By Helen Harlan

It’s 6 p.m. on a Thursday at the Sacramento Turn Verein and it’s hot outside — 110 degrees as Sacramento is still in the grips of an intense heat wave.

But on the second floor of the Turn Verein, located at 3349 J St. in East Sacramento, the air conditioner is pumping and the two-dozen members of the Sacramento Turn Verein Alpentänzer Schuhplattler dance troupe file in to kick off its first official summer practice on July 11. 

And kick-off they do. During the almost two-hour practice, the STV Alpentänzer Schuhplattler dancers spin, stomp and kick their way through a repertoire while their accompanying band, the Alpentanzkapelle, rehearses downstairs. 

Alpentänzer Schuhplattler, the traditional folk dancing of Bavaria and Austria performed at Oktoberfest celebrations, translates to “Alpine-dancing shoe-slapper.” The STV Alpentänzer Schuhplattler was founded by the late Richard Baltz in the early 1970s at American River College. The group moved to the Turn Verein location on J Street in 2011 and has rehearsed there ever since, in the building that has positioned itself as the center of German traditions in Sacramento since 1854.

The irony that a group is gathering in the oppressively hot northern Central Valley to perform dancing associated with snowy mountains, ski lodges and cold beer isn’t lost on Turn Verein Trustee Ingeborg Carpenter, 73.

“Where I am from, 70 degrees is hot,” says the Frankfort-born Carpenter, who doesn’t dance with the group but serves as its Trachtenmutter, or “costume mother” and keeps the costumes in check.

Ethan Sprock, 31, the STV Alpentänzer Schuhplattler’s Vorplattler, or “male lead,” joined the group when he was president of ARC’s German Club and had started volunteering for festivals held at Turn Verein. 

“I saw everyone dancing one night. I thought, ‘Hey, I want to enrich myself more and get more involved in the community,’” Sprock says.

Sprock shares the task of leading the group with Lila Wallrich, 60, the creative director and CEO of Wallrich Creative Communications. Wallrich is the troupe’s Vortänzerin, or “lead lady.” 

“Lila keeps in great communication with people. She’s a very involved person,” dancer BillyJean Vollman, 43, who joined in late 2023, says. “I’m kinda just going with the flow and learning new things. And there is so much to learn and know.”

Wallrich has been with the STV Alpentänzer Schuhplattler dancers for eight years. She joined after watching her sister and cousin play in the band. Her son, Jake Wallrich, 32, and niece, Allison Wilbanks, 27, are also part of the dance troupe.

“I kinda got dragged in, but in a fun way,” Wilbanks says as she joins the group in a circle on the floor.

Tonight, and for the next 10 weeks, these dedicated dancers of the STV Alpentänzer Schuhplattler are preparing for their fall Oktoberfest tour schedule, starting Sept. 14 with a doubleheader in Benicia.

Ethan Maiuro says he dances with the troupe because it’s pretty casual, accepting and open. He is the youngest dancer in the group and enjoys playing Dungeons & Dragons with some of the troupe members outside of practice. Maiuro has been with the STV Alpentänzer Schuhplattler since he took German as a student at Elk Grove High School six years ago and received extra credit for joining. He says that the physical closeness of the dance space might be overwhelming for a newcomer, but not for him.

“You have to get close with a lot of people,” Maiuro says. “This whole thing is people.”

Once everyone says their hellos and buckles on their dance shoes, Wallrich cues up a recognizable tune from “The Sound of Music,” and practice begins. Many sport elements of the Miesbacher Tracht — the traditional Bavarian costume— which they wear in their entirety at their formal performances. It costs around $1,000 and is made in Germany. 

The group forms a circle and starts the Eckerischer Länder, listed as “easy,” on the repertoire of over 30 dances Wallrich has printed out as a sort of schedule. All of the dances performed are a waltz, ländler or polka and they are all — by any outsider’s account — fast. The dances are gendered and men and women have specific roles. 

“If someone struggles with their waltz, they’re going to struggle with absolutely everything,” Wallrich says.

The group will spend many fall weekends traveling to Oktoberfest celebrations all over Northern California, from Stockton to Auburn to Tahoe, then perform twice at their Oktoberfest celebrations at the Turn Verein on Oct. 11 and 12. 

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Wallrich says. 

The Turn Verein’s motto is “Sound Mind, Sound Body.” The STV Alpentänzer Schuhplattler falls under its umbrella of activities, like German language classes and soccer, which are all open to the public.

“You don’t have to be a German,” Carpenter says. “But it helps if you like Germany.”

This story was funded by the City of Sacramento’s Arts and Creative Economy Journalism Grant to Solving Sacramento. Following our journalism code of ethics and protocols, the city had no editorial influence over this story and no city official reviewed this story before it was published. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19.