Polka anyone?

[SwinginBoo]

Yes I did ask. Does anyone like to Polka? I think it's a lot of fun. I don't know much besides the basic pattern. But it is a blast when you really get going. I guess if I had to rate it, I'd say I'd like to polka maybe 1 in every 50 dances. Anyone else?

[pygmalion]

Polka is way fun. I just can't find anyone to dance it with. Most people use polkas as the dance where they go to the restroom, or get a drink of water. :? What can you do?

[will35]

I like the Paraguayan Polca. The dance is similar, but the music is very different. My musician friends tell me it has elements of ternery and binary rythms. Imagine mixing waltz and foxtrot rythms in the same song, in the same measure. I think it would be written in 6/8 or 9/8 like the gondola songs. Even within that structure, it is highly syncopated and jumpy. On top of all that, the lyrics are sometimes extremely sad. It normally has a harp, accordion, guitars and a duo of singers. When it is done right, it is the best music I know of. I love to dance to it. If you were to play it at a ballroom, the people would not be sitting or going to the bathroom. They would either dance or run away altogether. Everyone I know either loves it or hates it.

[pygmalion]

I can't believe that, will. I was listening to a song like that on the radio yesterday. It was written in threes, followed by twos, just as you describe. And I was wondering what, if anything, you could dance to it. Small world. :D

[will35]

The dance is like a flying, jumping triple step to one side, then the other. It gets the blood pumping. It's fantastic. The chamame is basically the same dance with a hold around the hips. A little calmer, like rocking a baby to sleep. They are both simple dances, but they never catch me sitting down. I sometimes sit out a lot of tangos and swing or whatever, but I NEVER can sit through several polcas or chamame. I like Alma Guarani, Mercedita, Kilometro Once. Wow, what music. If you think swing or ragtime are synchopated, give the chamame a listen. It makes your shoulders shake around.

[Vince A]

Yes I did ask. Does anyone like to Polka? I think it's a lot of fun. I don't know much besides the basic pattern. But it is a blast when you really get going. I guess if I had to rate it, I'd say I'd like to polka maybe 1 in every 50 dances. Anyone else?
I have to do it in competition (when I do compete). Although a fun dance, it robs me of all my energy early, and by the time I get to the ECS and WCS, I beat!

I did it as a kid - yu know the old Italian Polka music and dance, and now it's called the Triple Step. Very fast, skipping backwards . . . yea, my kinda dance. NOT!

For fun, I like to Polka maybe 1 in 500 dances! J/K . . . I enjoy it now and then . . .

[pygmalion]

Hey Vince! Be a good sport. :lol: You know it's a fun dance. But you're right. It is exhausting. I can't imagine competing in it. I like to be able to take a break whenevr I want, and get a glass of water. But still, it's fun.

[Spitfire]

Polka doesn't seem to be big around here and few are ever played at the dances.

Maybe with one exception and that being the C&W cowboy shuffle which is also known as the Jessica Polka. This is only done at the C&W night spots if at all anymore since I don't generally go to these places and haven't in quite a long time.

[SDsalsaguy]

Not to rain on anyone's polka parade but the only time I've found any sense in this dance is during German beer festivals... post sufficient quantities of good German beer! :cheers:

[SwinginBoo]

THat could be quite dangerous I imagine.

[Vince A]

Not to rain on anyone's polka parade but the only time I've found any sense in this dance is during German beer festivals... post sufficient quantities of good German beer! :cheers:
Isn't the polka a German, or maybe an Italian "Swing" dance???

[SwinginBoo]

I'm pretty sure it's German.

[SDsalsaguy]

Yes, it's German...hence the requirement of sufficient quantities of German beer… :cheers:

[Spitfire]

I heard the the Polka is actually Bohemian in orgin, but it's only what I've heard.

[will35]

Believe Polka was invented by one little poor Polish girl in Germany I think. They saw her jumping around in the street, asked her what dance it was. She said, "Polka." Maybe means "jump" in Polish like Volta means turn or jump in Ital.? Maybe somebody should google this apocryphal anecdote of mine?

[will35]

Sorry. Me wrong. Read this.
http://www.centralhome.com/ballroomcountry/polka.htm

[will35]

Did you read that? More popular than even I knew. There is even a Brazilian Choro-Polka, if I recall correctly. Danced Polka in Iowa once or twice. Fun. Remember Mazurka scene from War and Peace. Rostov. Very funny.

[SDsalsaguy]

Ok, I hereby concede that sufficient quantities of Czech beer suffice as well... :wink:

[will35]

The original style of Pilsner beer is from Chzekoslovakia. Hence the brand name, Pilsner Urquell. Urquell meaning "original". All this watery American beer in the Pilsner style is just a very, very, very, very cheap, tasteless imitation. They still make the original Budweiser in Chzeck Rep. It comes in different bottles. Some Americans go there, mistake it for American Bud. Imagine their disappointment when they taste real beer instead of Am. Bud.

[Spitfire]

The original style of Pilsner beer is from Chzekoslovakia. Hence the brand name, Pilsner Urquell. Urquell meaning "original". All this watery American beer in the Pilsner style is just a very, very, very, very cheap, tasteless imitation. They still make the original Budweiser in Chzeck Rep. It comes in different bottles. Some Americans go there, mistake it for American Bud. Imagine their disappointment when they taste real beer instead of Am. Bud.

I believe it takes the name from a town in the Czech Republic known as Pilsen which is the German name and Plzen in Czech.

[SDsalsaguy]

Budwar (sp?) -- the Czeck version -- is really good beer!

Aside from the differences in taste though, what most American tourists overlook is the strength of many European beers. If I recall corectly the Budwar over there is something like 12% alcohol vs. the usual American content of 4% or less!

It's funny how only 2 steins adds up at that content level... :lol:

[will35]

To complicate things, I read recently that the Budweiser you buy in Czech Rep now may actually be American Budweiser, either imported or brewed there, I forget which. The alcohol content Europeans call body. There is sometimes confusion between our term, "Heavy" which means calories and European "Heavy" which means full of body (alcohol). There are many, many beers that imitate the Pilsener style. I see we have some beer aficionados on the list. Well, we'll just have to go dance the polka somewhere and have a pint or two together someday. I used to have my own little Pilsener recipe. Certainly not "Urquell", but hopefully original in the other sense.

[will35]

Took about 15 seconds to search the engines for this one. Nice photos.
http://www.zcu.cz/plzen/