polka

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polka

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

polka ballroom dance for couples in 2/4 time. Originated by Bohemian peasants about 1830 from steps of the schottische and other dances, the polka by 1835 reached the drawing rooms of Prague, from which it spread to the capitals of Europe. The modern polka is a mere remnant of a much livelier, more complicated dance based on five to ten intricate figures in which the partners tossed their feet in the air while executing turns in close embrace, toe-heel steps, and other movements. Related dances include the galop and the mazurka.

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polka

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | © The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

polka XIX. — G., F. polka — Czech, identical with the word meaning ‘Polish woman’. Cf. MAZURKA.
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polka

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | © World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

polka Lively Bohemian folk dance. It became fashionable in Paris in the 1940s, and thereafter in Europe and the Americas. It is sometimes performed as a ballroom dance.
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