WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — This Saturday, the Genetti's ballroom will be packed with polka dancers and players, hosted by the Pennsylvania Polkafest with a long lineup of local and national talent.
It's a celebration of Slovak, Polish, and German culture under one roof, not only with dancing and music but with the food too.
Filling the ballroom at Genetti's on East Market Street in Wilkes-Barre are horn pops, action on the fiddle, and runs on the accordion.
All staples in polka music;
Polka music is a genre Joe Stanky and the Cadets hold very close to their hearts.
“My father trained us to do this. We memorized all the songs, and when I was a kid, I knew like 500 songs,” said band leader Joe Stanky.
Since then, Stanky has dedicated his life to traveling across the country, sharing the polka songs his father passed down to him.
“We play at assisted living homes, and these people, they're us. The workers there say that they sit down all day and don't do anything. But when we get in there and play some polka music, they try to get up, and some of them even start to dance,” he explained.
His band's goal for this year's Christmas Show Polka Dance inside Genetti's is to invite all generations onto the dance floor and teach them how polka made its mark decades ago in northeastern Pennsylvania.
“It started over in Europe in the area of the Czech Republic and all the Germans, and the Slovaks, and the Polish folk, and they got their start with polka music. And then they brought it over here to the coal regions,” said Thom Greco, Pennsylvania Polkafest promoter.
“The Pennsylvania Polka started in Scranton, and it's still number one. So this is really the heart of the Polka region,” added Jim Dellacroce, Pennsylvania Polkafest promoter.
It's not only a European tradition but a family tradition for Stanky that he's already passing down in his family.
“My son plays polka music; he plays the drums and the bass guitar, and he sings also. He's out in New York and there's still people out there that like polka music too,” Stanky added.
To take a spot on the dance floor, the Christmas Show Polka Dance will take place on Saturday, December 9, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
It's held at the Genetti's Ballroom, 77 East Market Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Tickets start at $25.
