Orsa polska

I went to a workshop about Orsa polska on 14th December 2024 from Ketton Scandi, taught by Michael and Rosie. This is the only exposure I’ve had. This description is what works for me, a person who plays the music kinda, and prefers to dance the follower role.

The characteristic of the dance is the follower’s right leg held straight between their partner’s legs in the turn. The whole thing is very smooth.

The dance has 2 parts - a walky bit and a turny bit. In the walky bit, both people step with their left foot on the second beat, and their right foot on the third. Where the second beat actually comes in the tune is variable. In the walky bit, you may hold spare hands, such that the follow “karate chops” into the lead’s hand, out in front of you.

In the turny bit, the transition in is the lead taking a preparatory step inwards on 2 and starting to turn on the 3. Their turn remains with steps on the 2 and 3 beats, with a turn over their own heel on the 1 to keep the rotation going. The follower doesn’t change their step until the leader has done a full bar of the turn (not including prep). Then they move their 2 step to the 1 beat, turning over that heel on the 2 while keeping the other leg straight, hovering above the ground between their partner’s legs, and stepping on the 3. To get out of the turn, the follower waits when they would otherwise have put a foot down on the 1 beat, to get back into the 2-3 step pattern. Some tunes are easier to do this in than others.

The characteristic of the tune is a short, weak first beat, sometimes completely absent, and some parts where the tune just stops/waits. This is apparently somewhat similar to Boda polska, but I don’t know that I could tell the difference, and I’ve never actually danced a boda polska.

Here’s a video of someone teaching it. The lead is in the jeans, the follow in the red skirt.