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Elder Law Prof Blog
Katherine C. Pearson, Editor, and a Member of the Law Professor Blogs Network on LexBlog.com

Not elder law: Aging of polka dancers threatens a culture…

By Elder Law Prof Blog
October 1, 2007

PolkaThe aging of polka dancers isjeopardizing a tradition in the eastern European immigrant community ofKirtland in northeast Ohio.  Membership at Slovenian lodges is waning because younger peopledon’t seem to be interested in the polka as their parents andgrandparents.  One 37-acre retreat was established in the days when local bandleaders such as Frankie Yankovic, Johnny Pecon and Lou Trebar set dancehalls thumping with the new Cleveland-style Slovenian polka.  That style is less bouncy and brassy than its Polish counterpart andincludes a sweeping, slower-tempo dance based on the music and stylingsof the Viennese Waltz popularized by Johann Strauss in the 19th century.

Source:  WTOL11 , Toledo OH, http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=7146018

Ed:  I wonder if the scholarship halls at the University of Kansas still have the traditional “All Schol Hall Fall Ball” featuring polka for everyone.  Am I dating myself? 

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