Page "Polska (dance)" Paragraph 4

The polska dances likely evolved from court dances such as the polonaise or the 2 / 4 time minuet involving larger sets of people.

Some see traces of the evolution from set dances to couples dances and from double time to triple time in the minuets, still danced in some communities of Finland and Denmark.

In these, the dance starts with a large set of dancers dancing a slower formal section and ends with couples or foursomes dancing a faster, more energetic polska section.

In the late 1600s it was common in northern Europe that only the slower Alla breve or 4 / 4 section of the music was written down on paper, paper was expensive.

The musicians were expected to be able to improvise a dance in 3 / 4 which was based on the same motivic material as the previous dance.

The parts played in 3 / 4 were the ones evolving to the modern polska.