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The Polka Before and after the Polka

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2019

Egil Bakka
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Extract

Norwegian television is broadcasting a “Good Old Days” type of program and an engaged audience of elderly people all over the country is tuning in. An informal competition is announced: What kind of dance is this couple dancing? Let's imagine we can take in answers from people all over the country: “Oh, it's the hoppvals, just as I did it in my youth!”–“Isn't it the hamburger, it's not done anymore here.”—“That's trippar, for sure.” There are different names for this dance all over the country. Then the TV host presents the correct answer: “I'm sure you all recognised this dance, it was: the polka!” (Figure 1) Hardly any elderly traditional dancer in Norway would use the present official name polka for this dance, (Bakka 1978: 102) and the point of departure for my paper is the question Why?—Why are there many popular names for this dance in Norway, different from the “official” one?

Type
Articles
Information
Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 33 , 2001 , pp. 37 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © 2001 by the International Council for Traditional Music

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References

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