Polkka is the Finnish form of the polka: a fast, bouncing couple dance that spins around the floor and fills village halls with energy.
The polka was born in Bohemia in the 1830s and swept through the ballrooms of Paris, London and Vienna in the 1840s. Within a few decades it had reached Finland, where village musicians gave it a Finnish voice — the polkka. Couples hold each other closely, hop and turn clockwise while travelling counterclockwise around the room, so the whole floor seems to rotate. Played on the accordion and the fiddle, polkka tunes became some of the best-loved melodies in the country: “Säkkijärven polkka” is a national accordion classic, and “Ievan polkka”, with words written in the 1930s, became a worldwide internet hit in the 2000s. Today polkka is still a favourite at weddings, folk dance groups, midsummer parties and summer dance pavilions.
