Polonaise through the White House receiving line. Sousa wrote it in 1886 at the request of President Chester A. Arthur who died before it was performed. Tchaikovsky's opera "Eugene Onegin", an adaption of Alexander Pushkin's novel in poetry verse, includes a famous polonaise. The polonaise is a Polish dance and is one of the five historic national dances of Poland. The others are the Mazurka (Mazur), Kujawiak, Krakowiak and Oberek, last three being old folk dances. Polonaise originated as a peasant dance known under various names – "chodzony" ("pacer"), "chmielowy" ("hops"), "pieszy" ("walker") or "wielki" ("great"), recorded as early as the
Ruth Adams and the World's Most Dangerous Polka Band the age of 88. His drums are now on display at the Minnesota Historical Society. According to the band's website, they play "a mix of Polkas, Waltz's [sic], Foxtrots [sic], Country, Latin, and a little Dixieland." During their "Let's Bowl" appearances, Adams and company played suggestive polka tunes like "She Smoked My Cigar" and "I Told Her No". They got their start, and still play every Friday and Saturday, at Nye's Polonaise (better known as Nye's Polka Lounge) in northeast Minneapolis. Since the close of Nye's Polonaise, the Polka Band has performed at Can Can Wonderland in Saint Paul, MN.