Another weekend, another ball... another gown!

This past Saturday, we attended the annual Hartford Ball, hosted by the ECD group Reel Nutmeg.  It was held in the beautiful hall of the Keeney Memorial Cultural Center located in historic Wethersfield, CT.  During the afternoon rehearsal session, which was very well attended, we reviewed the more advanced dances on the evening's program, accompanied by the lively music of Spare Parts.  This was very helpful, since the majority of the dances were new to us.  Included in this set was a reconfiguration of "Fair and Softly"; usually a longways set, Reel Nutmeg rearranged it into a demi-mixer square!  Yikes!  We ran home afterward for a quick dinner and to change into our finery for the evening.  I finally finished my Regency gown, so I decided to wear it for this ball.  I'm not entirely happy with the way it turned out, but I'm glad to have it done.  (A separate post on that will follow soon.)

Ashley's new Regency gown at the 2011 Hartford Ball.

The room was full for the evening with three longways sets of dancers reaching the entire length of the hall.  As usual, there was a mix of historically inspired costumes (mostly Regency-esque) and modern formal wear.  The evening music was provided by Karen Axelrod, Ethan Hazzard-Watkins, and Anna Patton.  In addition to featuring varying degrees of difficulty, the collection of dances also ranged from the early dances of Playford ("Apley House" and "Prince William" were included) to some more modern ECD arrangements.  Reel Nutmeg was a fabulous host and in addition to keeping us well hydrated, provided the dancers with a beautiful spread of snacks and sweets!  We were both exhausted (and achy!) after a long day of dancing, but once again, it was all well worth it.  Thank you to Reel Nutmeg and all of our fellow ECD dancers for another fun event!

Dancers at the 2011 Hartford Ball.

With so much dancing, we hardly had a chance to snap some pictures!  We did manage to grab a couple quick videos, though.  Uploaded on our flickr page is a clip of Reel Nutmeg's "Fair and Softly" as "Lovely and Whispered" and another of "Prince William."  Enjoy!