Krakowiak

The Krakowiak or Cracovienne is a fast, syncopated Polish folk dance in duple time from the region of Kraków and Lesser Poland.

[1] The folk outfit worn for the dance has become the national costume of Poland, most notably, the rogatywka peaked hat with peacock feathers.

[1] It became a popular ballroom dance in Vienna ("Krakauer") and Paris ("Cracovienne") where, with the polonaise and the mazurka, it signalled a Romantic sensibility of sympathy towards a picturesque, distant and oppressed nation.

According to the description in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the krakowiak is directed by the leading man from the first pair.

As they approach the band, "the man, tapping his heels or dancing a few steps, sings a melody from an established repertory with newly improvised words addressed to his partner.