Orleta - Polish Folk Dance Group Wellington NZ

03/10/2026

03/10/2026

29/09/2026

✨ Pointe Shoe Decorating Workshop ✨

1 hour | All materials included | Take your decorated pointe shoe home

We'll provide the pointe shoe and all the decorations you need to create your own unique design. Choose your colours, add your sparkle and get creative!

$35 per dancer – all materials included.

Bookings essential as spaces are limited - Message us today to secure your spot.

Thursday 8th October

Workshop 1 : 11am (Fully Booked)

Workshop 2 : 2pm (Only 2 Spaces Left)

23/09/2026

🇵🇱❤️ Moja Rodzina – My Family ❤️🇵🇱

Our Polish School children have been learning all about Moja Rodzina👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

To bring our learning to life, the children got creative and designed their own families using colourful buttons and fabric.

It was wonderful to see their imagination shine as they created something special to represent their families, while practising their Polish vocabulary along the way.

A beautiful combination of język polski, creativity and family! 🇵🇱❤️

20/09/2026

Movie Night at Dom Polski - Friday 9 October @ 7:30pm - Free entry!

Come along to see award-winning ‘Cold War' (Zimna Wojna) at Dom Polski Library in Newtown!

Winner of the Best Film Award at the 31st European Film Awards, this is a film about a destructive love affair across Poland, Berlin, Paris, and Yugoslavia set against the backdrop of post-WWII Europe. Expect a sumptuous soundtrack as well as English subtitles.

Free entry, popcorn and drinks. If you like, bring your own snacks and drinks as well something comfortable to sit on (eg a cushion or beanbag).

Email Ed Polaczuk ([email protected]) or Andrzej Nowicki ([email protected]) to secure your spot!

20/09/2026

❤️🇵🇱 Our beautiful Orlęta at SlavFest! 🇵🇱❤️

We’re so proud of our dancers who took to the stage!
The Polish Association has shared some gorgeous photos from the day — we’ve shared their post below so you can see our wonderful dzieci in action!

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make the day so special for our dancers and their families. ❤️

Brawo Orlęta! 👏🇵🇱

19/09/2026

💃 What a wonderful day at SlavFest 💃

Yesterday Orleta - Polish Folk Dance Group Wellington NZ and Orzel Dance Ensemble ran a fun filled Polish Folk dance workshop led by Juliet 💜

It was fantastic to see dancers of all ages and experience levels coming together, learning some Polish Folk dance steps and, most importantly, having fun!

We hope you enjoyed dancing with us as much as we enjoyed sharing our Polish culture and traditions with you! 🇵🇱

More photos are on their way of our beautiful Dzieci in action during their wonderful performance.

28/08/2026

🇵🇱 Why do we Polish dance? 💃❤️

We recently asked our dancers what motivates them to keep coming back to Polish dancing, and their answers were pretty special.

For some, it started with family — dancing for their babcia or dziadek, and keeping a connection to the generations before them. For others, it’s a way to keep their Polish culture and identity alive, particularly for those who don’t speak the language.

But it’s also about so much more than the dancing.

It’s about friendships, connection, shared experiences, laughter and community. It’s about finding a place where you feel at home, connecting with your Polishness, and having a group of people you genuinely don’t want to imagine life without. ❤️

And, of course, there’s always a little bit of “I’ve been doing this for so long, I can’t break my streak now!” 😂

Perhaps one dancer summed it up best:

“Connecting with my culture through friends and dance.”

And that really is what Orzel is all about. 🇵🇱❤️

26/08/2026

This term at Polish School, we have been learning about birthday's! The children designed and decorated their very own birthday cakes, using their imagination while learning birthday-related vocabulary in Polish. 🇵🇱

It was wonderful to see so many colourful and unique creations, each one as special as its artist. We are so proud of their creativity and enthusiasm. Brawo, everyone! ❤️🎈

01/08/2026

On today’s 8⃣2⃣nd anniversary of the , the largest armed operation by underground resistance in German-occupied Europe, we remember the courage and sacrifice of the Polish resistance fighters who rose up in a brave attempt to re-take from the German occupiers.

Among them was Janina Rożecka née Gutowska, war name "Dora", who passed away on 11 February 2026 at the age of 104. Her life, which was one of courage, selflessness and sense of duty to her country but also to humanity, is a true inspiration.

Janina Rożecka was born on 6 January 1922 in Stryj (then Poland, today’s Ukraine). Her family moved to Warsaw and made home in Żoliborz, where she attended school until 1939.

After World War Two broke out, her father, Mieczysław Gutowski, who was a senior officer in the Polish Army, was captured by the NKVD and executed, on Stalin’s orders, in the spring of 1940 together with thousands of Polish officers and intelligentsia in what became known as the .

During the German occupation of Warsaw, Janina, her mother Leonia Gutowska and her sister Wanda, hid two Jews – a seven-year-old boy and a woman smuggled out of the – in their villa at Felińskiego 6 in Żoliborz. They also sheltered one of the , elite special-ops of the Polish Army in exile, and would hide weapons and am******on for the resistance.

When the broke out on 1 August 1944, Janina, war name “Dora”, who had joined the underground resistance against N**i Germany, volunteered first as a liaison delivering orders, intelligence, and medical supplies, and later as an orderly attending to the wounded.

After the collapse of the uprising, she left Warsaw with the civilian population but kept providing medical assistance to resistance fighters evacuated from the capital. In 1946, she married Aleksander Rożecki with whom she moved back to Warsaw. They had two daughters, Ewa and Maria.

She received numerous awards and state decorations for her wartime service, and in 1988, she, her mother and sister were awarded the Righteous Among the Nations medal by Yad Vashem: World Holocaust Center, Jerusalem for risking their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.

She was determined to pass on the lessons of history to the next generations, contributing and working together with Muzeum Powstania Warszawskiego/Warsaw Uprising Museum but above all sharing her wisdom, values and wartime experiences with young people.

Many Poles living in New Zealand as well as Polish New Zealanders know Janina Rożecka's daughter Ewa Rożecka-Pollard, President of Poles Down South/Polish Heritage of Otago & Southland Charitable Trust and a valued member of the Polish community in Dunedin and beyond.

Pamiętamy. We remember 🕯️

Holocaust Centre of New Zealand Polacy światu BohaterON Stowarzyszenie Żołnierzy Armii Krajowej Żywiciel i Miłośników Ich Tradycji Nie Zapomnij O Nas, Powstańcach Warszawskich Polonijna Agencja Informacyjna