MONROE - Big step, half step, little step, repeat. Start with your right foot, unless you're a guy.
Young and old alike bravely took their first polka steps in front of a crowd Friday at Cheese Days in Monroe.
Steve and Sharon Streiff, dressed in traditional Swiss, had 10 couples spinning on the dance floor within 20 minutes.
People from Monroe and Milwaukee, and some from as far as Tennessee and Pennsylvania, filled the outdoor floor to follow the directions of the Streiffs, who have 40 years of polka experience.
"It's kind of strange," Tiffani Weckerly, Nashville, said. "I don't do much dancing except for ballet." The polka is definitely not like ballet, she said.
Her sister, Casie, 13, said it was "interesting."
Will she take it back to Nashville with her? "Probably," she said.
Will she teach it to her friends? "Possibly," she said.
The Weckerly sisters were in town for the 50th anniversary of their grandparents, Allan and Diane Weckerly, Monroe.
Diane Weckerly knows how to polka; her husband "won't," she said, but she's never had a chance to teach her grandchildren.
"They're too far away," she said. This year will be different, with 10 grandchildren, ages 5 to 16, in town and more coming.
Steve Streiff learned the polka from friends and relatives in the dance hall in New Glarus. He also belonged to a Swiss folk dance group for more than 25 years.
Sharon Streiff grew up in Pennsylvania. When she married Steve 39 years ago, he moved her to Monroe, and she learned to polka, she said.
But there are no Swiss folk dance groups anymore.
Is the tradition dying out?
"Not at all," Streiff said. "People here will never let it go."
Pat Kaster-Yeagle, Juda, Cheese Days Queen in 1965 and co-Queen in 1967, has been dancing the polka since the 1950s.
But not all families knew how to polka, Streiff said. New Glarus has dance classes in the schools, where they learned not only the polka, but also other dance steps.
Streiff and Kaster-Yeagle recall the dances when they were young - when there were no babysitters. Parents took their children along to all the community dances, whether it was for an anniversary, a wedding, or just a Saturday night.
"Entertainment was different back then. Kids didn't have videos games and DVDs," Kaster-Yeagle said.
Turner Hall was a favorite venue in the 1950s and 1960s.
"If we were good, we could dance with our dads," she said.
The community was "typical Swiss. They worked hard and played equally hard," said Kaster-Yeagle, who is one-half Swiss. "They are a family-oriented community people who look out for each other. They have a love of culture and of life."
Young and old alike bravely took their first polka steps in front of a crowd Friday at Cheese Days in Monroe.
Steve and Sharon Streiff, dressed in traditional Swiss, had 10 couples spinning on the dance floor within 20 minutes.
People from Monroe and Milwaukee, and some from as far as Tennessee and Pennsylvania, filled the outdoor floor to follow the directions of the Streiffs, who have 40 years of polka experience.
"It's kind of strange," Tiffani Weckerly, Nashville, said. "I don't do much dancing except for ballet." The polka is definitely not like ballet, she said.
Her sister, Casie, 13, said it was "interesting."
Will she take it back to Nashville with her? "Probably," she said.
Will she teach it to her friends? "Possibly," she said.
The Weckerly sisters were in town for the 50th anniversary of their grandparents, Allan and Diane Weckerly, Monroe.
Diane Weckerly knows how to polka; her husband "won't," she said, but she's never had a chance to teach her grandchildren.
"They're too far away," she said. This year will be different, with 10 grandchildren, ages 5 to 16, in town and more coming.
Steve Streiff learned the polka from friends and relatives in the dance hall in New Glarus. He also belonged to a Swiss folk dance group for more than 25 years.
Sharon Streiff grew up in Pennsylvania. When she married Steve 39 years ago, he moved her to Monroe, and she learned to polka, she said.
But there are no Swiss folk dance groups anymore.
Is the tradition dying out?
"Not at all," Streiff said. "People here will never let it go."
Pat Kaster-Yeagle, Juda, Cheese Days Queen in 1965 and co-Queen in 1967, has been dancing the polka since the 1950s.
But not all families knew how to polka, Streiff said. New Glarus has dance classes in the schools, where they learned not only the polka, but also other dance steps.
Streiff and Kaster-Yeagle recall the dances when they were young - when there were no babysitters. Parents took their children along to all the community dances, whether it was for an anniversary, a wedding, or just a Saturday night.
"Entertainment was different back then. Kids didn't have videos games and DVDs," Kaster-Yeagle said.
Turner Hall was a favorite venue in the 1950s and 1960s.
"If we were good, we could dance with our dads," she said.
The community was "typical Swiss. They worked hard and played equally hard," said Kaster-Yeagle, who is one-half Swiss. "They are a family-oriented community people who look out for each other. They have a love of culture and of life."