Welcome to Polkamotion with Ma & Pa Chen

My parents immigrated to the USA from China in the 1950‘s. Fully assimilated into American culture, they worked hard and brought up a family in suburban Maryland. After my parents retired, they discovered polka dancing, a European, predominantly Polish and German, import. Without children or work, polka dancing and related social activities became their passion. Their preoccupation with polka was only matched by their interest in photographically recording their dance experiences. Giving the camera to fellow polka dancers, they accumulated a multitude of images. In this book, I have combined a selection of these photographs with various newspaper clippings and programs of polka festivals, hoping to capture the flavor of an imaginary homeland where Americans can find a sense of tradition and identity, regardless of whether they are of European origin or Chinese immigrants.

Edition Patrick Frey