Folk dance lovers, this show is for you

Dancing in period costumes, but also singing and small dialogues to immerse us in village life, 100 years ago… The Seebach folk group offers a unique show that brings together all generations. See you this Saturday, May 4 to be amazed.

The bet seemed a bit crazy, but they did it. In just four months, the dancers of the Seebach folk group managed to put on a great show. Unheard of for them, used to performing series of a few dances during parties and festivals, but not to liven up the stage for more than an hour. They will take up the challenge this Saturday, May 4.

“Born in Seebach in 1920” retraces the highlights of daily life in the village in the past, punctuated by the seasons and traditions : work in the fields at the end of winter, the conscript period and marriage. Three paintings, inspired by the life of a local figure, Madeleine Rott, the last resident to have married according to the rites of Streisselhochzeit, with her husband Hans.

“We don’t tell his story, not at all, insists Yolande Brinster, artistic director of the folk group. But what she experienced, the vast majority of the population also experienced in Seebach. Madeleine is the only centenarian in the village. She is one of the founding members of our association and has met lots of people, so it was a good benchmark.”

A little girl, a teenager then a young woman embody Madeleine throughout the scenes, between dances, songs and dialogues, almost exclusively in Alsatian.

For this show, the troupe is definitely breaking its codes. For the first time, she will dance in work clothes on stage. Clothes, partly passed down by Madeleine Rott’s family. Like this apron that she wore every day and this other, a little more elegant, that she put on over it to “go to the Coop”. “We found them so beautiful that we had the idea of ​​dancing with them, in addition to our party costumes”confides Corinne Vogel, the president.

They then had to be taken back to adapt or even repair them. An enormous work, largely carried out by Céline Jacky. The thirty-year-old also made new pieces, based on the model of the old ones. “We looked for old fabric and ribbons from the period to make everything as authentic as possibleshe explains, busying herself with her sewing machine. It took us a while. Within the group, we are all happy to wear these clothes and I tell myself that the elders up there must be proud to see us wearing all this.”

The concern for authenticity is pushed down to the smallest details. The association searched the archives to unearth old documents. Photos in particular, which she enlarged and analyzed. For example, to reproduce the hairstyles of yesteryear: “The little girls dance wearing bonnets. We always made them braids because we saw that among the elders. But we had never looked at the photos in detail. And there, during our research, we noticed that the girls wore velvet ribbons in their hair, so we do the same.explains Corinne Vogel.

In the same spirit, the crowns worn by the dancers have also just been remade, using glass and wax beads, as well as flowers. Stitched one after the other on a wire then assembled. “20 hours of work for a single crown. And it took 24…”smiles Céline Jacky.

Quite an incredible dedication, which Tania Binder shares. Her role: embroider the dancers’ initials on their shirts. “This was done systematically at the time. When we find clothes today, we can tell if they belonged to our grandmother, our great-grandmother or someone else, thanks to These initials also allow us to find our way, to know which outfit is whose on the day of the show.she jokes, needle in hand.

New outfits and highly mobilized members… the future looks bright for the Seebach folk group. It has around 80 members, including many teenagers and children who join its ranks each year. The idea for the show was also suggested by young dancers, who recently became presenters.