After a month or two of laying down the blue tape circle and practicing, five of our Jugend group dancers were ready to compete at the Mid-Atlantic Jugend Einzel Competition. Doors opened at the Delaware Saengerbund at 9:00 am on Saturday, March 9 to welcome the dancers and their “support crews”, the tables filled up quickly as we grabbed some breakfast and helped our dancers finish getting dressed.
Our youngest dancers were up first in the critiquing category and Michael K. Fricker kicked us off with a huge smile on his face and lots of energy! Charlotte and Joey Galgon were up next, I just love how much they enjoy dancing with each other! Our last dancer in this section was Kurt Blank, who danced with Charlotte as well, Kurt really improved a lot since last year and looked like he had a lot of fun out on the floor! Can’t wait to see how all these kids progress in the coming years.
After many more couples took to the floor, it was finally time for the German Hungarian’s final competitor, Evangeline Noel! Evie has been working extra hard this year, her age group is probably one of the most competitive right now. She danced beautifully with Evan Wolz! Special thanks to Evan for standing in as Evie’s partner, even though he aged out of “Jugend” a few years ago now, we know we can always count on him to perform well with anyone he dances with.
As the scores were being tallied, the accordion players teamed up to play some tunes for everyone to enjoy and dance to as we chatted with friends from other clubs. When it came time for the presentation of awards, we all gathered around and listened close. We are happy to announce that our very own Evie won 1st Preis in the 12-15 age category!
So proud of all the Kinder! It’s great to see the younger generations wanting to improve their dancing skills and German culture through this annual event.
A special thanks to the parents and support crew that came out for our kids, and of course a huge thank you to Dino for playing for our dancers!
Thank you to our friends at Enzian Volkstanzgruppe for hosting another fun-filled day of dancing!
Emma Walter
Here are the full results from all age groups:
Ages 9-11
Girls:
- Erin Loveless – Enzian Volkstanzgruppe
- Eva Kane – Enzian Volkstanzgruppe
Boys:
- Mahlon Rodak – Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein-Lancaster
- Finn Sheaffer – Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein-Lancaster
Ages 12-15
Girls:
- Evangeline Noel – United German Hungarians
- Cacilie Clark – G.T.V. Almrausch
Boys:
- Jamey Rife – Alt Washingtonia Schuhplattler Verein
- Matt Marek – Enzian Volkstanzgruppe
Ages 16-20
Girls:
- Mia Hutchinson – Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein-Lancaster
- Lucy Draeger – Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein-Lancaster
Boys:
- Landen Klingenmaier – Alpenrose Schuhplattler Verein-Lancaster
