The Ladies TeaStop in and grab a quick cup of tea! All sorts of ladies issues are disscussed here. Both Ladies and Gentlemen are welcome to join in the conversations.
Ah, but LL, you surely remember that quote from Col. Ivan Yankovic of the 19th New Jersey: "If love appear, can a poke sack be far behind?"
As for period dancing, I know there is a video out which gives instruction in the same. I haven't seen it yet but I hope to get it sometime soon.
I too have problems with toe-stepping, mostly because my gender roles are sometimes reversed and I play the gent... which means that by habit I dance forward and lead, no matter what I'm wearing!
So good to hear from you. I have been busy over at the poetry forum, no pomes over there!
OK, so am I to believe that we actually want that poke sack? So it is a kind of tent where I might meet the Confederate of my dreams who will "poke a little fun" at me in the evening?
Let me know the name of that period dance video when you happen upon it.
Lass, here is the name of the dance video you were asking about.
"How To Dance Through Time" The romance of mid-19th century couple dances. Volume I; The Waltz, The Gallop, The Polka, The Schottische, The Polka Mazurka.
The tape is 35 minutes long and is put out by Dancetime Publication, 5 Broadway, Kentfield CA 94904, phone 415-453-2989, web site http://users.aol.com/cteten/
I liked the tape myself because it was for beginners and it showed other dances than the Virginia Reel and some other basic dances not ordinarily done at reenactment balls.
Hope it helps.
Unionblue
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
I'm finally back in this thread. So, I wanted to answer some of LL's questions. Can society improve its manners? Not directly, I'm afraid. Trends are just too strong. Society can do much with education and emphasis on respect, but it would be part of a larger moral reform which included more attention to families, and more value given to personal dignity, and it's difficult. I'm not sure whether it was exactly like this in the '800s; it probably was a two-fold situation. Outward formality certainly accounted for more respect and more dignity of behaviour, however it also covered up a lot of pain. A fallen woman was usually such for life, homosexuality was not supposed to exist, and women should have no urges of any kind and maybe not even a soul... Today we do have more understanding towards personal rights. The best thing would be to strike the right balance between manners and freedom.
And while a general movement in that direction is in my opinion utopian, I think that a small beginning is personal example. Each of us should be respectful of others and mindful of our own worth, freely admit the desire to be "different" from the masses, more sensitive, more creative and romantic - just like Neil with his "courtship"! - and not accept blatant acts of disrespect. Starting from little things like these, we all could be able to build our little corner to bring back to life the best values of a more refined time, and maybe spread the example.
You are eloquent today. We have a similar kind of thinking. (Do you not wish that Neil could be cloned?)
Nonetheless, I liked our nitty-gritty discussion back when...are we done with that? Blackirish is yet to respond, as he said he would, to some of our queries about men. We shall see.
Zou: From <u>From Ballroom to Hell</u> is an excellent book on dancing, etiquette, fashion and music during the first half of the 19th C. It includes all sorts of little hints such as the dance card, menus and when to offer your hand. The book is fun and rascally besides as it gives contemporary descriptions rather than a modern scholar's view. It can be found at most sutler tents.
Zou, thanks for the tip on the ballroom dancing site. I intend to order the dance video there and try to keep in practice for any upcoming formal balls during my reencactments.
Sincerely,
Unionblue
PS Do you know of a good Little Big Horn site or about Custer's last stand? I am curious about the history right after the Civil War, to include the West.
__________________ "The American people and the Government at Washington may refuse to recognize it for a time but the inexorable logic of events will force it upon them in the end; that the war now being waged in this land is a war for and against slavery." Frederick Douglass
"Loyalty to our ancestors does not include loyalty to their mistakes." George Santayana
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