Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ally an unwritten house minimum. You'll find polka at Brewers games, polka in the
Capitol building, even polka Masses in churches. In Wisconsin, polka is king.
They aren't all the same. The Swiss did the polka step on the first beat of a bar,
whiletheAustriansdiditonthelasthalfbeat.TheDutchusedabackwardswingand
omitted the hop, replacing it with only a slight rise or roll of the body. The Poles'
polkasteppedinmeasuresoffour,withthepolkaleadfooteverysecondstep.Czechs
did it without a hop. Finns used a 4/4 rhythm and an abrupt heel step and added
bits from their own baleful tango. Generally, polka couples turn right continuously
without reversing and always move to the right.
The snobbish European elite considered it a madness of the lowest base order,
but we dug it from the get-go. Eastern and Central Europeans also gravitated to the
South,wherepredominantlyAfricanAmericanstepswereincorporated.Alargepop-
ulation of Europeans took their music to Texas and melded border flavors into the
musiccalled
conjunto.
Today,somecountry-westerntwo-stepsarebeingtradedback
and forth between country and polka camps.
And in Wisconsin, all forms have melded into one eclectic, happy dance. Wis-
consin polka mainly originates from the Polish mazurka and the Dutch, Swiss, and
Czech polkas. The best way to experience it is at one of the state's many polka fest-
ivals, including the annual Wisconsin Polkafest in mid-May in diminutive Concord.
Check out
wisconsinpolkamusic.com
for a great introduction.