Polka experts, please weigh in
October 15, 2022 1:15 AM Subscribe
I once danced a polka with my grandfather that featured a move that was very swing-dance like. It was a bit like the "Slip and Slide" in this video at 1:29, although the lady didn't flip over after sliding. I don't know if it was a traditional dance or something choreographed recently, but I'm hoping to find the music to that dance, or a video to play at his memorial service next week.
Response by poster: That's what I get for posting at an ungodly hour. The video is Swing Stunts, and the move is the Slip 'n Slide at around 1:29. It wasn't exactly like that, but this was the closest thing I could find on YouTube. In the version we saw, the Men first lifted the women up straight in front of them, then slid them between their legs like in the video, then did another straight lift. I think the women did a little hop afterwards. It was not as flashy or dramatic like in swing dancing, but still very peppy and energetic.
We saw it performed at MusikFest in Bethlehem Pennsylvania many, many years ago (four couples in traditional dress), and the next day at home my normally staid grandfather surprised everyone by showing he knew how to get down!
posted by Soliloquy at 10:33 AM on October 15, 2022
We saw it performed at MusikFest in Bethlehem Pennsylvania many, many years ago (four couples in traditional dress), and the next day at home my normally staid grandfather surprised everyone by showing he knew how to get down!
posted by Soliloquy at 10:33 AM on October 15, 2022
There’s no reason that step isn’t a Slip and Slide in polka, too. There’s probably another name for it in each language it’s danced in. Social dancers mix steps from "different" dances all the time, and your grandfather might have been young when swing or jitterbug were still in?
I’ll keep looking for energetic polka videos specifically, too.
posted by clew at 10:56 AM on October 15, 2022
I’ll keep looking for energetic polka videos specifically, too.
posted by clew at 10:56 AM on October 15, 2022
… When would your grandfather have learned to dance, and among whom? Here’s traditional polkas arranged for performance, plenty of lifts though nothing through the legs - but if you learned that at the Polish Hall and then saw the slip and slide down at the juke joint, you’d know you could probably do it.
posted by clew at 11:45 AM on October 15, 2022
posted by clew at 11:45 AM on October 15, 2022
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posted by freethefeet at 2:52 AM on October 15, 2022