SG Edelweiss

In 1961, the German Club of the International Institute of St. Paul, Minnesota, started a dance group to represent them at the Festival of Nations. May Rose and Joe Perrault were engaged to be the instructors and members were encouraged to bring their children along. The performances at the festival went well, but most of the adults found they want... ed to spend their time at other endeavors, leaving the childrens group to be on their own. Practices were moved to the old International Institute building, the site of todays River Centre. Every other Saturday afternoon, the children would meet, where May Rose and Joe continued instruction on many different German and Austrian dances. In addition to nursing homes and shopping centers, we performed annually at the Junior Festival of Nations. It wasnt long, however, before the group split into junior and senior sections. The older kids met and chose Edelweiss Tnzers as their new name. Our debut as Edelweiss Tnzers was at the St. Paul Harding High School International Festival. We went on to perform at the St. Paul Winter Carnival and the LaCrosse, Wisconsin Oktoberfest, and many others. In 1967, we met another group of German dancers from Red Lodge, Montana. They came to Minneapolis to promote their local ski area, and we instituted an exchange that took us on our first major trip. With several chaperones, sixteen members took the train to Red Lodge for a ski and dance Easter vacation. When we returned, we had added two dances to our repertoire. The Mühlradl and the Bayrischzeller Schuhplattler which remain two of our favorite dances. The summer of 1968 found us performing the Mühlradl on a national television special Bill Danas A Look on the Light Side. That year, we also started working earnestly toward a trip to Europe. We held car washes, sold candy, sponsored benefit dances, and staffed a Bratwurst booth at the Minnesota State Fair Gasthaus Edelweiss. We also made many appearances throughout the Twin Cities area, including the Minneapolis Aquatennial (where some ...Read More