On Saturday, July 10th, the United German Hungarians hosted a Jugend Einzel Exhibition and workshop for the Mid-Atlantic Region. The event was inspired by our annual Mid-Atlantic Jugend Einzel Competition, which we could not execute in 2020 due to COVID-19. Thank you to Allyssa Schulz Fricker, Mid-Atlantic Jugendvertreterin, for her assistance with this event! We had a great idea to host this event this year in order to get some little feet back on the dance floor and more importantly, to gather as trachtlers and friends in support of our youth dancers. We held the exhibition outdoors at the Phoenix Sport Club, located in Trevose, PA. It was a beautiful day, not too hot, and the breeze, and the beer was flowing! We were proud to have awesome participation and feedback from our local clubs and especially interest from the children and young adults who participated.
The list of dancers are as follows:
Alex Blank & Isabelle Avrich (6) – United German Hungarians
Michael Fricker & Eva Kane (6)- United German Hungarians/Enzian Volkstanzgruppe
Daniel Galgon & Charlotte Galgon (4)- United German Hungarians
Michael Fricker & Erin Loveless (8)-United German Hungarians/Enzian Volkstanzgruppe
Jakob Hubert (18) & Evangeline Noel (11)- United German Hungarians
Michael Fricker & Meleah Lang (14)- United German Hungarians/Enzian Volkstanzgruppe
Jakob Hubert (18) & Genevieve Avrich (9)-United German Hungarians
Michael Fricker & Allyson Kane (15)-United German Hungarians/Enzian Volkstanzgruppe
Ethan Dunn (17) & Allison Bogovic (16)- Edelweiss Passaic/Bavarian Club Edelweiss West Chester
Michael Fricker & Megan Brook (17)- United German Hungarians/Enzian Volkstanzgruppe
Werner Fricker III & Renate Geisinger(11)- United German Hungarians/Auerhahn Schuhplattler Verein
All dancers were accompanied by the wonderful and talented Maria Antoniak and Dino Jakovasic, taking turns, a German beer in hand. A lack of boys did not stop the determined little ladies from dancing their hearts out on the beautiful July day! Thank you to all of our older men dancers for filling in to help out. Stephen Hargreaves was clicking away with his camera, capturing awesome shots of the performers and onlookers as well. Thanks to our own Joe Hartmann for taking posed photos of all the competitors as well! Another special thank you to our judges who critiqued the performances:
Daniel Galgon- United German Hungarians
Ed Mayer- Edelweiss Passaic
Lisa Fricker- United German Hungarians
Morgan Schulz- Enzian Volkstanzgruppe
After the dancing was complete, lunch was served buffet style and everyone got to catching up! Thanks to those who attended from the following clubs; Enzian Volkstanzgruppe, Bavarian Club Edelweiss West Chester, United German Hungarians, Edelweiss Passaic, Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein, S. V. Alt Washingtonia, Auerhahn Schuhplattler Verein, Almrausch Altoona, G.T.V. Almrausch, Schlierachtaler Stamm, Alpenland Tanzer, & Gemuetlichen Enzianer. It was wonderful to see everyone back together! Even after some lost time, there definitely is one thing we as trachtlers know to do; Dance!
A workshop was orchestrated by some of our dancers, and lots of help from our audience! Dancers young and old took the stage to learn new and old dances. We started with a Hungarian dance called Brasovanca, a simple dance for all ages that starts off slower and gets faster and faster. We moved on from that to some more classic folk dances such as the Lamberger Almtanz and the Hammerschimed, a hand clapping dance in a four-some. One more fun exercise we shared with the children was what we like to call the “broom dance.” This dance, emulating musical chairs, involves a conga line of dancers, the first holding a broom! When the music stops, the broom is dropped, and you must find a partner to polka with! Whoever is left without a partner grabs the broom, and so on. The children especially loved this one! Of course, finally, a Massenplattler was performed with guests of all ages.
We could not have put on this event without the extraordinary help from our very own members; from set up, food prep, dance helpers, scoresheet collectors, certificate makers, hair braiders, to event break down, we do it all! The Mid-Atlantic region loves to dance together and especially loves to learn and share new dances with each other. It is truly special the bonds and relationships we have with each other, as well as the talent and beautiful dancers we possess as well. We have so much to be proud of, as dancers, clubs, regions, and as the Gauverband Nordamerika as well. From the looks on the faces of the children on that July 20, it is evident that the future in schuhplattler in the United States is and will continue to be strong.
Karina E. Fricker
Featured Photo courtesy of Stephen Hargreaves.
