PORINGĖS, Lithuaniain folklore ensemble
"Poringės" is a youth folklore ensemble from Vilnius. Its members began their activities in the student group "Poringė" at the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences, but since 2017, they have continued as a new gathering of young people. The similarity between the new ensemble’s name and that of the former group is no coincidence: all the members are former "Poringė" participants who contributed greatly to the ensemble’s reputation and recognition—winning the "Golden Bird" award, recording songs, and especially dances, for audio and video publications. So, the ensemble is opening a new chapter in its life, yet it doesn’t renounce its past—instead, it proudly continues it.
During its 50-year existence, "Poringės" has had about 3000 concerts and parties, both in Lithuania and abroad. Currently, Audronė Vakarinienė leads "Poringės."
Despite all the external circumstances, the main ideas and goals of Lithuaniain folklore ensemble remain the same – knowing, fostering and promoting Lithuanian folklore and traditions. The last one – promotion of folklore worldwide – is probably the one attracting the people to the group most of all, as such promotion naturally means international concert tours and festivals. Thus the heads of the group are every year head over heels in organisational matters like arrangement of travelling, negotiating with foreign folklore groups and festival organisers, hosting of visiting performers, etc. Apart from local activities, the group has performed in Germany, Bulgaria, Slovenia, France, Portugal, Denmark, Holand, Italy, Hungary, Sweden, Turkey, Macedonia, Swiss, Poland, Belgium, Romania, Serbia, Russia, Estonia, Ukraina and Latvia.
In programs of folklore ensamble "Poringės" you will find the whole range of Lithuanian folk musik: from old rituals, authentic sheperd’s instruments, songs and dances, dating to the 16-19th century, to international (clasical as well) instruments, musik an dances that became increasingly more common in the villages of Lithuania by the beginning of the 20th century. During concert you might hear a unique polyphonic sutartine (round) performed on wooden horns, horns or pan pipes.
The performers of ensemble not only sing, dance, but also often draw their audience into the whirlwind of their performance. Musicians of Lithuaniain folklore ensemble are often invited to play at “folk” style restaurants, community celebrations, anniversary events, parties at enterprises, weddings or baptismal parties. Wherever we play, we always do our best to entertain the audience, to make people move, and to touch the heart with melodies that are recognised and close to the heart therefore dear to every Lithuanian. International visitors who participate at our events often remain in surprise and admiration seeing all the celebration participants join the group’s musicians, singers and dancers and that every Lithuanian person is still able of beautiful singing, dancing and entertaining.