the immediate precursors of today's schuhplatter were the 18th century minuet, quadrille and française, but unlike these courtly and highly stylized dances, the early plattlers of the common folk were free of rules. the young men improvised their leaps, stomps, and acrobatic figures "as it struck their fancy." acrobatics were an important part of the dance at least by the 1820s, when boys began balancing on the shoulders of their partners and stamping their feet rhythmically on the ceiling!