The polka, a lively couples dance in 2/4 time, had developed from folk roots and became a European popular dance craze in the 1840s. In elite Paris salons and in humble village squares and taverns ...

Scholars note the oddity of a dance started by a Bohemian girl being named ‘Polish maiden’ and also theorise that the name ‘polka’ may have come from the Czech word ‘pulka’ or ‘half’, correlating to ...