Polka
Brought to the United States by Central European immigrants in the mid-19th century, polka Polka came to Nebraska in the 1850s, when Czechs fled worsening economic conditions in Bohemia and Moravia, drawn by the promise of large tracts of American farmland. In the beginning polka meant just one thing: a specific, two-beat couples dance. Polish polka, for instance, is a different animal from Czech. It is faster and more staccato, with every instrument playing more fills; it sounds urban, and it swings. Czech polka is simpler, more legato and emotional. In a small combo it can sound heavy and sad, even at a medium tempo. Polka took off in the United States with the advent of radio and records, just like the rest of American popular music; by the 1940s, a popular polka bandleader like Frankie Yankovic was selling millions of records.