Alkuone
Our History
1957: Oscar Van Malder, a physical education teacher and dancer at Elza Darciel’s dance school, started up a boys’ flag throwing group in Aalst’s vocational school.
Starting in 1969, girls were allowed to join, as well, and dance started playing a bigger role in the group’s activities.
Originally, the name of the group was Wolfsangel, but in order to avoid confusion with a contemporary militant organization, the name was changed to Alkuone. “Alkuone” is the Dutch name for Alcyone, the character from Greek mythology who was turned into a kingfisher by Zeus. The kingfisher, with its beautiful colors and social nature, zeroes in on its target, soaring high and free in the endless sky. This guiding symbol was sure to bring our group a beautiful future, stretching across the wide world.
Today, Royal Art Group Alkuone is an artistic group with over 150 members, employees and board members. The boys and girls of Alkuone take dance, percussion and flag lessons from a dynamic team of instructors and choreographers. The group is supported by a Board of Directors and a daily management team.
Royal Art Group Alkuone performs dance and flag shows on stages and squares in Belgium and around the world. King Albert II awarded Alkuone the title “Royal Art Group Alkuone” in recognition of its 50-year anniversary. What’s more, in 2007, Alkuone founder Oscar Van Malder was named “Honorary Citizen of the City of Aalst.”
Vision
Alkuone aims to help young people discover their potential skills and talents, so that they can develop their own personality in a friendly, artistic environment. Alkuone does this by offering dance, flag dance, flag throwing and percussion.
Alkuone also achieves its goal by creating unique opportunities, such as performances, tours and events – both locally and worldwide. All of this is made possible through the dedicated engagement of members and their parents. Participation in Alkuone opens the door to lasting friendships.
Alkuone's "65th" party
An organization’s 60-year anniversary is definitely cause for celebration!
In times of social media and the Internet, young and old continue to rehearse exceptional dance, flag and percussion routines.
Alkuone is a splendid example of what an organization actually is: like-minded people who share the same passions, enjoy being around others, and want to make things happen.
That’s what inspired the unique celebratory performance “ALKUONE IN CONCERT” in Schotte in Aalst.
With our endless thanks to the founder, Oscar van Malder.
Countries visited
Alkuone international
Bahamas
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
China
Croatia
Germany
United Kingdom
France
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Luxembourg
The Netherlands
Norway
Montenegro
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
San Marino
Spain
Syria
Czech Republic
Thailand
USA
SouthAfrica
