Polka

Street musicians in Prague playing a polka

The polka is a fast, lively Central European dance, and also a genre of dance music, familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia, and is still a common genre in Czech and Slovakian folk music. Polka is still a very common folkmusic genre in Poland. In light classical music, many polkas were composed by both Johann Strauss I and his son Johann Strauss II; a couple of well-known ones were composed by Bedřich Smetana, and Jaromír Vejvoda was the author of "Škoda lásky" ("Roll Out the Barrel").

The name comes from the Czech word půlka – literally, "little half" – a reference to the short half-steps featuring in the dance; however the word's familiar form has been influenced by the similarity to the Czech word polka, meaning "Polish woman". The name has led to the dance's origin being sometimes mistakenly attributed to Poland. It should also not be confused with the polska, a Swedish dance with Polish roots; cf. polka-mazurka. A related dance is the redowa. Polkas have a time signature.

The dance and the music

Typical 19th century polka rhythm

The polka is a lively dance, of Bohemian origin, danced by couples, usually in a large circle moving clockwise. The couples rotate as they travel around the circumference of the circle. The music for the polka is in moderately fast 2/4 time. The music is regular, with four or eight bar phrases, and the dance follows, moving constantly without pauses.

The movement of the feet mimic a rhythm of two sixteenth notes followed by an eighth note that was popular in nineteenth century polkas. The name polka is believed to be derived from pulka, the Bohemian term for 'half-step', a term that was applied due to the rapid shifts of weight from one foot to the other in the fast-paced dance.

In a standard polka, on each beat, the dancers execute three steps with alternating feet: [1] right left right -hop-; [2] left-right left -hop-, one foot chasing the other as the dancers move around the ring; with added turns, jumps, kicks and other movements.

Foot pattern for 2 measures of a Regular Polka

A variation found in the Masovia region of eastern Poland is called the Polka trzesiona, there the feet follow the same rhythmic sequence, but the feet move more vertically, rather than advancing around the floor, such that the dancers are jumping in place more so than moving forward.

A further variation is the polka tramblanka, where each pair of triple steps is followed by a pair of hops on each leg, which yields the following step pattern: [1] right left right -hop- [2] left right [2] left -hop- [1] right ------- right -------- [2] left ------- left --------

Foot pattern for 2 measures of a polka tramblanka

Origins of the polka

It is often believed that the polka originated in Poland; however, it first appeared Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. First appearing in the early 1830s, as a peasant dance, the polka was livelier than the dances that preceded it, such as the gavotte, minuet, polonaise, and waltz. After being introduced into the elite ballrooms of Prague in 1935, it became popular among both the elite and the common people. By 1940, the polka had been introduced to Paris, where it quickly became popular in the many salons and ballrooms, becoming popular even with some who had previously been uninterested in dancing. As the polka gained popularity, prominent musicians of the time, even the famous Strausses, who were well known for their waltzes, began to compose polkas. Sometimes the polka steps were danced to the music of the mazurka, a folk dance of Polish origin in 3/4 time that had also gained popularity as a ballroom dance in the 19th century.

In 1861 in Minnesota the first Stiftungfest was held and ever since Minnesota has had it's own style of Polka music. Polka did not become the Polish "national dance" until Polish immigrants to the United States adopted it in the early 40's, and became even more popular when Lawrence Welk and other post-war bands began to play the fast music— over 80 years after the polka had been introduced to the United States by a non-polish group!

Migration to the United States

The polka travelled to the United States along with the many European immigrants who arrived in the new world during the mid 1800s. Other Bohemian dances, such as the trasak, skosna, and reidovak were also popular at first, but over time the polka emerged as the popular favorite in the U.S. Until the polka arrived the most popular dances in the United States had been the contra dances of British and French origin, reflecting the homelands of the earlier settlers. Many of these were line dances performed by two rows of dancers facing each other, while the Cotillion, a French contra dance was performed by a square of four couples.

The new Polish, German, Czech-Bohemian, Slovenian, Norwegian, Finnish and Spanish immigrants brought the polka with them in various forms from their home countries, and as these groups migrated and mixed across the United States as the midwest was settled, the versions mixed and new styles evolved, associated with different regions of the United States. As time went by, Chicago and Cleveland emerged as the as American polka capitals. When European immigrants traveled to South America during the same period, the polka accompanied them as well, where it again developed new distinctive styles.

In later decades, after the western states were settled, and theaters were built, the polka found its way into the repertory of the popular vaudeville shows that dominated the theater fare in the late 1800s. Often the last part of the performance was a polka or other popular ethnic dance, and by the early 1900s, entire evenings of polkas began to appear in theaters and dance halls. Over the years, the polka has faced various kinds of competition, from the Charleston, the Jitterbug and other new dance trends, but it has survived them all, and is still a popular social dances in the United States, performed often at weddings in addition to dance halls, county fairs, and other gatherings.

Each group or community that heard this "new" brand of music added their own spin, or instrumentation to it. The Czech sedska was mixed with the German landler, the Polish oberek, and the Hungarian czardas dance tunes..."and the new commercialized hybrids of the polka reflected the ethnic pluralism of the recently arrived Americans"

Not only that, but Welk's parents were Germans from Russia (like my mom - the Volga Deutsche), and Myron Floren who was the accordion player on Welk's show, and who was always featured when Welk's band played polkas and released several polka LPs himself, was of Norwegian descent. Also, the most popular polka artist in the United States during the 20th century was undoubtedly Frankie Yankovic, whose parents were from Slovenia (a part of the former Yugoslavia).  Besides Yankovic, some other very popular non-Polish polka artists of the 20th century include Whoopie John Wilfahrt and Six Fat Dutchmen (German-style), Romy Gosz (Czech-style), just to name a few. 

The polka in the classical repertoire

When it was at its heyday in the mid 1800s, the polka round its way into the pages of classical music history. Bedřich Smetana incorporated the polka in his opera The Bartered Bride (Template:Lang-cz) particularly in Act 1.

While the polka is Bohemian in origin, most dance music composers in Vienna (the capital of the vast Habsburg Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was the cultural centre for music from all over the empire) composed polkas and included the dance in their repertoire at some point of their career. The Strauss family in Vienna for example, while probably better-known for their waltzes also composed polkas which have survived obscurity. Josef Lanner and other Viennese composers in the 19th century also wrote many polkas to satiate the demands of the dance music-loving Viennese. In France, another dance-music composer Emile Waldteufel also wrote many polkas in addition to his chief profession of penning waltzes.

The polka evolved during the same period into different styles and tempi. In principle, the polka written in the 19th century has a 4-theme structure; themes 1A and 1B as well as a 'Trio' section of a further 2 themes. The 'Trio' usually has an 'Intrada' to form a break between the two sections. The feminine and graceful 'French polka' (polka française) is slower in tempo and is more measured in its gaiety. Johann Strauss II's Annen Polka op. 114, Demolirer polka op. 269, the Im Krapfenwald'l op. 336 and the Bitte schön! polka op. 372 are examples of this type of polka. The polka-mazurka is also another variation of the polka, being in the tempo of a mazurka but danced in a similar manner as the polka. The final category of the polka dating around that time would be the 'polka schnell' which is a fast polka or galop. It is in this final category Eduard Strauss is better known, as he penned the 'Bahn Frei' polka op. 45 and other examples. Earlier, Johann Strauss I and Josef Lanner wrote polkas which are either designated as a galop (quick tempo) or as a regular polka which may not fall into any of the categories described above.

The polka was also a further source of inspiration for the Strauss family in Vienna when it was written only for plucked string instruments (pizzicato) resulting in the well-known 'Pizzicato Polka' jointly written by Johann II and Josef Strauss. Johann II also wrote a later 'New Pizzicato Polka' (Neu Pizzicato-Polka) op. 449 culled from music of his operetta 'Fürstin Ninetta'. Much earlier, he also wrote a 'joke-polka' (German "scherz-polka") entitled 'Champagne-Polka' op. 211 which evokes the uncorking of champagne bottles.

Instrumentation

Although the ballrooms of European high society, where the polkas of the Richard Strausses and others were popular, had at their disposal a full range of classical musicians to perform the compositions, the peasants throughout Europe and the settlers in the young United States had to rely on much smaller musical ensembles to provide the accompaniment for their dances. Early polkas in Eastern Bohemia were played on the violin, an instrument that remains popular today in folk dance ensembles.

But it was the accordion, which emerged in Germany during the 1820s and 1830s, and the smaller concertina, developed in England and Germany about a decade later that became the backbone of many peasant and immigrant dance bands. Utilizing a melodic keyboard for the right hand and chord buttons for the left hand, a long musician could play melodies in his right hand, and simultaneously provide a rhythmic accompaniment of chords with his left. Later, the piano accordion was developed, with a keyboard for the right hand resembling the center octaves of a piano keyboard. This allowed the accordion player an even fuller range of choices, including simultaneous melodies and harmonies in the right hand. Various styles of musical ensembles evolved around the concertina and accordion. These often had eight to twelve musicians, including one or two accordions / concertinas, bass, percussion, fiddles, and a combination of wind instruments, primarily clarinet, saxophone and trumpet, and sometimes singers.

Contemporary American styles

Slovenian-style polka is one of the most prevelant American styles of polka, developed from Slovenian musical traditions, and usually associated with Cleveland and other Midwestern cities. It is a fast style, and is also known as "Cleveland Style" or, more rarely, "Croatian Style". The Slovenian style polka in the United States of America came about when immigrants from Slovenia taught the old songs to their children. Those children, as adults, translated the old songs from the Slovene language into English, and arranged them in a polka beat.

A Slovenian style polka band always includes a piano accordion and a Diatonic button accordion, also called a "button box". There is often a electric guitar, banjo, saxophone, or clarinet, as well as a bass guitar and drum set for rhythm. At first Slovenian style polka was just music for ethnic clubs and union halls, but the commercial success of Frankie Yankovic and other musicians soon introduced the genre to a wider audience. Dr. William Lausche incorporated the elements of classical music and early jazz at which point the style took on a type of swing that can be heard in his piano playing, even on some early Yankovic recordings. Johnny Pecon and Lou Trebar consequently extended the style to its furthest reaches harmonically, to the point of even including blue notes, substitutions, borrowed and altered chords homophonically or in the implied or broken form.

In addition to Frankie Yankovic, notable musicians in this style include Walter Ostanek, Joe Grkman, Dick Tady, Johnny Pecon, Eddie Habat, Stan Blout, Kenny Bass, Bob Timko, Lou Trebar, Dr. William Lausche, Eddie Platt, Lou Sadar, Paul Yanchar, Adolph Srnick, Johnny Kafer, Joe Luzar, Dick Flaisman, Bruce Burger, Marty Sintic, Matt Hoyer, Mary Udovich and Josephine Lausche, and many others.

There are also various other styles of contemporary U.S. polka bands. The North American Polish-style polka has roots in Chicago, and can be classified into two styles: 'Chicago honky', using clarinet and one trumpet, and 'Chicago push' featuring accordion, Chemnitzer concertina, bass, drums, and (almost always) two trumpets. North American Dutchman-style (actually not Dutch, but a derivative of Deutsch, or German) features an oom-pah sound, often with a tuba, and has roots in the American Midwest. Conjunto-style has roots in Northern Mexico and Texas, and is also called "Norteño". In the 1980s and 1990s several bands began to combine polka with various rock styles, sometimes referred to as punk polka, alternative polka or San Francisco-style. Mexican bands in the Rio Grande Valley feature button-box accordian, guitar, bass and drums. Often the guitar is a 'bajo-sexto', a lower-pitched 12 string guitar. Duranguense polka from Durango, another Mexican type of music, uses electric guitars, violins, drums, saxophones, trombones, keyboards, trumpets and a tuba-keyboard or a bass guitar, it is in a rapid beat.

There are many Irish bands in the U.S., and they play polkas in a distinct Irish flavor, featuring fiddle, acoustic bass and concertina. Another style of polka found in Arizona, played by Native Americans bands and often called 'Chicken Scratch Music uses two saxophones as the primary instruments.

Polka in South America

Wherever German and other European immigrants went, the polka went with them, from Mexico all the way to Uraguay. Flourishing in the mid 1800s, South American polkas underwent their own unique permutations, and can still be found today in many areas.

In the pampas of Argentina, the Peruvian "polca" has a very very fast beat, with a 3/4 compass. Instruments used: acoustic guitar (usually six strings, but sometimes seven strings), electric or acoustic bass (sometimes fretless), accordion (sometimes piano accordion, sometimes button accordion), and sometimes some percussion is used. The lyrics always praise the gaucho warriors from the past or tell about the life of the gaucho campeiros (provincial gauchos who keep the common way).

'Paraguayan polka, which has developed as Paraguay's national dance, Danza Paraguaya, is very different from the traditional polka, mainly because the Paraguayan version combines ternary and binary rhythms, where as the European only uses binary. The juxtaposition of the mentioned rhythms gives the peculiar sound that characterizes this style. There are several variants of the Paraguayan polka such as polca syryry, polca kyre'y, polca popo, polca saraki, polca galopa, polca jekutu. All of them are slightly different because of the different influences and styles adopted by the composers in the early years of the Paraguayan polka.

Other varieties of the polka can be found in the folk dance and music of Argentina, where it has been influenced by Ukrainian and African elements in addition to its European roots, and in the Bahamas, where the Heel and Toe Polka has developed into one of the five official folk dances of the island, along with the Quadrille, Conch Style, Calypso Waltz, and the Sculling Dance.

Venezuelan Polka Article

The venezuelan polka is a hall dance that has its origin in Europe at the beginning of the XIX century and arrives to Venezuela in the middle of that century.

Polka has not been recognized like a venezuelan sort, but many composers have loaded it with venezuelan characteristics. The bands that consolidated the polka at the end of the XIX century occupied to integrate in their repertoire these compositions, guaranteeing the life of the polka in the country.

For the time that arrived the polka to Venezuela, the hall dances constituted the most important entertainments for the ladies of the high society, which was organized by musical turns that were made up generally of waltzes, polka, danzas and other pieces like mazurca, were executed with a rhythmical character different from the european dances. In these hall dances although occur at the time that the social structure of the colony was conserved, attenuated the differences between targets, creole people and afro-venezuelan people. These last ones accompanied the ladies to the dance, observed their steps and later practicing them. This attitude has been one of the reasons of the incorporation of polka and other sorts to the popular tradition.

Popular polka

The popular polka is cultivated fundamentally in center the west and the Andes, becoming it present in the instrumental ambient of popular dances and many traditional celebrations throughout Venezuela. In Lara, in the popular dances, is interpreted with violins, cuatros, guitars and tambora, alternating itself with waltzes, merengues and joropo. In the Barinas state polka is the musical expression that accompanies the devils of Corpus Christi, that in June 24 and July 5 dance around a tape wood of which they tile and they unravel. In the Sucre state polka animates the Diversion oriental that treats about social problems or of well-known health problems like the Mosquito patas blancas.

In the states Trujillo and Táchira, polka remains as form of dance in the Pato Bombeao and the dance of the dwarves and the doll of the Calenda of the Trujillo state, the personages dance one polka that is interpreted by violins, mandolin, Tambourine, maracas, cuatro and tambora. And in the states Apure and Bolívar a dance that is known as the Paloteo is animated with the interpretation of the polka.

Polka in contemporary Europe

The polka, while not as popular as it is in the Americas, still persists in Europe today, included in the repertory of small instrumental ensembles, especially in former Eastern European countries, and among the Jewish Klezmer folk music ensembles, who play a wide variety of dance music for Jewish weddings and other occasions throughout Israel and Europe, as well as in the United States.

Polish trio Kroke have been one of the most successful European klezmer groups in recent years. The Klezmorim, founded by Lev Liberman and David Skuse in Berkeley, California, in 1975, The Klezmorim started the worldwide Klezmer revival.

 Die Schlauberger german   Apparatschik Russia  Figli di Madre Ignota italy milano

 Scandinavian dance music    Jonita Aadland, the daughter of Norwegian immigran to us

 The Best of German Music - Drinking Songs, Marches, and Polkas of Germany Disc 4

by Various Artists Label: Legacy International Genre: Salsa Release: 2006

 The Bohemian "polka" came to Finland twenty years later (than 1840) and immediately grew extremely popular, it replaced older steps in many earlier set dances, and hordes of small new polka variations were born. As most of the collecting of Finnish folk dances coincided with this period, a quarter of Finnish folk dances contain polka steps.

sweden aned norway folk dance polka

 Beyond the Pale, a Klezmer band from Toronto. To my ears it sounds like polka, jazz, and bluegrass-that is Klezmer at its heart. Add to that some modern North American culture embodied by the instrumentalists and it all comes together quite nicely.

Igor Stravinsky - Circus Polka arr. by James Smith, for 4 guitars
 There are LPs with polkas from nearly every European country (I have many of these). including Irish, Scot, Norwegian, Swedish, French, Ukrainian, and of course Polish, German, Czech, Slovak, and Slovenian.

 Oberkrainer     In the 1950s, Slovenian Slavko Avsenik and his brother Vilko formed the Avsenik Ensamble, a band that would have a profound influence on the music of Slovenia, Germany and Austria for decades to come. The band's style was nicknamed "Oberkrainer" (perhaps a play on "Kraine," the German name for the Kranjska region of Slovenia). The music is rooted in Slovenian folk music traditions and has a German "oom-pah" sound. In time, the Avseniks' hundreds of original compositions became a central element in the Slovenian-American ("Cleveland style") polka repertoire.

 Polkas appear in the repertoire of folk ensembles of the whole Poland, including even the Podhale area of the Tatra Mountains (see zbójnicki and góralski  for information about this region) from which other national dances of Poland were absent. (The current repertoire of Podhale music consists almost entirely of melodies in duple meter; perhaps the meter of the polka allowed for its preservation in this repertoire). In any case, it would be very hard to find a polka performed in the gorale costume from the Tatra mountains by any of the Polish folk dance groups in the U.s.   There are numerous varieties of the polka  in the folklore of the Rzeszów area in south-eastern Poland. Regional costumes from this area would be appropriate for the performance of these polkas (often included in dance suites from the area). Polkas are also performed in costumes from the various areas in the Mazowsze region.
 Joe Grkman Sr. has been publicly performing for more than half a century.  His performances have taken him to major dance halls, picnics and festivals throughout the USA and Slovenia.  in 1974 Joe

had his first opportunity to visit his family’s homeland when the band toured Europe with Kollander Travel and DJ Bill Seles

Organizations in the United States of America

The International Polka Association based in Chicago, USA works to preserve the cultural heritage of polka music and to honor its musicians through the Polka Hall of Fame.

The United States Polka Association based in Cleveland, Ohio serves to promote polka music and honor musicians. This organization is similar to the IPA.

The newest polka organization in the USA is Polka America Corporation based out of Ringle, Wisconsin. This newest organization promotes all genres and dedicates itself to supporting all levels in the polka field.

Grammy Awards were first presented for polka in 1985. The first award went to America's Polka King, Frank Yankovic, for his "70 Years of Hits" album on Cleveland International Records, produced by Joey Miskulin and Dragutin Razum in 1986. Cleveland International Records had another Polka Grammy winner with Brave Combo's Polkasonic in 1999. Other Polka Grammy nominees on Cleveland International Records include Frank Yankovic's "America's Favorites" (1986), "Songs of the Polka King Vol. I" (Produced by Joey Miskulin and Slavko Slivovitz, 1996), "Songs of the Polka King Vol. II" (1997), and Brave Combo's "Kick Ass Polkas" (2000).

Polka Varieties was an hour-long television program of polka music originating from Cleveland, Ohio. It was the only television program for this type of music in the US. From 1956 to 1975, Polka Varieties ran solely in WEWS-TV, Cleveland, on Sunday afternoons from 1:00 to 2:00, and was syndicated during its later years to 30 television markets. The program featured various popular Polish, Slovenian, Italian, and Bohemian-style bands. America's "Polka King" Frank Yankovic was the original band to perform on the show. Other bands included Richie Vadnal, George Staiduhar, Markic-Zagger, and Hank Haller. Original host Tom Fletcher was replaced by Paul Wilcox, whose presence became an indelible part of the show.[1]

Samples

• Download a recording of "Jenny Lind", a polka from the Library of Congress' California Gold: Northern California Folk Music from the Thirties Collection; performed by John Selleck (violin) on October 2, 1939 in Camino, California
• Listen to Sing Me Back Home by Joe Stanky & the Cadets of Nanticoke, Pennsylvania.
• Doctor N. Gin has a polka theme in Crash of the Titans; it is presumed that N. Gin has a Austrian ancestry.

List of polka artists, past and present

• Eläkeläiset
• Slavko Avsenik
• Eddie Blazonczyk, The Versatones
• Jeff Pecon, Don Wojtila, Eddie Rodick, Bob Kravos, and Eric Noltkamper, bandleaders and standard-bearers of present-day Cleveland-style polka music
• Johnny Pecon
• Lou Trebar
• Johnny Vadnal
• Eddie Habat
• Kenny Bass
• Bob Timko
• Joe Fedorchak, popular Cleveland-style bandleader and disc jockey from Youngstown, OH
• Dick Tady, Jack Tady, Fred Gregorich, and Sam Pugliano, renowned Cleveland-style musicians and bandleaders from western PA
• Frankie Spetich
• Frankie Kramer
• Stan Blout
• Brave Combo, alternative, two-time Grammy Award winner
• Tom Brusky, award-winning Cleveland-style band from Milwaukee, WI
• Finntroll (Note: This is not a standard polka band. On their Trollhammaren EP they combined elements of both Polka and heavy metal, to create a Folk-Metal-Polka sounding album.)
• Myron Floren
• FreezeDried
• Walt Groller
• Haunted Cologne
• Walter Jagiello - Li'l Wally
• Marion Lush
• The Knewz
• Global Kryner, Austrian band/pop/jazz/polka
• Harold Loeffelmacher, Dutchman/Oompah
• Loituma
• The Mad Maggies (Ska Polka) (California)
• Walter Ostanek, Canada, three-time Grammy Award winner, Slovenian-Canadian
• Polkacide, San Francisco punk-polka band
• POLKAHOLIX (Berlin Speed Polka) (Germany)
• The Mike Schneider Polka Band, Slovenian-style polka band from Milwaukee, WI
• Jimmy Sturr, United States, fifteen Grammy Awards
• Lawrence Welk
• "Weird Al" Yankovic (A majority of his studio albums include a polka medley of current popular music)
• Frankie Yankovic, Slovenian-American
• Bobby Jones, Bobby Jones Czech Band
• Mojo Nixon In the company of Skip Roper
• Ramón Ayala y Sus Bravos Del Norte
• Los Cadetes de Linares
• Tony de la Rosa
• Carlos y José
• Los Dos Gilbertos
• Mingo Saldívar

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Atlas de Tradiciones de Venezuela, Fundación Bigott, 1998.

External links

• National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame
• Cleveland Style Polka Hall of Fame
• International Polka Association
• International Polka Association and Hall of Fame
• Polka as a traditional dance from the County of Nice, France
• Polka America Corporation
• Video Of Present Day Polka Dancers via the website Polka Videos
• Wisconsin Polka Music

External links

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