Joyous Gard

Joyous Gard is a dance group from Uppsala, Sweden, which reconstructs and performs dances from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The group consists mainly of members of the international non-profit organisation SCA, but others are welcome to join. It has been in existence since 1988 and has around fifteen members.

Most of our dances are from Renaissance Italy. Among the dancing masters whose works we perform are Dominico de Ferrara, Guglielmo Ebreo, and Antonio Cornazano, of the 15th century, and Fabritio Caroso and Cesare Negri of the 16th. We normally do one performance a year, with names such as An evening in Verona, A summer in Mantua, and Via, macchia maledetta!

Dancing in the Middle Ages and Renaissance differs from that of our time in more than choreography. During that time, dancing was not only done for enjoyment and to further contact with the opposite sex, but also a manifestation of power and wealth. The choreography is often aimed at a specific place, the so-called presence, where the most important audience would be seated. In other words, these dances are performance dances. Performances give us the opportunity to show the dance as it should be seen: with the dancers wearing the clothes of the period and in front of an audience.