The very first Oktoberfest in 1810 was a wedding celebration for the crown prince of Bavaria. Like all great weddings, dance was a centerpiece of the event.

Now over 200 years later, Oktoberfest celebrations have spread around the world, and among the many beers, bratwursts and dirndles you will still find groups celebrating with the traditional Bavarian dances of the time.

The Vail Oktoberfest celebrations in Lionshead Village are featuring daily performances from the Denver Kickers Schuhplattlers, a traditional dance group based out of Denver that performs dances from the southern region of Germany.

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Schuhplattling is a traditional style of folk dance where performers stomp, clap and slap their shoes, thighs and knees to match the music. The word loosely translates to “shoe slapper.”

Heidi Urie is the leader, or “vorplattler,” of the group, which was started by her father, Karl Groesser, back in 1961. Groesser started the Denver Kickers soccer club after immigrating to Colorado from Germany as a place of congregation and celebration around German heritage. He wanted to keep the culture of his birthplace alive in his new home, and decided to expand the club beyond the sports field by teaching the traditional dances that he had learned in Germany.

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Today, the Denver Kickers Schuhplattlers has around 20 members, nearly all of whom are relatives of Groesser. Urie said that the dancing traditions are passed on to many family members from the time that they are young children, and the performances are as much a family reunion as they are a show. 

“We are a family group and we do this for all of us to get together and keep some of that German heritage going,” Urie said. “This was my life growing up, so it’s something I’m really proud of. I’ve gotten all of our boys into it and our young grandkids are starting. They’re putting their lederhosen on at two and three, and they’re wanting to try this.”

The performers wear “tracht,” or traditional garments, when performing, and these are stylized in the south Bavarian fashion, found near the Black Forest. The dances are performed in groups, mostly with men and women, and are often designed so that the individual dancers are arranged to form different shapes, such as a star, a crown or even a windmill. The men also perform solo dances with the powerful stomping and slapping movements characteristic of the plattling style.

“They’re all cultural, they’re all traditional, they’re all from the way back when,” Urie said. “These are the dances that my dad taught everybody and we just continued with the same ones.”

Kevin Urie, Heidi’s husband, learned schuhplattling and other styles when he married into the family. He said that he sees the performances as an important way to preserve the traditional styles, which are fading not only among German immigrants to the US but in Germany as well. 

“Carrying on that heritage from an old country or Europe as you have generations come and go, it’s harder and harder to keep that cultural aspect going,” Kevin Urie said. “It’s a very unique style of dance that even when you go to Europe today, it’s hard to witness, quite honestly. It’s even being lost in Germany. It still exists, but it’s not as prevalent, so for me that’s one of the enticing pieces is to try and carry on that traditional European style.”

There are competitive dance groups that focus on perfecting technique, but Heidi Urie said that their primary goal is to connect with each other, connect with the community and have fun.

“We don’t have to be really stone faced and serious in our hand movements and every slap on our leg has to be the same and every footstep has to be the same,” Heidi Urie said. “We like to go out because we enjoy it. It is fun to do, and we just want everyone to have fun.”

The Denver Kickers Schuhplattlers are based out of a clubhouse in Golden, where they host dances during Oktoberfest and the maypole celebrations in May. The Uries said that they are always willing to teach people interested in the dance style, and hope to continue perpetuating the art form for generations to come.

You can see the Denver Kickers Schuhplattlers perform throughout the weekend and then they return on Saturday Sept. 17 in Vail Village. For more information, visit DenverKickers.com/dances.