Respect the Polka!

Polka music is alive and well in Northwest Ohio!

To celebrate the release of Polish Blood, a recording of Polish-American polka music from the Vitak-Elsnic collection of sheet music (https://vitak-elsnic.com/polish-blood), The Alex Meixner Band (https://alexmeixner.com/) and friends performed at Bowling Green State University on Sunday, December 9th (http://bgindependentmedia.org/polka-runs-in-the-veins-of-bgsu-guest-alex-meixner).

The event celebrated the donation of the collection to BGSU by Steve Harris, and those in attendance enjoyed a wide range of polkas and other music as interpreted by the talented and energetic Alex Meixner Band and their special guests Joe Oberaitis (https://polkajammernetwork.org/pjn-archives/joe-oberaitis/ ) and Jan Lewan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Lewan).

Recognition of the cultural significance of polka music by a major university demonstrates the historical and continuing importance of music in the creation, reinforcement, and reinterpretation of ethnic identity. Before the band played, I gave a very brief presentation on polka music that made a few key points.

It is believed that the word “polka” derives from the Czech “půlka” for “half step,” which in turn derives from “půl” for “half.” Polka is also the Polish word for a Polish woman. After my presentation on Sunday, polka legend Joe Oberaitis asked me an interesting question. “Why don’t they call it pulka?” I told him I didn’t know the answer to that, and I still don’t, but maybe someone reading this can…