Schwaben Dancers
Who'sWho
The Schwaben Dancers is run by an elected committee. The current committee is:
- President: Andrea Adam
- Vice President: Vanessa Adam
- Secretary: Brandy Chapman
- Treasurer: Nick Lang
- Costume Director: Jennifer Harvey
The Schwaben Dancers are an energetic, german-folk dance group who love
to entertain.
We perform numerous times throughout the year, in many different locations
and events.
In the past few years our dance group has performed in Germany, Los
Angeles, Milwaukee, Windsor, and Toronto. We are also kept very busy
during Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest, where we perform many times during
the 9 day festival.
The Costume
Women's Costume
The ladies' dancing costume is a blue dirndl. A light blue material makes up the top of the dirndl, and a dark, satiny blue makes up the flowing bottom.The skirt is accented with silver braid and a delicate white lace.
The ladies in the dance group have the option of two blouses; a cotton
and a lace blouse. Also worn under the dirndl, are a white slip and
pettipants (bloomers).
A white lace apron is worn over the dirndl and tied in the front, on the
left side.
The dirndl is worn with white nylons and black character shoes with 1 -
2" heels.
The Ladies' Trachts are worn for more formal occasions and performances. This consists of a burgundy skirt worn with a black lace apron tied in the back. On top is a white lace or cotton blouse with a black velvet vest over top. Under the tracht are two starched white petticoats. White nylons and black character shoes are worn with this costume.
The Mens Tracht
The men's costume is a black vest with silver buttons and the club crest. This is worn with a white dress shirt (with the sleeves rolled up above the elbows for performances) and black dress pants. Any leather-soled, black dress shoes can be worn, with black socks. Many men also wear pins on their vests.
Our Repertoire
The Schwaben Dancers currently have a repertoire of about 20 dances, with new ones constantly being learned. We are famous for our arial manoevers, which are featured in several of our dances, and for the fast pace and quick beat to which most of our dances are set.
Flinke Schwabe
Flinke is a dance that can be done by any number of couples, including only one, since the pairs remain seperate and don't interact during the dance. A short but very fast paced dance, this one was introduced by our choreographer as "the longest minute and a half of your life.
Oma
This dance is a "story" dance which tells the tale of a group of men and a group of women kept apart by a chaperoning Oma (grandmother). The Oma character, a balloon busted matron with questionable fashion sense, was first performed by our choreographer. By now, nearly everyone, male and female, has taken a turn at the role!
Wilde-Hummel
Wildehummel is a dance performed by four couples only. Involving a men-only spin and a section where the women are picked up, this is certainly one of our showier and more difficult dances.
Lieschen
Lieschen is a fast-paced march-in, which involves a lot of intricacy. The dancers quickly weave amongst each other, and create two, interlocking windmill
Laendler
Laendler is one of our newest dances, choreographed by Sheri Lotrijan. It is a slow, elegant waltz with many intricate spins and holds. It premiered at Landestrachtenfest 1999 and has been part of the normal repetoire ever since.
Circle Dances
The circle dances include Zillertaller, Rheinlander, Jugendfreude, Bicenntennial and Tetski. All these dances can be done by any number of couples and involve circles where the dancers interact with each other. These dances all incorporate traditional steps such as polkas, waltzes and wechselschritt.
Stick Dance
The Stick Dance is performed only by the male dancers and involves large, wooden sticks. This dangerous dance involves the tossing and hitting of these sticks, acting out a battle between two groups of guys.
Kreutzkoenig
Kreutz is one of our most difficult and best-looking dances. It is performed by only two couples at a time and involves the infamous "Kreutz fly". On a hot day or by the end of a long performance, this dance can present quite a danger to the dancers!
Anton aus Tirol
Anton is a fast polka, danced to a german techno song. Amongst the fast moving foot work, the dance involves acting too. The guys are attempting to impress the girls and hopefully win one over. This is a humerous dance, which always gets the crowd going.
If you are interested in joining or wanting to book the dance group for a performance, please contact one of our dance group presidents, Andrea Adam - andrea_kja@hotmail.com; or you can call the Schwaben Club at 742-7979. Dance practices take place Sunday evenings, from 4:00-6:00pm.