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“You start to sweat”: The prize winners Vitus (9, left) and Hubert Weber from Mattenhofen near Glonn are excellent Schuhplattlers. © Private
Hubert (11) and Vitus (9) Weber from Mattenhofen near Glonn never fail to impress with their special skills in Schuhplattler dancing. They have now entrusted the EZ with their secret of success.
Glonn – Nine-year-old Vitus Weber explains what is important when dancing Schuhplattler: it is all about posture, “and that you lift your feet up and don’t pull your toes together, but rather bend them,” he says in a Bavarian accent that you rarely hear these days. And then he adds: “And it depends on how you pull yourself together.”
Vitus is an expert in his field, as is his eleven-year-old brother Hubert. The two from the small village of Mattenhofen in the Glonn municipality won the prize-winning dance competition this year in a competition between four clubs, Vitus as first in the group of seven to nine-year-olds, Hubert as second in the group of ten to twelve-year-olds.
“That makes you sweat”: Schuhplattler brothers win trophies
So much for the theory. It’s better to just have the whole thing demonstrated in practice. Vitus and Hubert willingly line up in front of you, without the usual lederhosen, and think for a moment about which Plattler it should be. OK, the Isartoier (for newcomers: the Isartaler). And then it starts: they stamp their feet five times, with a break in between, then the two stand on the balls of their feet and start jumping in a rhythmic and absolutely synchronized movement, while they alternately hit their thighs and shoes with a powerful clap. So precise that it sounds like a single beat. If the music were playing along, you would be able to hear: It’s in three-quarter time.
Without company, it’s hard for a spectator to keep up with the counting: aha, now a two-beat, pause, then a five-beat, and then another beat, pause. While the two of them dance in front of you, you can see why you shouldn’t turn your toes in, but have to pull them down. The jumps are more cushioned. You can see the exertion in their calves and you can see that the two of them deserved to win their trophies. “You’re already sweating,” says Hubert, as he sits back down on his chair. And what’s it like without leather trousers? Then it’s not so nice, you find out, and your thighs sometimes turn red.
The secret of success lies in the pre-plattler and strong nerves
So that was the Isartaler Plattler. “Almost every Plattler starts with the five-beat o,” explains Hubert expertly. After the opening stomps, the Plattlers vary. “Sometimes a Glatschn is added, or you hit it at the end.” Each Plattler, we learn, has a different melody. “My friend,” says Hubert, “doesn’t even know the names, he hears the music, and only then does he know whether the Plattler goes like this or like that.” We ask: How many Plattlers are there in total? Vitus and Hubert look at each other and shrug their shoulders; they themselves can play eight different ones. On the Bavarian Traditional Costume Association’s website, we later learn that there are supposed to be around 150 different Schuhplattlers between Königssee and Lake Constance alone.
The two bright brothers are asked why they are so successful. It depends on the lead dancer and whether he can teach the children well, says Hubert. And you shouldn’t be “scared” when dancing in front of an audience. He’s not, he says, because he plays the tenor horn and trumpet and is used to spectators. And his younger brother Vitus also has stage experience; he is learning “Ziachmusi”. Is there anything the two of them want to improve? “If I haven’t danced the Plattler for a long time, then my knees start to shake and then I run out of energy,” says Hubert. Vitus, on the other hand, resolves to wobble less. And is there a great role model? “The Auer traditional costume association,” says Vitus. “Roman, our lead dancer,” says Hubert.
