Polka Sa Nayon (POHL-kah Sah NAH-yohn) means Polka in the Village. The p o l k a , considered as the national dance of Bohemia(Czechoslovakia). The first dances introduced by the early European immigrants to the Philippines and by Filipinos who had been to Europe.
POLKA SA NAYON
It was popularized in the Islands not later than 1859. It was usually performed as a ballroom dance during fiestas or grand social affairs. This dance comes from the province of Batangas in the Tagalog Region of the Philippine Islands. In the old days it was very popular and was usually danced at all the big social affairs and at the town fiestas.
THE BASIC DANCE STEPS
The basic dance step of the polka is executed to a duple meter with a step-closestep pattern following the one-and-two rhythm. Other polka steps used in the dance are the heel-and-toe polka, the hop polka, the gallop, chasing steps, and the hop step. Every locality would have its own version, but the basic steps, the plain polka, and the heeand-toe polka were always included.
COSTUME
The costume for the man is the barong tagalog and black or whitepants. The Maria Clara or balintawak costume is correct for the woman.
OTHER VERSION
p o l ka tag al a – D ance In Bataan, In one
figure of the dance, the ladies kick their voluminous skirts forward and backward to show off their beautiful lace petticoats.
Sileledaang – C o u r t s h i p D an c e i n Ilocos
Norte, which means laden with sorrow. Interestingly, the dancers here show their fondness for each other using the basic polka step to a tempo.
OTHER VERSION
The maliket-a-polka is another version of this dance form. Maliket in Pangasinan means happy therefore, happy polka. This is danced during fiestas in honor of the Santo Niño, patron saint of a barrio of Pangasinan. Quezon polka - Performed in sets of four pairs in square formation.
