The dancing of the guards

What is „Garde“?

A guard in the carnival sense can be: a group satirising the military or a dance group. These guards are an important part of stage shows and parades on the street. They are around for almost a hundred years. 

Traditional costume of a Tanzmariechen (Female Guard Dancer) of 

the Group “Blaue Funken” from Cologne, picture: © Raimond Spekking 

CC BY-SA 4.0 www.wikipedia.org, slightly modified

Carnival garrison emerged as a persiflage (witty mockery by exaggerating imitation) on the military. They originated in the 1820s and 1830s. Traditionally they danced to marching music. At the same time, a different style of dance inspired by Slavic and Bavarian folk music developed in the Netherlands and Belgium. This dancing is done in polka style. While the marching style is more military and jagged, dances in polka style also contain gymnastic and acrobatic elements. The dancing usually takes place in groups. But there are also solo performances and dancing couples.

Although every guard is free in designing their uniforms, many guards are strongly inspired by historical models. Especially uniforms from the 17th to the 19th century are often faithfully reproduced, often in elaborate manual work. Dancing guard costumes nowadays are more oriented to modern cuts and fabrics. Guard dance is also practiced as a competitive sport - up to European Championships.

You want to get an impression of the dances:

Polka style (Youtube)
March style 1 (Youtube)
March style 2 (Youtube)

Large mixed guard are typical for the Cologne region. These show very often lifting figures, litters and acrobatic inserts : Westerwaldsterne (Youtube)