PHILOCHOROS     STUDENTERNAS FOLKDANSFÖRENING

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Philochoros, the Royal Uppsala University Folk Dance Society

Philochoros is the folk dance society for the students in Uppsala. We dance Swedish folk dances from all over the country and from different times.
Today, Philochoros has around 200 members, of which maybe 100 are active. The last years, our beginner's courses have been quite crowded so we believe Swedish folk dance is growing again. Our main group dances every Wednesday (except during the summer holidays), in the autumn we have a beginner's course and in the spring an advanced course.
We are also interested in regional costumes ("Folkdräkter") and have over the years collected a lot of knowledge about them.

Philochoros' History

Philochoros dates back to 1880, and at that time only men studied at Uppsala University so on performances the most female looking boys dressed up in women's costumes. On normal dance evenings, however, the dancers invited girls from the city of Uppsala, properly chaperoned by a few elderly ladies, of course.
Already in 1883, Philochoros went on the first "tournée" around Sweden, performing in 35 places. The tour was both a research expedition to collect dances, music, and regional costumes, and a way to spread some of the Swedish folk dances the group already knew.
In the 1950's, Philochoros member Bo Peterson (still active) did a great job in finding and writing down many dances that were almost forgotten, including typical dances from Uppland. Many of the Swedish polskas from all around the country were saved for the afterworld in this way. Often, only a few people were still alive to show the dance, and Bo worked hard to find those people and get them to show these "old, unfashionable dances".
In 1976, Philochoros went to the USA. The nice folder made for this occasion is available on the web.

Folk Dance Exchange, Visits, Tours, and International Contacts

We still often go on tours, to festivals, or to visit other folk dancers around the world. If you are interested to come with your group to Sweden for a dance visit, or want to invite us to your country, don't hesitate to call us.
Tina Lindeberg
Thomas Matzen, phone: + 46 (0)18 244 168

Postal address:
Philochoros
Box 2087
S-750 02 Uppsala
Sweden