About this activity
Polka is a Central European dance that is performed to folk music and has many different varieties. In one popular version, couples spin around on the dance space until a change of direction is called. Polka is fast-paced, as the basic step consists of three smaller steps. The dancers follow the pattern of the folk music (also named polka). More advanced polka movements include jumps, kicks, and lifts. Female polka dancers typically wear long flowing dresses and males wear white ruffled shirts with colourful vests.
Origins & history
Polka originated in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic) and spread across Central Europe in the mid-19th century. It was brought to the United States by immigrants in the mid-1930s. In Canada, German and Slovenian ethnocultural communities were early practitioners of polka.
When it happens
Polka is often practised as a recreational social dance rather than a competitive dance, though competitions have occurred in the 1980s and early 1990s. Cultural centres and church groups organize periodic polka events. Polka is prominent in the annual Roncesvalles Polish Festival.
Who takes part
Polka is practised by multiple generations of Central Europeans, as families and cultural centres pass on this dance form to younger generations. In the GTA, there are also many dancers from diverse ethnocultural backgrounds.
