Country: Himmerland, Denmark
Type: couple dance
Formation: open circle of couples, M with backs to centre of circle, W facing into circle, hands on hips.
Steps:
hop med fodskift (slow & rapid forward-back scissor step),
polka
Sheet music: (1) 358:125;
(2) Foreningen til Folkedansens Fremme (FFF)/ Gamle Himmerlands-danse. 4 opl.
København: Foreningen til Folkdansens Fremme, 1978, p.12.
(3) Stahl, Wilhelm/ Niederdeutsche Volkstänze. Reprint 1998. Hamburg: Paul Harting Verlag, 1921. p 27.
Recordings:
Bernie Wyte & his Musette Orchestra 'Herr Schmidt polka' 1953 [Internet Archive];
Folkedanseorkestret (His Master's Voice (A.L. 1358)) [Internet Archive];
Folkedanseorkestret 'silderumpen & Henrik Smith' (His Master's Voice (A.L. 1358)) [Internet Archive];
Folkedanseorkestret 'sønderhoning, silderumpen & Henrik Smith' (His Master's Voice (A.L. 1358)) [Internet Archive];
Banda Mensagem 'Herr Schmidt' [YouTube];
Follaton 'Tschiberli' [YouTube];
Freddie "Schnickelfritz" Fisher and his orchestra 'Herr Schmidt' (Decca (45067 A)) 1938 [Internet Archive];
Adolph Hofner 'Herr Schmidt' Rockin' and A-Boppin' - The Sarg Records Anthology 1954-1973 [YouTube];
Kapelle Otto Kermbach 'Herr Schmidt, Herr Schmidt, was kriegt die Jule mit?' Licht aus, Messer raus! (Tanzmusik der 30ER) [YouTube];
Louie and his Old Time Band 'Herr Schmidt' [Internet Archive];
Marc Chevrier et son orchestre 'Chiberli' Échos du Morvan [YouTube];
'Herr Schmidt' Musicas em Pomerano [YouTube];
Os 3 Xirús & Banda 'Herr Schmit' Alegres Músicas Alemäs [YouTube];
Red River Dave & the Texas Tophands 'Herr Schmidt' 1949 [Internet Archive];
Rudy Plocar's orchestra 'Herr Schmidt & Finger-tanz' [Internet Archive].
unattributed 'Herr Schmidt/Herr Schmied' from Czech Republic, Germany, Poland [Dancilla];
unattributed 'Herr Schmidt/Monsieur le forgeron' from Alsace, France [Dancilla];
| Bars | Part | Dance progression: |
| 1-2 | (a) | Figuré: Couples dance 2 slow forward-back scissor steps, beginning with L scissor step, [ie one per bar]. |
| 3-4 | Couples dance 4 rapid forward-back scissor steps, twice as quickly [ie two per bar]. | |
| 5-8,1-8 | Repeat (a) 3 times. | |
| |:9-16:| | (b) | Polka: Couples take waltz hold, and dance polka, moving in LOD around the floor. 16 polka steps. |
| Repeat from (a) as desired. |
See YouTube videos of 'Chiberli' from the Netherlands (Lët'zFolk Lëtzebuerger Folklor,
Folklor Dänz) and Germany
Kaiserstadt Kulturkreis Volkstanzgruppe.
Dancilla videos
'Herr Schmidt/Monsieur le forgeron' from Alsace, France (with
Les Kochlöffel de Souffelweyersheim,
Groupe Folklorique du Pays de Xacau).
'Chibreli Alsacien/Rutsch hin, rutsch her' from Alsace, France, with
Les Kochlöffel de Souffelweyersheim,
Groupe des danses populaires de Kuttolsheim,
Groupe Folklorique du Pays de Xacau.
Provenance: This dance became very popular, especially in Germany and central Europe around 1820-1830. The music has it's roots in a Portuguese military march from the 1790s, and was spread throughout Europe by the Napoleonic wars. The dance likely originated in the area of Berlin and Halle as "Hallescher Stiefelknecht-Galop". In the early 1830s, a student in Halle wrote lyrics for the tune, which begin "Herr Schmidt!, Herr Schmidt! Wir haben eine Bitt", and which contributed to the tune's popularity. Wolfram, an Austrian folkdance researcher, has identified the dance under a variety of names throughout Germany, eastern provinces of France such as Lorraine (Chiberli) and the Languedoc (Sauteuse), Switzerland (Ziberli and Tschiberli), the Netherlands and Flanders (Jan Piet and De Smid), as well as Czechoslovakia and Latvia. In Finland, Heikel (1938, p.459) notes that the dance, known as 'Mäster Schmidt' likely was brought to Finland by sailors from the Hamburg dance halls.
Source: Foreningen til Folkedansens Fremme (FFF)/ Gamle Himmerlands-danse. 4 opl.
København: Foreningen til Folkdansens Fremme, 1978, p. 12.
See also:
-- Sørensen, Per '
Henrik Smith fra Himmerland'. in:
Dansens og musikkens rødder nr. 34, Jan. 1999. [in Danish]
-- Heikel, Yngvar/ Folkdans: B. dansbeskrivningar sammanställda av Yngvar Heikel.
(Skrifter utgivna av Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, 268; Finlands Svenska folkdiktning, VI) Faksimilutgåva 1982.
Helsingfors: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland, 1938. p.459.
-- 'Herr Schmidt' in: Knappe, Adolf/ Die Volkslieder und Volkstänze des Riesen- und Isergebirges. Hirschberg: , 1912 . [in German]
-- 'Herr Schmidt' in: Stahl, Wilhelm/ Niederdeutsche Volkstänze. Reprint 1998. Hamburg: Paul Harting Verlag, 1921. p 27. [in German]
-- Wolfram, Richard/ Die Volkstänze in Österreich und verwandte Tänze in Europa. Salzburg: Otto Müller Verlag, 1951. [in German]
-- 'Smit-Polka' in: Brinkers, Christa / Emsland singt und tanzt. Meppen: Verlag des Emsländischen Heimatvereins, 1955. [in German]
-- 'Herr Schmidt' on dancilla wiki [additional German sources]
Translation: Laine Ruus, Oakville, 2022-09-23, rev. 2023-01-30.
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