Folk dance troupe returns to Harmony
HARMONY — Members of the Alpen Schuhplattler dancers traditional German folk dance troupe were excited to return to WeihnachtsMarkt over the weekend.
Nancy Ott, vice president of the troupe, said she was “so happy” to be continuing the tradition.
“This is just like coming home,” she said. “This is one of our favorite places to perform, and we are delighted to see all of you after such a long break.”
The troupe's mission is to “create, educate and foster among its members a genuine love for Bavarian-Tyrolean traditions and costume,” which it accomplishes through performing and teaching traditional folk dances, customs and cultural activities. The group was founded in 1964.Performances from the Alpen Schuhplattler group have long been a fixture of the Harmony Museum's annual WeihnachtsMarkt Christmas market.“We've come here for I don't even know how many years,” Ott said. “It was really a hole in our whole fall (last year). We enjoy performing here so much. We enjoy this event, and this audience is great.”On Saturday, about 15 to 20 dancers performed in traditional costume at two times during the day, divided into groups of adults and children. Dancers staged Bavarian marches and folk dances to accompanying claps and accordion music.
“We have a lot of families in this group,” Ott said. “It's a multigenerational group, too. Our accordionist, her daughter, and her granddaughter are all active in the group, and the accordionist's parents were some of the founders of the group.”The youngest dancer, 1-year-old Malena, daughter of lead female dancer Renee Ruggiero, celebrated her first season with the group and danced with her mother.Ott said that the style of dance has a long history.“It's a very old style of dancing, and it arose out of courtship dances that people in these villages did,” she said.Bringing the group's unique performance to festivals is part of the excitement for her.“I think people really enjoy seeing this type of dancing, because it is so different from what they normally see,” said Ott. “We try to present an authentic experience. Almost all of the dances that we do are traditional dances, and a lot of them were collected in the 19th and early 20th centuries.”After a long hiatus, the group has had more chances to perform this fall.“This past year and a half has been difficult for us because of COVID, and we missed our prior season,” Ott said. “We're so happy to be able to perform. We performed at several of our usual Oktoberfest gigs, and the Harmony Museum booked us in June for this. We're very excited to be here, too.”
