The last German performance at the Bellaire International Student Association Festival was 14 years ago.

Senior and vice president of German Club Nathaniel Allen swore to change that.

36 days before graduation, in front of 800 people, Allen kept his word at the BISA show.

“I’ve never personally taught a dance before, especially [not] a German slap dance,” Allen said. “I didn’t really know how to teach it to other people at first.”

The dances at Houstonfest and previous BISA performances from other clubs sparked Allen’s promise.

“Seeing all of the German dances at our German competition, Houstonfest, really inspired me to do it,” Allen said. “Bellaire hasn’t seen a German dance or even just German outfits like that in a while.”

Allen held onto that inspiration during his campaign in German Club.

“It was when I was running for VP for German club,” Allen said. “I made a promise that I would do a performance for BISA. And to have my own memory of doing it, of just being able to go through all the practice and then finally doing it.”

Allen took on the challenge of teaching a dance with the former Bellaire student and now German teacher and Belles coach, Hannah Henry.

“A lot of the dancers have very little, if no, prior experience with learning how to dance,” Henry said. “[This] can be challenging as you’re not only teaching the combination itself, how it fits with the music and how it fits with counts, you’re also teaching how to dance, how to anticipate the next movement, how to work with others, etc.”

Over the course of a month and a half, Henry and Allen created a traditional German dance for the performance and led the students through weekly Thursday practices. The two picked clips and music from different German dances they found on YouTube to create a dance the students could learn.

“I kept on watching and watching and watching the video over and over again, especially the slap part,” Allen said.

The “slap part” Allen memorized in roughly three hours – a Bavarian Schuhplattler – a traditional folk dance style that uses stomping, clapping and striking rhythms.

“I was just doing the ‘slappy’ throughout the day, in class,” Allen said. “I kind of got it stuck in my head, but it was fun to do.”

The dancers took on extra practices on Wednesdays in the two weeks leading up to BISA, alongside the weekly Thursday practices, to memorize what they nicknamed the “slappy” section.

“In the boys section for the traditional Bavarian slap dancing, a lot of those practices and the quiet time that they find between classes has been spent together, trying to make sure that everybody understands the combination,” Henry said.

On top of the members’ limited dancing experience and the challenges of learning the “slappy” section, two weeks before the performance, the group had to relocate their rehearsal outdoors to 80-degree, eight UV weather. But junior Alejandra Giron believes the experience benefited the group.

“We were all working together,” Giron said. “Even if we didn’t have a perfect spot, even if we didn’t have the time to go somewhere else or the foresight to go somewhere else, we were all out there struggling. I think it made us stronger because of that.”

Both Henry and Giron agree that each challenge brought the group closer not only in their coordination, but closer to German culture. `

“Getting to watch them learn combinations and understand how it works with the music and also connect with the culture a little bit closer has been really interesting and heartwarming to see,” Henry said.

Although she assisted Allen in leading, Henry decided to let the students lead the way in overcoming adversities.

“A backseat approach to everything [is good], with regards to the students that are involved, that are overcoming those challenges,” Henry said. “I think [in] seeing them work together to help each other achieve their different goals, they’re trying to be successful for the greater good of their community and of their program.”

Giron hopes that in helping achieve Allen’s promise of performing, German culture was shown in a new way.

“I hope [the audience] [saw] other parts of the German country,” Giron said. “I hope that they understood there’s more to German culture, German art, German music and the food, beyond what everybody hears about Germany.”

Her hope for German culture to be seen and grown was reflected in the experiences of students who attended the BISA performance.

“Everyone was telling us how amazing we did, how good we looked,” Giron said. “Everyone just wanted to know more, like, what is it we were trying to do? What is it that we were trying to represent, and how did it go?”

What did the dancers represent? A promise to restart folk dance participation representative of the German program at BISA Fest and the German Regional Contest, Houstonfest and Texas State contest.

“I think with the ability to be able to take these routines to our regional and state German contests, there is a little bit more interest to be able to continue this tradition,” Henry said.

Allen not only fulfilled his promise of a performance but also allowed Henry to add a tradition she missed as a student.

“Even when I was a student here, folk dance was not a thing,” Henry said. “Having the ability to resurrect it as a tradition in the German program, I am of high hopes that it is going to continue for years down the line.”

Both Henry’s hope and the promise Allen made inspired students such as Giron to carry on the tradition.

“I really, really hope GNHS and German clubs next year keep doing this, that we add more, we keep doing more, with the food, with the dances,” Giron said. “I hope that we become a big part of the Bellaire culture.”