Everybody Polka!

Associated Press:

MILWAUKEE - Three nights a week at Art's Concertina Bar you can step back to a time when couples went out to dance the polka and listen to the sounds of a concertina.

But now owner Art Altenburg wants to sell his polka bar — which is the last in Milwaukee and bills itself as "The Only Concertina Bar in the U.S.A." — and he doesn't know if the new owners will keep it as a polka haven.

"That would be fantastic if it could be kept up that way, but I have no idea what is going to happen if I leave," said Altenburg, who tells everyone he's 81, but won't reveal his real age.

Like the tavern, polka itself is at a crossroads.

A fragmented effort is under way in the polka community to make sure it doesn't die — through festivals, use of more modern instruments such as electric guitars and teaching the dance in elementary schools. Enthusiasts say their efforts are working with younger people, particularly on the East Coast, Midwest and in Texas.

"I believe polkas are going to keep growing, mainly because I think the younger people are very, very tired of the ... bar scene with the rap music and the loud rock music," said Barbara Haselow, president of United States Polka Association in Cleveland, Ohio.

Polka started from Bohemian folk music in the 1850s and soon spread around Europe, said Cecilia Dolgan, president of the National Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame in Euclid, Ohio. Countries including Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia and Germany then put their own touch on the music and dance.

Immigrants brought it to the United States, where its heyday was in the 1940s to 1960s. Frankie Yankovic, who died in 1998 but is considered the polka king, popularized the genre with songs such as "Just Because" and "Blue Skirt Waltz." But as immigrants and their children aged, they didn't introduce it to their kids, said Ray Zalokar, director 247Polkaheaven.com, the world's first 24-hour polka Web site.

"The heritage gets washed out with each generation," he said.

Ken Irwin, one of the owners of Rounder Records, which has two polka artists, said polka devotees need a central source to promote and educate people on their music.

Irwin said the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou" changed people's attitudes about bluegrass. Polka needs something similar that shows the music and culture in a positive light, he said.

"I think it is really infectious music," he said. "There is a great amount of talent out there. People, when exposed to it, seem to really enjoy it."

At Art's, 70 concertinas — some date to the 1800s — are scattered around the room. Three dozen line the wall behind the long bar along with concertina-themed gifts he's received, including a winged-bear playing a concertina. Framed newspaper articles about the bar and photos of its performers adorn the walls.

Altenburg regularly pulls out a concertina — a small hexagonal accordion with buttons for keys — to demonstrate for visitors. On one recent Saturday night, he was playing with a tubist and drummer.

Chris Lohman, 31, and his wife Leanne, 35, were among the mostly older dancers who took to the asphalt-tile dance floor between the bar and a row of small tables. "I love it because it's really a thing from the past," said Chris Lohman.

Haselow, of the polka association, said attendance at their annual convention has doubled over the last 10 years. They get 800 to 1,000 polka dancers.

The association represents the Polish style polka and has about 1,000 members, which has also doubled over the last decade with more young people getting interested, she said. Polish style, one of the more popular kinds along with Slovenian or Cleveland style, is a lively hop-step-step-step dance.

"I think we are pulling them in because it's a nice atmosphere," Haselow said. "It's a fun atmosphere."

Zalokar said the majority of his listeners to 247Polkaheaven.com are older than 50, but more young people are listening, especially to the newer music, called Extreme Push.

Over the last decade, some polka bands have incorporated rock 'n' roll and country, and brought in guitars and keyboards. He said there is also more singing, especially by women.

Fifteen-time Grammy winner Jimmy Sturr is also modernizing his music. His two most recent CDs — "Rock N Polka" and "Shake Rattle and" Polka — feature rock 'n' roll songs made into polkas.

He's also involved in Polkapalooza, which has toured the country for nine years.

Organizer Gus Kosior said some areas of the country have stronger interest than others in the festival, such as the Midwest, Texas and East Coast, but overall the crowds have increased over the last three to four years.

Kosior, vice president of United Polka Artists Inc., based in Florida, N.Y., believes that polka is "one hit song" away from being in the mainstream.

"People are starting to take notice but it's taking some time so to speak," he said.

In Wisconsin, where polka is the official state dance, the Wisconsin Polka Boosters Inc. teaches the polka in elementary schools. In October, they tried to set a world record at Cottage Grove Elementary School near Madison when they taught 402 students how to polka.

Club president John Pinter doesn't know yet if the attempt was successful.

"The only way to get it going is to get the people to dance," Pinter said. "My generation, we were so busy having fun doing the polka all over the place we didn't teach our kids to polka dance."

Altenburg said he's afraid that if the new owners of his 25-year-old bar don't keep it as is, it will hurt the polka scene in Milwaukee. Until then, he and his concertinas will continue to greet polka lovers from all over the world.

"Polka is happiness," he said.


The late Adolf Hofner, undisputed king of polka, was from Moulton. (Thanks to Leigh Bowery)