Belreguardo

Our Ancient Dance Company…
The BELREGUARDO Ancient Dance Company has adopted this name to recall the beauty of a vanished past that returns to life through dance.
The purpose of the BELREGUARDO company is not only to produce philologically adapted performances, but also to maintain and enhance the crucial characteristics of the dance of the XVth Century, in which the dancer is both performer and spectator.
The BELREGUARDO company, formed in Assisi in 1993, has brought several performances in Italy and Europe under the leadership of Chieko Ono, who deals with philological research aimed at the reconstruction and teaching of XVth and XVIth Centuries dances. The company’s costumes were faithfully reconstructed on the basis of the iconographic sources of the period.

‘Belreguardo’ was the largest and most sumptuous Estense villa, surrounded by magnificent gardens. Nicholas (Niccolò) III d’Este built it near the city of Ferrara during the 15th Century. Its splendour was celebrated by numerous artists, including the famous master Domenico da Piacenza who created a dance with the same name as the villa.