The Polka! Teaching Dance Columbus State University Fall 2011

History Polka originated as a Czech peasant dance. Historic folklore has it that a peasant girl named Anna Slezak invented the steps one day for her own amusement. The word “pulka” is derived from the Czech phrase for “half-step,” which refers to the dance pattern of lightly stepping from one foot to the other.

History Continued The polka dance was first introduced to Prague ballrooms in 1835, and to Paris ballrooms in French dancers took to polka immediately, and it soon grew wildly popular. Polka eventually reached England and the United States by the late 1840s. In the twentieth century, Polish American immigrants adopted the polka as their national dance. Today, polka is one of the few dances that originated during the nineteenth century that is still popular worldwide.

The Music From accordionist Lawrence Welk to the bands seen in POLKA TIME, live music remains an integral part to any polka dance. The standard polka song has a 2/4 beat and is structured around four verses and a chorus, which is sung after each verse or after every two verses. Many polka songs are about loss, love and even food.

The Music Continued A standard polka band might include bass, trumpet, clarinet, saxophone and drums, although different varieties of Polish polkas include different combinations of instruments, such as the accordion and the concertina. The two other kinds of mainstream polka are Czech and German. Newer polka stylings such as Texas Polka and even punk polka further blend other instruments and genres with classic polkas.

The Dance Polka dancers perform in pairs or couples, either in the face-to-face waltz position or while standing side by side, with the man’s arm around the woman’s waist and her hand on his shoulder. One characteristic of dancing the polka is the half-step, or hop, that precedes the first step. Some dancers omit the hop entirely, while other simply reduce it to a quick rise and fall of the weighted foot before beginning the first step.

The Dance The basic polka step is done in four counts. Begin with standing with your weight on your right foot. Give the preliminary hop on the right foot, then step forward on your left foot. Close the right foot to the left, taking weight on the right foot, and step again on the left foot. Then hold for a beat, keeping weight on the left foot. Repeat this series of steps again, except using the opposite foot—using the left foot for the hop and the right foot as the one that steps forward, for instance.

The Dance Now you can move backwards, forwards, left and right. Polka dancers move across the floor in all directions while dancing, and not in any strict line or formation, as seen at the Gibbon Polka Fest in POLKA TIME.

Explanation The hop is a little preliminary hop, like a grace note in music. The first step is preceded by this hop. It is a question whether to call it an echo of the fourth beat or the promise of the first beat. Many people reduce the hop to a slight and quick rise and fall of the weighted foot before starting the first step. Some omit it all together. Analysis of the Man's step (Woman's part is mirror image)

Basic Step Analysis of the Man's step (Woman's part is mirror image) A.Stand with weight on R foot, dance forward with Give preliminary hop on R foot and step forward on L foot 1 Close the R foot to the L, taking weight on R foot Step again on L foot3 Hold, keeping weight on L foot41

Basic Step Continued B.Repeat all to the other side with Give preliminary hop on L foot and step forward on R foot 1 Close the L foot to R, taking weight on L foot2 Step again on R foot3 Hold, keeping weight on R foot42 Repeat A and B

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