Kathy Hulse and Tim Westemeyer
Polka dancers, Des Moines
Tim Westemeyer and Kathy Hulse are lifelong dancers. They've taught and demonstrated polka and other styles at a variety of Iowa Polka Club dances, at Des Moines's Hessen Haus, at senior centers, and at Waukee High School. Kathy, who grew up watching and learning to dance in Duncan, Iowa, home to a variety of home-grown Czech bands, also played the clarinet and is part of the Hrubes family, several of whom were and are polka band members. Her parents and grandparents brought her to local dances from the time she was a young child. She later met her friend and dance partner, Tim Westemeyer, at a polka dance.
Polka music and dance are, above all, about community. Polka dance clubs also make sure that their members know where and when bands will be playing. Polka Fests such as one in Harlan, home of the Jolly Homebrewers Polka Band in southwest Iowa; the Humboldt Polka Festival; Oktoberfests throughout the state; and the new Beckster Fest in the Amana Colonies are popular among new and old polka aficionados throughout the state.
Rooted in Central European folk tradition, the polka came into its own during the 1840s. During the mid to late19th and early 20th centuries, the polka traveled to the United States with the German and Slavic speaking peoples who fled their homelands for better social and economic conditions. Thus, polka music moved along with its musicians, from Central Europe to immigration entry points in the Northeast or in Texas and Louisiana, and from there to the Midwest. While each ethnic group had its own style of polka, it was the variety of traditions that influenced the evolution of the genre over time and space. Germans, Slavs, Czechs, and Poles all played and danced the polka as well as a variety of related dance tunes for schottisches, waltzes, two-steps, and more. By the end of the 19th century, however, recorded music was readily available. This media revolution combined with the advent of radio in the 1920s created a widespread audience for polka and other forms of old time music, further changing their character.
The upper Midwest, particularly northern Illinois, the eastern Dakotas, southern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa, became the heart of polka country. Influenced by Czech (Bohemian) traditions as well as those of Scandinavians, Anglo-Celts, and Poles, polka bands played for weddings, house parties, and local celebrations. From the 1920s through the 1950s, the heyday for this music and its enthusiastic listeners and dancers. Weddings, house parties, and ballrooms became the main venues for polka dances during this period. Today, Iowa polka dance fans can find polka bands at festivals, restaurants, and small town ballrooms around the state.
Tim Westemeyer, whose heritage is German, grew up in Dubuque and has fond memories of listening to the sounds of Wisconsin polka bands on the radio with his uncle and mother. He became an enthusiastic supporter as he grew older and now enjoys teaching dance to others and is passionate about promoting Polka and passing it on to another generation.
Westemeyer and Hulse are also enthusiastic leaders of The Polka Club of Iowa, which was formed in 1975 by accordionist Duane Pichelman. Pichelman organized a group of dancers who shared his love of Austrian/German-style happy music and held the first meeting at his home near Ankeny, Iowa.
Polka Club of Iowa Chapters are located in the Central, Eastern, and Cedar Rapids/Waterloo areas of Iowa. In addition to polkas; Polka Club of Iowa members dance the waltz, schottische, fox trot, line dances, novelty dances and much more. It's even rumored that occasionally, the Chicken Dance and Hokey Pokey are also done! Polka Club of Iowa members also perform at nursing homes, retirement homes, the Iowa State Fair, and other state wide festivities.
Contact: Tim Westemeyer, 515) 991-9342, tcwestee@q.com, www.polkaclubiowa.org