The polka tradition is a part of many European cultures, including the traditional music of the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, and the Scandinavian countries.
	[PHOTO BY HARRY OSTER] Polka dancers enjoy a tune.

As immigrants from these nations arrived in Iowa, they brought their music and dance traditions with them. Today the polka continues to be a popular form of social dancing in the state, with children, young people, and seniors sharing the same dance floor when it is played at a wedding reception or community festival.

Folklife Background

The band Becky and The Ivanhoe Dutchmen is a popular polka group that performs throughout Iowa and within the wider Midwest region. Becky Livermore leads the band which is based in the Cedar Rapids area. She describes her style as “Dutchmen,” a popular form played during the 1950s by a group called The Six Fat Dutchmen. Ms. Livermore began playing the piano accordion at the age of ten. By the age of thirteen, she was playing with Ed Ulch’s group, The Jolly Bohemians.

After Mr. Ulch’s retirement from the band, Ms. Livermore formed her own band but continues to play the music of The Jolly Bohemians. Becky and The Ivanhoe Dutchmen’s repertoire includes over 600 polkas and waltzes. They perform in Czech- and German-American communities in Iowa and for any groups who enjoy the polka. Becky Livermore manages the other four musicians, who are all male; the group members’ ages range from the mid-twenties to the early sixties, with Becky the youngest .