How we got through: 10 great escapes from the hellscape that was 2020
The unexpected arts, outdoor diversions and online alternatives that helped our writers endure a challenging year.
By Star Tribune staff writers
December 22, 2020 — 12:17pm
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Shall we dance (take 1)
Polka during a pandemic? It seemed unlikely, even unnecessary. But one summer night, a band's oom-pah-pah rhythms filled an outdoor hockey rink in Grand Rapids, Minn. As Mollie B & Squeezebox played, couples tapped their toes and did the two-step — each within their own 6- by 6-foot squares, chalked on the pavement. Polka pods: another safety-first innovation dreamed up by the Reif Performing Arts Center. The Reif was the first venue in the state to host a drive-in concert, staging a musical duo on a scissor lift. It put on drive-in movies, too, with socially distanced cars in its lot. Then it tried boat-in concerts, with bands playing across the waters of Pokegama Lake. But the polka concert was something special — a night where couples who'd loved this music for decades emerged from their houses for something more than a trip to the grocery store. Distanced and masked, they danced.