An Evening of English Country Dancing: "Mr. Isaac's Maggot"

Our English country dance group held its final dance of the season a couple of weeks ago.  This "last hurrah" before we resume in the fall is traditionally our "Drancy Fess Ball"; see this earlier post from a couple of years ago for the origins and full explanation of the phrase.  This year's theme of "mythical beasts" was a repeat of last year's but nonetheless still succeeded in eliciting some intriguing and very clever interpretations!  Period dress is also (thankfully!) an option for this event, and since I've been so busy with work lately, I didn't have the time or energy to get too creative and just opted to dress for the 18th century instead.  All together, we looked quite an eclectic bunch, but it was a very fun evening and a lovely farewell until we meet again in September.

This year, I attempted my first video recording of a dance and thought it might be fun to share the results!  It isn't by any means a high-quality video; I just rested the camera on top of a spare piano and pressed record and let it go until it stopped itself.  But what it lacks in visual appeal, it more than compensates for in capturing the gorgeous sounds of our very own live band, with whom we have the pleasure and true honor of dancing every week.



This is "Mr Isaac's Maggot," one of my favorites.  It's a duple-minor longways dance, first published in Playford's English Dancing Master in 1695.  Mr. Isaac was one of the premier dancing masters of the latter half of the seventeenth century, earning widespread fame and respect as instructor to Queen Anne and the English court.  The "maggot" referred to in the title is not a creepy-crawly larva, but rather a whim or flight of fancy.  Instructions for this dance, as well as the tune notation, can be readily found online, or in The Playford Ball (which I highly recommed!).

Extra credit to anyone who can identify which film(s) have featured this particular dance!

I wore my (still new-ish) cotton print gown that I started at the B&T workshop last November and finished in January.  This is the third time I've worn it, and I still haven't managed to get any pictures!  This is what happens when your photographer moves seven states away.  :-(  You can catch a couple of glimpses of the finished product here and there in the video, but nothing too exciting.  I promise photos and a decent write-up in Threaded Bliss very, very soon!

2012 Elm City Assembly

On Saturday, our English country dance group hosted its annual Elm City Assembly.  This year was our first in a new venue, which featured a gorgeous, spacious hall for dancing, a lovely picturesque staircase, and plenty of facilities to accommodate our 150 guests and their armfuls of garment bags full of formal wear.  We had dancers drive in from as far away as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York to attend the event, along with lots of fellow Connecticutians, and it was great fun reuniting and catching up with friends we've met at past balls.  We also were surprised and quite flattered to meet a blog reader; thanks so much for saying hi and for persuading me into that last dance!  :-)

Our lovely new venue...

...filled to the brim with dancers during the afternoon practice.

We attended our usual bi-monthly dance practice on Friday evening, and then were up early on Saturday to do some last-minute food shopping for the big event.  This year, Ashley and I volunteered to coordinate the refreshments for the afternoon practice and the evening assembly.  Although a LOT of work (much more than we anticipated!), we had fun laying everything out and making all of the treats look pretty and festive.  Thank you to everyone who donated something and helped to make the dessert spread so delightfully tasty!

Ashley preparing the "secret recipe" punch.

Our lovely volunteer offered to snap a picture of us with one of the

refreshment tables before it was carried out to be enjoyed.  Thank you so

much again for your help all night!

Our music this year was provided by several of the musicians from our incomparable ensemble from our Friday dances; many thanks to Margaret Ann, Phoebe, and Mark for gracing our evening with your talent.  You make us all feel so elegant!  Joanna Reiner, who called the afternoon practice and the evening ball, selected some fantastic dances, almost all of which were new to us.  From Playford originals to contemporary country dances set to traditional tunes, the repertoire was a perfect balance.  We even discovered a couple of new favorite dances this weekend, including "Interruptions," "Stepping Stones," and "Banish Misfortune."

Dancing the night away!

Because the light was so low in the dance hall and throughout much of the building, many of our pictures unfortunately came out quite grainy and blurry.  Ashley did, however, manage to snatch a video of one of the last dances of the evening, "Stepping Stones," and if you listen closely, you can hear the (very!) old floor creaking.  The ballroom was on the second floor, with the dressing rooms beneath, and when you were downstairs during a dance, it sounded as if the ceiling was about to come crashing down around you, it was so loud!

Ashley didn't have a chance to finish her new silk gown for this event, so she wore her favorite brown chintz quarter-back gown.  For the very first time, however, I had my gown finished two weeks ahead of schedule - a definite achievement considering that last year, we were half an hour late for the ball because we were furiously finishing Ashley's blue/yellow sacque-back gown on our way out the door (literally!).  There's a Threaded Bliss post on my new gown forthcoming, but here's a sneak peak.  Stay tuned!

My new lavender silk anglaise.

Additional photos from the afternoon practice and the evening ball can be found in this event's flickr set.

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!

Norwich Regency Ball

Last night we attended the Rose City Assembly, a Jane Austen themed ball, in Norwich, Connecticut.  This was the second year of this ball, which hopes to become a growing annual event.  It was a smaller group of about 30 attendees who were all festively attired for the occasion.  Peggy, our instructor from our regular New Haven group,  came to call the dances.  I attempted to pull together a new Regency gown for this ball, but unfortunately could not find the time to finish it.  I hope it will be ready for our next ball in a few weeks!  So, even though it was not with the Jane Austen/Regency theme, I ended up wearing my blue/yellow changeable sacque gown again.  We justified our 1770s attire by saying we were representing the year of Austen's birth!

Guests at the Rose City Assembly enjoy refreshments.

Drancy Fess Ball

On Friday evening, we attended the annual Drancy Fess Ball held by our English country dance group.  For those of you unfamiliar with the origins of "drancy fess," I present for your reading pleasure the spooneristic tale of "Prinderella and the Cince"!  Enjoy!

Listening to Marshall recounting the tale of "Prinderella and the Cince." 

She's amazing and can do it flawlessly!

Every year, the Drancy Fess Ball is given a theme meant to inspire our choice of dress (err, drancy fess!).  This year, however, we somehow were all so busy that we forgot to settle on a collective theme, so we all came dressed in whatever made us each feel drancy and fessed up, which produced a very fun conglomeration of outfits!  Some (like us) came in period attire, while others came dressed as their favorite dances; The Female Sailor, The Comical Fellow, Sun Assembly, and The Merry Milkmaids were the cleverest of the group for their inspired and creative ensembles!  Next year's theme is "mythical beasts," so this ought to be a challenge!

We're very, very lucky to be able to dance with a splendid English country dance band, led by the incomparable Marshall Barron, with Grace Feldman and Margaret Ann Martin.  The band typically numbers between 10 and 15 members, and they play from Marshall's own lovely arrangements of traditional and modern dance tunes.  It's such a delight and a privilege to be able to dance to live period music each week.  Our instructor, Peggy Vermilya, is impressively well-versed in ECD past and present, and her great sense of fun keeps our evenings lighthearted as we learn and dance together.

Our dance band, during the traditional closing waltz of the evening.

I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures of actual country dancing in action, but we were too busy frolicking all night!  We had a blast enjoying our last meeting of the season, and can't wait to rejoin our dancing friends again in the fall.  Thankfully, there are a couple of upcoming local ECD balls hosted by other organizations that will fill some of the gap and help to satisfy the dancing itch for a couple of months, so we don't feel too deprived until September!  Stay tuned for lots updates on those balls, coming soon!

2011 Elm City Assembly

This past weekend we attended the Elm City Assembly, the annual English country dance ball hosted by the New Haven, CT ECD group.  Our weekend of dance began on Friday night with our usual practice.  After a few weeks away (due to the several winter storms we've been hit with lately) it was great to get back into the swing of things.  We even got to dance Rebecca's favorite, "Fenterlarick" (thanks Peggy!).  On Saturday, we had an afternoon workshop led by our ball's master of ceremonies, Bruce Hamilton, who traveled from California to be a part of our event.  During the workshop, Bruce brought us through some of the dances on the list for the ball.  Still being fairly new to ECD, it was a very helpful prep-session and a great opportunity to learn some new dances.

The ball was a wonderful event and a huge congratulations and thank you to the organizers and musicians!  There were about 100 guests from Connecticut, New York, and other places nearby in New England.  It was so fun to meet new fellow ECD dancers and to see everyone dressed up for the occasion!  I had the opportunity to wear my new blue and yellow changeable taffeta sacque-back gown (Rebecca's post on that will be coming soon).  There were a total of 20 dances on the program for the evening, varying in degrees of difficulty beginning at a level of moderate experience.  Some of the dances were modern ECD constructions, but the majority were original to Playford or other 18th century dance masters.  We both managed to keep up fairly well, although "Hambleton’s Round O" still manages to confuse me every time!  I sat out a few of the more advanced dances, but loved watching everyone else swirl around the dance floor.  After such a fun evening we are looking forward to more ECD balls in the spring!

Frolicks in Williamsburg

Over the years we have formed many acquaintances and friendships in town and it is always such a pleasure to reconnect (thanks for lunch Mr. M.!) and to meet new friends each time we visit. In particular on this visit, we began a great friendship with a family from Virginia. We had been reading their blog for some time, eagerly following their descriptions of their visits to CW and their accounts of their studies in history. It was so nice getting to meet them at last! We ended up spending quite a bit of time together over the course of our stay, and we had so much fun bonding over our common interests, experiences, and costuming adventures.

Ashley (left) and new friend Miss C. sharing stories

On Tuesday evening, we also joined John Millar and his group for an evening of English country dance at Newport House. Thank you to all of you for your warm and enthusiastic welcome!

Ron Carnegie as Washington

We also had the opportunity to spend some time in the St. George Tucker House, meeting fellow donors and volunteers from all over the world, and taking a much needed reprieve from the heat! One of my personal favorite programs at the Tucker House is the informal presentations given by some of the “Nation Builder” interpreters. This setting not only allows the interpreters to share stories and answer questions that a larger audience might not permit, but it also provides the opportunity to communicate with the interpreters out of character. This can be a rewarding experience for both visitors who might be new to the concept of first-person interpretation and for those (like me) who are studying the practice. During our stay, we had the opportunity to visit with two of my favorite founding fathers (and interpreters!) Thomas Jefferson/Bill Barker and George Washington/Ron Carnegie.

Bill Barker as Jefferson at the Tucker House

One "serious" change (at least to us!) was the introduction of plastic wrapped goods in the Raleigh Tavern Bakery. As we understand it, the division of CW that runs the restaurants and taverns recently assumed control over the RT Bakery, which necessitated an imposition of their set of regulations on this premesis as well. I understand the concepts of sanitation and all that, but it was the experience that really made a difference. Even with the paper cups and the cash register, walking into the RT Bakery was always such a special experience; those signature smells of freshly baked ginger cakes and Sally Lunn bread have now been replaced with baskets full of plastic wrapped items that really diminish the sense of uniqueness. We were also disappointed to see that they no longer offer Chowning Rolls. Thank goodness for those CW cookbooks, but those rolls will be sadly missed.

Mmmm, Raleigh Tavern Bakery!

This was our first visit to the recently reconstructed Charlton’s Coffeehouse. During our earliest visits to CW, the Armistead house still stood on this site. Over the years, we have followed the progress of the excavation and reconstruction, so it was particularly exciting to visit the project at its successful end. It is a shining example of the efforts of CW and its extraordinarily talented staff (which includes the interpreters who now bring it to life).

We also attended some of the newer theater programs, which we haven’t had the opportunity to see in the past. These included Polly Honeycombe, a classic 18th century comedy of misguided love, filial disobedience, and mistaken identities, with a twist of CW comedy and a rousing 18th-century-trained audience to boot!

Further adventures from our latest trip to CW to follow!