![]() Of Fayetteville is a polka expert and editor of Texas Polka News. Weaving between the dancers, Michael Sacks - one of the event organizers - shakes some sawdust from a can onto the floor, seeking just the right amount to provide glide. A grandfather smiles as he dances with his granddaughter. A dad in cowboy boots dances sweetly with his young daughter, while a mom and her young son spin around the floor, inventing their own steps as they go. Older couples who’ve danced together since they were first courting take hands and begin working their way slowly around the floor – the knees may not move like they used to, but the steps are instinctive after so many years, so many dances. Others follow their lead, and the hall becomes a swirl of movement. Within seconds their feet move in perfect sync: one-two-three … one-two-three … one-two-three. The best dancers are up first, hopping eagerly out of the hall’s metal folding chairs and hitting the floor with gusto. The unmistakable sound of a push-button accordion kicks in with a cheery whoosh of bellows-driven air, and two voices singing in close harmony - bandleader Mollie Busta Lange and husband Ted Lange - glide above the brisk drumbeat and bouncy bass line: After a few words of greeting, it’s time for the polka party to begin. Then the four-member band takes the stage. Schützen Verein members sell cold Shiner Bock longnecks at the far end of the hall for $3 (cash only), and a dinner waits to be served during a break. The crowd is a mix of local residents, polka lovers from communities near and far, old-timers serenely surveying the scene and families with young children. Inside the 141-year-old hall - lovingly cared for by members of the Round Top Schützen Verein, or shooting society, formed by the community’s German immigrants in 1873 - recorded polka music plays over the loudspeakers, and folks chat, greet friends and take their reserved spots at the tables lining the wooden dance floor. This evening’s special event is sold out: a four-hour show by Mollie B and SqueezeBox, an Ohio-based polka band, in the middle of its much-anticipated annual winter tour through the polka hot spots of Texas. It’s early on a Friday night in Fayette County, and the grassy parking lot of the Round Top Rifle Hall is already full. Devotees of all ages still swirl around dance floors across the Bluebonnet region By Clayton Stromberger Immigrants brought polka to Texas generations ago, and the beat goes on. Mollie B and SqueezeBox with Ted Lange, right, is an award-winning, popular polka band that tours the nation, making regular stops in Texas during their winter 2023 tour.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |