Polka in the United States music and dance and to honor their heritage at polka festivals. Modern media enables these fans to stay connected and share their passion. Though it passed its heyday in the 1950s the polka remains an active music form with distinct genres, leading performers, and active organizations. Where it is popular, the polka is a manifestation of the culture of those who participate in it. It is the state dance of Wisconsin. Although author Charles Keil admits that "there are as many styles of polka as there are polka localities", he and his wife have divided American polka music into three
Pavane (novel) roughly mid-19th century technology with steam traction engines and mechanical semaphore telegraphy. Outlying areas are dangerous, with wild animals and occasional manifestations of the "Old Ones" or "People of the Hills" (supposed fairies) who leave crab-symbol graffiti. The stories take place at a period when the possibility of revolution is rumoured. The location and flavour, nostalgic yet tragic in outlook, resemble a science-fictional equivalent of the fictionalized Wessex of Thomas Hardy (as in the Hardy stories, there are place-name differences; for instance, in "Pavane" Dorchester retains its Roman name, Durnovaria). Real geographical locations play a major role: Golden Cap is