Rheinlænder polka aka Fynbo aka Jysk-fynsk, Fynsk polka, Herlev, Vestjydsk rheinlænder polka, Wienerkreuz


Country: Denmark
Type: couple dance
Formation: any number of couples in open circle. Beginning hold may be either holding inside hands, open waist-shoulder hold, or waltz hold, facing in LOD.

    Rheinlænder polka aka Fynbo aka Jysk-fynsk
Steps: chassé (change step), polka, totrin (pivot step), gangtrin (walk)
Sheet music: some suggestions are
(1) 358:357;
(2) 358:358 by Svenske Niels;
(3) 358:689 by Ole Kjær;
(4) 358:691;
(5) 358:692 nr. 6 fynbo;
(6) 358:693 from Jylland;
(7) 358:695 nr. 6 fynbo;
(8) Jysk Fynsk 1 after Levy Wilsen;
(9) Jysk Fynsk 2 after Madvig Vilsen;
(10) Jysk Fynsk 3.
Recordings: Henry Hansens Spillemandsorkester Vild med gammeldaws dans Vol. 2 [YouTube]; [or any Danish rheinlænder polka, rheinländer, polka, or fynbo, ie in 2/4-time, usually in 8-bar phrases.]
Bars Part Dance progression:
1 (a) Promenade: Beginning with ML/WR foot (ie outside foot) dance 1 chassé step in LOD. Ie, M dances L (1:1), R (1:2), L (1:3), lift (1:4) while W dances R (1:1), L (1:2), R (1:3), lift (1:4).
[May be danced holding inside hands, in open waist-shoulder hold, in waltz hold, or turning individually on the spot and finishing with a clap.]
2   Couple dances 2 walking steps in LOD (stepping on 2:1 and 2:3). On last beats, couple may turn towards partner to face in RLOD, holding 'new' inside hands.
3-4   Repeat above with opposite footwork, moving in RLOD. On last beat, couple turns to face in LOD.
[May be danced as above, facing RLOD, or facing LOD.]
5-8 (b) Polka: Take waltz hold with partner, and dance four polka steps, turning CW or CCW and moving in LOD.
[May also be danced with 2 chassé steps followed by pivot steps.]
Repeat from (a) as desired.

See videos from/with KØST2017 [ 1, 2, 3], Skralleklubben 2009, polskaholdet, Vrå højskole 2010, Roskilde Spillemandslaug 2015, Roskilde Spillemandslaug 2015, Rebild Spillemændene 2017, Duo Visti & friends 2017, Mads Hansens Kapel 2020, Herlev Gamle Danse 2023 [1, 2], Fælledparken 2023

Provenance: Called a 'rheinlænder polka' on Fyn, a 'fynbo' on Jylland (Jutland), and a 'jysk-fynsk' on Læsø.
Per Sørensen postulates rheinlænder polka as danced now is a relatively recent phenomenon, since the late 1890s, and that around 1892 it may have been danced somewhat as follows: in waltz hold, 1 chassé or skottish-trin turning CCW (1), 1 chassé or skottish-trin turning CW (2), 4 totrin (pivot steps) moving in LOD (3-4). According to Aabech, the first tunes entitled 'rheinlænder' appear in musicians' notebooks in the second half of the 1800s.
Characteristic of the contemporary Danish rheinlænder polka, also called simply 'rheinlænder' or 'polka', is movement, during the promenade portion, in the LOD for two bars, followed by movement in the RLOD for two bars. The couple turn can be CW or CCW but moves in the LOD. Within that basic structure, there are a vast number of variations possible.

References:
-- Rheinlænder-polka in: Aabech, Tage Om traditionel fynsk dansemusik - et bidrag til fælles-repertoiret, 1994. [in Danish]
-- Sørensen, Per 'På loftet sidder Nissen' og Norsk rheinländer fra Randers in Dansens og musikkens rødder nr 11, Dec. 1996, p. 12. [in Danish]
-- "Bohnenpott" in Stahl, Wilhelm/ Niederdeutsche Volkstänze. Reprint 1998. Hamburg: Paul Harting Verlag, 1921. pp. 21-23. [in German]
-- "Bohnenpott" in Stahl, Wilhelm/ Deutsche Volkstänze: Volkstänze von den nordfriesischen Inseln. (Hefte 27) Reprint. s.l.: Bärenreiter-Verlag zu Rassel, [1935]. p.6. [in German]

   
    Fynsk polka, Herlev
Formation: couples ("as many as will") in open circle, open waist-shoulder hold facing LOD.
Steps: chassé (change step), hæl og tå (heel-toe), polka
Sheet music: e.g.358:357; [or any polka or rheinlænder polka with appropriate structure]
Recordings: [any polka or rheinlænder polka with appropriate structure]
Bars Part Dance progression:
1-4 (a) Figuré: Beginning with outside (ML/WR) foot, couplea dance forward in LOD, 1 change step (1),
dance 1 heel-toe step with inside (MR/WL) foot (2), followed by
dance 1 heel-toe step with outside (ML/WR) foot (3), followed by
dip, bending both knees (4).
5-8 (b) Polka: Couples take waltz hold and, beginning with outside (ML/WR) foot, dance 4 polka steps, moving in LOD.
[Repeat from (a) as desired.]

See video with Herlev Gamle Danse 2022.

Source: video with Herlev Gamle Danse 2022.

   
    Vestjydsk rheinlænder polka
Steps: chassé (change step), polka, gangtrin (walk)
Sheet music: some suggestions are
(1) 358:357;
(2) 358:358 by Svenske Niels;
(3) 358:689 by Ole Kjær;
(4) 358:691;
(5) 358:692 nr. 6 fynbo;
(6) 358:693 from Jylland;
(7) 358:695 nr. 6 fynbo;
(8) Jysk Fynsk 1 after Levy Wilsen;
(9) Jysk Fynsk 2 after Madvig Vilsen;
(10) Jysk Fynsk 3.
Recordings: [any Danish rheinlænder polka, polka, or fynbo, ie in 2/4-time.]
Bars Part Dance progression
1 (a) Promenade: Beginning with outside (ML/WR) foot, dance 1 chassé step in LOD.
[May be danced holding inside hands, in open waist-shoulder hold, in waltz hold, or turning individually on the spot and finishing with a clap.]
2   Couple dances 2 walking steps in LOD. On last beats, couple may turn towards partner to face in RLOD, holding 'new' inside hands (ML/WR).
3-4   Repeat above with opposite footwork, moving in RLOD. On last beat, couple turns to face in LOD.
[May be danced as above, facing RLOD, or facing LOD.]
5-8 (b) Polka: Take waltz hold with partner, and dance four polka steps, turning CW or CCW and moving in LOD.
[May also be danced with 2 chassé steps followed by 4 pivot steps.]
Repeat from (a) as desired.

See video Tingluti 2009.

Source: description based on video Tingluti 2009.

   
    Wienerkreuz
Steps: chassé (change step), polka
Sheet music:
(1) 358:450
(2) Foreningen til Folkedansens Fremme (FFF)/ Legestuen. 5 opl. København: Foreningen til Folkdansens Fremme, 1983, p. 25.
(3) Bryans, Helen L. & John Madsen/ Scandinavian dances. Book I. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Co. Ltd., 1942. pp. 38-39.
Recordings: Bjørneboe, Einar Einar Bjørneboe spiller i korrekt dansetempo 5 - ældre selskabsdanse track B1; Bror Kalles Kapel [Internet Archive]; Gunnar Hahns Folkdance Ensemble 'kryss polka' Skandia (1997) track 11; Gunnar Hahns Folkdance Ensemble 'kryss polka' Skandia (1989) track 10.
Bars Part Dance progression
1 (a) Promenade: Beginning with outside (ML/WR) foot, dance 1 chassé step forward in LOD.
2   All hop twice on outside (ML/WR) foot, while clapping hands twice.
[Bryans & Madsen describe this as swinging inside (MR/WL) foot forward, without clapping.]
3   Couples turn (M CW; W CCW) to face opposite direction, hold new inside (ML/WR) hands, and dance 1 chassé step in RLOD.
4   All hop twice on inside (MR/WL) foot, while clapping hands twice.
[Bryans & Madsen describe this as swinging outside (ML/WR) foot forward, without clapping.]
5-8 (b) Polka: Couples take waltz hold with partner, and dance four polka steps, turning CW [and moving in LOD.]
Repeat from (a) as desired.

See YouTube videos: Dansefestival Bornholm 2014.

Source: Foreningen til Folkedansens Fremme (FFF)/ Legestuen. 5 opl. København: Foreningen til Folkdansens Fremme, 1983, p. 25.
See also:
-- Kryss-polka s.l.: Skandia Music Foundation, 1997.
-- Bryans, Helen L. & John Madsen/ Scandinavian dances. Book I. Toronto: Clarke, Irwin & Co. Ltd., 1942. pp. 38-39.

Provenance: The Danish rheinlænder polka may be a variant of Wienerkreuz and its cognates. According to Gammaldans i Norden, related dances are also known in Finland as Kreuz-polka, 'Kymmenen kynttä', 'Ruotsinpolkka' and 'kuppari', on the Faroe Islands as 'Wienarkreutz', in Iceland as 'Vienarkrus', in Norway as Wienerkryss, 'Vininkreds' and 'Viniknes', and in Sweden as Wienerkreuzerpolka, 'Fröken Chic' and 'Krysspolka'. [Urup et al, pp. 262-263.]
See:
-- Urup, Henning, Henry Sjöberg, Egil Bakka (eds.)/ Gammaldans i Norden. Rapport frå forskningsprosjektet. Komparativ analyse av ein folkeleg dansegenre i utvalde nordiske lokalsamfunn. Oslo: Nordisk forening for folkedansforskning, 1988.

Description: Laine Ruus, Oakville 2012-11-14, rev. 2023-08-17.

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