The Polka and Cajun Dance Site for Texas (with a little western swing)
Hi, and welcome to our site! We like to dance. We dance polka, Cajun, and C/W
swing. We dance mostly within a three-hour radius
of Houston, and also go out of state for polka festivals. In 2002 we reached our goal of
dancing in all 50 states, and are striving to dance in as many Texas dance halls
as we can. We have now danced in 440 Texas venues (and 123 in other
states).
This site is intended to help others learn about polka and Cajun dancing in Texas. You might begin by reviewing the History of Polka music and dance.
If history is not your bag, you can go
directly to Polka
in Texas
If you’re looking for a great
polka publication, check out The
Texas
Polka News. This monthly publication is one of the
premier polka newspapers in the nation.
It is the preferred national polka newspaper for the central and western
part of the nation, with a circulation of over 1800. It features interesting articles about
polka music and dancing, Texas and U.S. dance calendars, polka advertisements,
human interest stories, and much more.
We also have a page summarizing the Texas Polka Music Association (TPMA) and the Annual Awards program of TPMA during its eight year life 1991-98. It's a litany of the top Texas polka talent through 1998. See TPMA.
A Texas
Polka Radio listing is your guide to polka
radio programming throughout Texas.
If you like Texas Czech music and history, then you need to tune into Czech Melody Time on the web. A labor of love by Dennis Svatek of the Czech Melody Masters band, this web site lets you listen to great Texas Czech music. Now he has added some historical video clips. Check it out by going to the Texas Polka Radio link. In a similar vein, check out "Mike's Texas Polkas" maintained by Mike Konvicka.
Texas has a great number of Czech and German polka bands, and one each of Polish and Slovenian flavor. See Texas Polka Bands for a listing of bands with contact names and numbers. This page includes a separate list of Texas-based "performing" bands that specialize in general entertainment for Oktoberfests and the like. It also has articles on various Texas bands or musicians.
I write a monthly Texas Dancing column in The Texas Polka News. Now those articles (since 2007) have been provided here for your review.
But polka is not the only fun dancing in Texas! The Sabine River still separates Louisiana from Texas but it never did much to stop Cajun music from migrating into Texas. You won’t want to leave this site without exploring Cajun Music & Dancing in Texas! A new article has been included outlining a Cajun Adventure weekend.
Western swing is not only a Texas tradition, it's almost a religion! Check out the CW Swing page, beginning with with an article on the legendary Bob Wills, and articles on many other artists and venues.
We have also included some Texas Links that you may find interesting, including Texas bands with web sites, and the Texas Accordion Association. We have added a few out-of-Texas links that may be of general interest (but do not try to link nationwide polka bands; that is already done very well by Nancy Noltkamper at Nancy's Place For Polkas.)
Looking for polka festivals nationwide? See US Calendar.
And remember, Polka dancing is "aerobics with beer!"
While you're here, we invite you to check out the social issues Commentary page, entitled Enduring Freedom. The articles include: Obama Dictates, Obama-Nation; Respect Life; When the Crosses are Gone; About Thanks, and Giving; How Are Jobs Made?, Deficits and Debt; The Case for Perry, It's a Strong Field, America Proud, Our National Budget, The Party's Over, Broke? (parts 1 & 2), State of the Union, How the Grinch is Stealing Christmas, I Believe, Real Hope & Change Nov. 2, Jihad 101, What's Good About America, Deficit Means Doom, Glenn Beck, The Supreme Court, Tea Time April 15, The Party's Over, I Believe, Obama-Nation!, Stop the Insanity, Obamacare - Does It Make Sense?, Can Common Sense Save Our Republic?, Health Care Costs, Obamacare, America, What's a Conservative to Do?; The First 85 Days (of Obama); Keep the Change; In-Debted!; Leftward Ho!, The Economic Crisis II, The First Right (on the Tragedy of Abortion), The Economic Crisis, The Best Choice, Obama-Nation?, Drill Here-Drill Now-Pay Less, Greenwashing America, Gas Pains, The Great Ethanol Scam, The Economy?, Vote Informed, Primary Borders, A Primary Role, Thanks ...for Nothing, Noah 2007, Jihad 101, Secure the Borders, Secure Borders First, Memorial Day, Global Warming? Or Hot Air?, Bush-Whacked at the Border, What is an American?, Stem Cell Issues, America's Enemies - Abortion, America's Enemies - The ACLU; America's Enemies - Hugo Chavez, Decisions 2006, Islamic Fascism, Jihad 101, Order on the Border II, Movies to Make and Miss, Order on the Border I, Husbands - Love Your Wives, Waking Up In America, An Aging Nation, Resolve to be a Better Citizen, The Death of Christmas, Defending Marriage, The Looting of Katrina, A Purpose Driven Life, The New Wars for Independence, Texas Property Taxes, Fixing Social Security, Controlling Our Borders, Bush Leads, I'm Thankful for...Supermarkets, The First Right, The War on Terror, Clear Choices 2004, Rediscovering Reagan, Jihad 101, The Hand That Rocks (Mother's Day Tribute), The Passion of The Christ, Choose or Lose (The Coarsening of America), The Death of Christmas, The First Right, Borderline Insanity, Reflections on Sept. 11, Hope Springs Eternal (Bob Hope), Innocent Lives, Texas Tort Reform, Memorial Day, Support our Troops; A World in Peril; The Death of Christmas; It's About Life; Doing Nothing (the Saddam problem); Political Correctness; The Pledge; Stifling Speech; Choking on Clean Air; Courage to Profile; Energy Freedom; Rebirth of Resolve; The Right Man; Assault on Freedom; and An Open Letter to Muslims in America.
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Try
God - the original 24/7/365!
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In 2007 the Texas Folklife people introduced the “Big Squeeze” accordion
contest, with the final playoff held in Houston’s Outdoor Miller Theater in
conjunction with the annual “Accordion Kings and Queens” event.
It has been a big success 2007-2011.
The
Big Squeeze is coming back for its sixth year.
Now is the time for aspiring
young accordion artists to sign up! All
genres are welcome including German, Czech & Polish polka; Cajun; zydeco;
Tejano; conjunto and more.
The
Big Squeeze competition is for non-professional accordionists 21 years and
younger. Auditions will occur in
four sites across the state between Feb. 26 and Mar. 30.
Those selected at the auditions to proceed will participate in the
semi-finals April 28 in Austin at The Bob Bullock Texas State History
Museum.
Four finalists will be selected to compete at the Accordion Kings and
Queens event in Houston June 2. The
Big Squeeze offers great prizes, including cash, a Hohner accordion, and more,
as well as the opportunity to perform in the finals before a large crowd in
Houston June 2. But
the first step is to audition.
Accordionists
unable to attend an audition may submit recorded entries by April 2.
To help increase participation, walk-ups will be admitted up to one hour
before the auditions! Call
512-441-9255 or see www.texasfolklife.org.
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I’ll still love you as I did in yesterday. Many years have gone by, though it seems just like a day. It’s no wonder that I love you, you’ve been so kind and true. There will never be another, it will always be just you. We’ve come a long way together, and you’ve proved your love is true. My life’s been a pleasure, and it’s all because of you. And to me you’ll always be, as sweet as flowers in May. I’ll still love you as I did in yesterday. (Lyric of western swing classic, “My Life’s Been a Pleasure.”)
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Paul Berlin is Pure Entertainment
Houston area radio music fans may recall the magic of listening to Paul Berlin, the pre-eminent music DJ and raconteur who fascinates his loyal listeners with great selections of music from the 40s-50s-60s and a story with every selection. Good news folks! Paul Berlin is back, 6-8 p.m. every Saturday night on KSEV 700 AM (“The Voice”). The 79 year-old master, Paul Berlin has an infinite memory bank of personal anecdotes about musicians and songs. In October 2002, Berlin was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. We urge you to check out Paul Berlin on KSEV. It’s pure entertainment. Listen on-line at www.ksevradio.com/
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Well folks, I'm a conservative, and conservatives conserve things! That's why when it became easier to recycle by using the recycling center at nearby Ellington Air Force Base, we decided to start recycling. We thought we didn't have much to recycle, but it was the right thing to do. But we have learned that we produce a large box of paper, a large box of cardboard, and a large box of plastic products for recycling every week. It especially amazes us how much plastic we had been throwing away. This is important because plastic is made from oil! By recycling we have reduced our trash to less than one bag per week.
The lesson? Recycle! It's the conservative thing to do!
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The Green Thing (author unknown)
In
the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her
own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The
woman apologized to her and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back
in my day." The clerk responded, "That's our problem today.
Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."
She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
We
walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office
building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower
machine every time we had to go two blocks.
But we didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back
then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind.
We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up
220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.
Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always
brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing
back in our day.
Back
then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. In the
kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines
to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up
old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back
then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We
used a push mower that ran on human power.
We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run
on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have
the green thing back then.
We
drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic
bottle every time we had a drink of water.
We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we
replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor
just because the blade got dull. But
we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back
then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or
walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We
had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a
dozen appliances.
And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from
satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.
But
isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just
because we didn't have the green thing back then?
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We hope you enjoy this site and would like to hear from you. Send us an e-mail with your question, comment or suggestion.
Thanks for stopping by, and
remember…
“Polka Dancing is Aerobics with Beer!”
(updated 02/14/12)
E-mail John &
Marlys Rivard
jlrivard123@sbcglobal.net
Visitors since 1/13/04
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