The Joyce Theater’s Playbill for that first performance described Mazurka as “these dances composed after a visit to Poland in 1957 as a tribute to the heroic spirit of its people.” From the beginning of Mazurka, everything was so jovial and romantic as you saw couples express their passion for each other as well as have faces with smiles painted on so bright that it seemed like such a happy performance. However as the dance went on, you could start to see the strain in the dancer’s eyes as the pores on their faces looked as if they were crying tears of sweat. In fact, the last dance before the finale of Mazurka showed unhappiness of the Polish people. A couple was dancing together and both faces mirrored sadness as they pulled away from each other and ran to opposite sides of the stage. This may have portrayed the heroic man leaving for a war and leaving his loved one behind.