine at the turn of the 4th and 5th centuries. Is there any other musical phenomenon more diverse but at the same time more universal? The second album in the Beauty Dancing series, with a selection of exceptional dances from different parts of the world, is a hymn of affirmation of life, expressed in different composition techniques but carrying the same message. Waltzes, tangos, bossa nova, rumba, minuet… The album features well-known pieces as well as many phonographic premieres: a kaleidoscope of dances absent from concert stages, discovered in library nooks, restored to life again. I praise the dance, for it frees people from the heaviness of matter and binds the isolated to community. Without losing any of its uniqueness, in dancing individuality finds common ground with community. A sense of belonging, of being part of a greater whole, triggers joy, is enlivening and introduces harmony. It may also become an element of interpersonal communication. With the help of gestures, dance steps, movement setting the entire body into vibration, we express ourselves without invading anyone else’s freedom. In the same way, in chamber music the violin and piano, instruments that are unlike in their sound, the way they are played and the role given them by composers, acquire new value as a duo; they complement and supplement each other, forming an indivisible whole. Dancing demands a whole person, one who is firmly anchored in the centre of his life, who is not obsessed by lust for people and things and the demon of isolation in his own ego. Alongside the aspect of communication and expressing our emotions, dance has another, cosmic dimension. Ritual, repeated elements inscribed into the age-old rhythms of nature and the universe, imitating the journey of the stars across the firmament, the mysterious thread linking the world and humankind – all this finds its deep, mystic dimension in dance. O man, learn to dance, or else the angels in heaven will not know what to do with you… Our musical proposal, which we are so happy to present to you, is the result of a long quest and sometimes difficult choices. Not all the pieces that we prepared are included on this album. Many musical gems are still waiting for their time, or perhaps the next album? As you listen to this music, may it give you as much joy and excitement as we felt when we were working on it. May the whirl of dancing, with its liberating and purifying effect, draw you in as well!