About us

Żywiec (originally known as Millennium Polish Dance Group) was founded in 1965 by Kś Kazio Grzymała with Pani Irena Różycka as choreographer as a sub-section of the Polish Millennium Youth Club in Ealing. In 1976 Andrzej Sagajllo took over as choreographer and led the group for over 30 years until he handed over the creative direction to his daughter Klara Sagajllo in 2006. From 2008 the group has been under direction of Dara Stringham and Iwona Ogórek.

Regular Events

Concerts include the Festival of Polish Folklore held across different cities throughout the UK every 3 years, the local Ealing and Hanwell Carnival and our parish harvest festivals (Dożynki). We also frequently perform at wedding receptions and corporate events.

Rehearsals

Our weekly rehearsals are lively and fun. We start with a 15min warm-up followed by an hour-and-a-half of choreography work under the skilful eye of our Artistic Director, Dara Stringham. To finish, we spend about 30min improving our singing and learning new songs led by Iwona Ogórek.

ZywLife

Having fun is a major part of ZywLife! We love spending time together away from rehearsals and frequently meet at bowling alleys, skating rinks and back gardens for BBQs! All members of Żywiec are involved in putting on public events such as Dozynki (our annual harvest festival). Żywiec is very much a team effort and while we certainly work hard, we most definitely party harder!