Compagnie Galouche perform at Warwick Folk Festival Fringe 2024

A group of sword dancers from Quevaucamps, Belgium, the company perpetuates in its spring ritual the killing of the Galouche wolf, symbol of harsh winters.
The sword dance is an ancient ritual dance dating from the 14th century.
It is carried out by men linked by swords. The crossing of swords in very specific and rhythmic times is the symbol of the passage of young adolescents into the community of men.
Galouche, the name of the group, refers to a mythical wolf from the 17th century. During the dance, the wolf does not hesitate to taunt the dancers, tease the audience and entertain the children...
The Galouche Company has existed since 1995.
The dance is performed in our region every year, two weeks before Easter. It comes from a local Beloeil legend. At the beginning of the 16th century, a wolf came very close to the houses of the village and the prince of the time, Antoine de Ligne, requisitioned the sharecroppers to hunt it down.
Dissatisfied with Charles V's refusal not to include him in the Order of the Golden Fleece, he founded his own "Order of the Wolf" as a parody, whose decorations show a wolf with a sheep between its teeth.
Warwick Folk Festival
A weekend festival of the very best in contemporary & traditional folk arts from the UK and beyond. Held in the the heart of the country in the picturesque & historic Warwick town.