Polska (dance) - Evolution

Evolution

As suggested by the name, the roots of the polska are often traced back to the influence of the Polish court throughout the northern countries during the early 17th century. (Polska also means Polish in Swedish) This view is sometimes challenged by those who see earlier evidence of the musical tradition in Nordic visor or songs, that may have become grafted onto the newer foreign influences when the court dances began to filter out into the middle class and rural communities. Here and there also, a dance or a few dance melodies in triple meter have been found that may or may not be remnants of dances that the polska could have swallowed up. Another possible explanation of the origin of the word would be the Czech "půlka" meaning "half" and referring to the split nature of the dance's rhythm.

The polska dances likely evolved from court dances such as the polonaise or the 2/4 time minuet involving larger sets of people. Some see traces of the evolution from set dances to couples dances and from double time to triple time in the minuets, still danced in some communities of Finland and Denmark. In these, the dance starts with a large set of dancers dancing a slower formal section and ends with couples or foursomes dancing a faster, more energetic polska section. In the late 1600s it was common in northern Europe that only the slower Alla breve or 4/4 section of the music was written down on paper, paper was expensive. The musicians were expected to be able to improvise a dance in 3/4 which was based on the same motivic material as the previous dance. The parts played in 3/4 were the ones evolving to the modern polska.

In the prevalent 3/4 time form, polska dances were most common in Norway, Sweden and Swedish-speaking Finland, but with versions seen in Finnish-speaking Finland and in Denmark. It is best to discuss these dances by country as their regional histories, while contemporaneous, were quite varied and the dances known today differ significantly from one country to the next.