Charleston, Charleston!

Fezziwig Ball: the aftermath

We had our Fezziwig Ball on December 23, and I do believe it was a success! We won't win any prizes as elegant dancers, but we sure had a great deal of fun. The above picture of my brother and I is one of my favorites. Click on the picture to go to Flickr for more photos from the evening.

Fezziwig Ball: the food

On the way up to the big city to do some shopping late last week, Mom and I planned out the menu for our ball. Some of this is subject to change, but we'd like to have a variety of savories and sweets. My grandma loves to cook so she will help us out in getting all this ready.

• hot wassail
  
• cold water (for the dancers!)
  
• bacon rounds (bacon, onions, and cheese on rye rounds)
  
• sugar and spice pecans
  
• green tea-infused deviled eggs (recipe in the Dec. Tea Time magazine)
  
• cream puffs
  
• cucumber sandwiches
  
• cranberry-pistachio biscotti

Fezziwig Ball: the CLOTHES

Which, as we ladies know, is really the most important part. ;)

On the invitations, I wrote: "You are invited to wear 19th century costume, or come dressed in your finest dancing attire!" 19th century costume is a pretty broad category, and even within my family we'll be spanning a few decades.

I've been working on a new Regency emsemble for myself. I made a bodiced petticoat from Mrs. Chancey's instructions (pictured below), and now I've started cutting out my actual dress. I'm using gorgeous white cotton voile and the Elegant Lady's Closet pattern from Sense & Sensibility. I chose the view with 3/4-length sleeves and a gathered neckline.


I also plan on making my brother, Nathan, a "Mr. Darcy" costume -- the men's 1812 waistcoat from Rocking Horse Farm, a muslin shirt, and cravat. He's going to look rather dashing, if I do say so myself.

Mom's Romantic dress is already taken care of, courtesy of Cheri, and Dad will either rent a Victorian costume, or else wear a Victorian-esque vest my mom made for him two years ago. We think it'd be fun to stuff his shirt front with pillows in an attempt to make him look like Mr. Fezziwig, but my dad gets hot easily and I don't think it would last throughout the evening. ;)

Mrs. S. has been sewing up a storm for her family, so we know at least a few of our guests will also be in costume!

Fezziwig Ball: music and dances

The CD we have purchased for use at our Fezziwig Ball is actually called "The Pride and Prejudice Collection: Volume II" by the Pemberley Players, which I ordered from the Country Dance and Song Society. I didn't know what to expect, but the music is a lovely and soothing blend of flute, violin, piano, and cello. Perfect!

I am an English Country Dance novice, but with the help of online videos and instructions, I've managed to acquaint myself with some of the dances. For those of you who might know what I'm talking about, I think we'll teach "Hole in the Wall" (simple), "Juice of Barley" (lively), and "Mr. Beveridge's Maggot" (elegant). I'll try to learn one or two more dances yet, but I don't think we'll get through more than three or four during the course of the evening since we'll be instructing as well as dancing!

Fezziwig Ball: the invitations

I've mentioned before that our close family friends, the S.'s, are coming to spend Christmas with us this year. Our families share an enjoyment of Dickens, so we've decided to host a Fezziwig Ball on the weekend before Christmas! I've been busy planning and preparing different aspects of the evening, which I will share with you -- but first and foremost, the invitations!

I photocopied an illustration of the Fezziwigs for the front of the invitations, then on the inside I printed the pertinent information and an excerpt from A Christmas Carol. The cards are tied together with gold ribbon. I printed the envelopes on the computer, using a fancy script font and addressing our guests by their FULL names in an attempt to be as hoity-toity as possible. I did stop short of using sealing wax on the envelopes, but not for lack of trying (I just can't seem to get good results with our sealing wax and seal).

Less than two weeks to go! Hoo-boy, am I excited. :)

Contra dancing

On Saturday, my parents and I headed to the "big city" for an evening of contra dancing. From my internet researches, I found that contra dancing descended from English country dancing, so I reasoned that it would be somewhat similar, and likely to be fun. I went without knowing at all what to expect!

It was interesting to see all the different types of people that came to the dance. ;) Quite the variety! There was a bit of a female surplus, but ties were provided for the ladies to wear if they danced the male role with another female partner. More experienced dancers were kind enough to give me some pointers, and I was able to pick up the dances quickly.

The ladies and gents lined up in two long lines opposite each other to start every dance, and then partners worked their way up or down the lines through various walking steps and formations. One common step, called the "swing," involves spinning your partner in a waltz hold -- the quickness of the spin depends on the man who's dancing with you. My parents complained of dizziness, but I didn't have that problem and rather enjoyed the faster spinning! :)

Now that we know what to expect, next time we'll invite some friends along to enjoy the evening with us.

POINTE SHOES!!

Today saw the fulfillment of a girlhood dream of mine -- I NOW HAVE MY VERY OWN POINTE SHOES!! Yup, those feet in the picture are mine. If I don't break my ankles first, soon I will be skimming across the floor on my toes. :)

Rond de jambe en l'air

This year I've taken up ballet again at a local dance studio. Juilliard it ain't, but I've been enjoying the weekly stretches and exercise. Ballet is one of the most difficult dance forms to excel at, because you are constantly using every muscle and you must be aware of every part of your body, all at once. But when you are dancing along with beautiful music, the feeling is wonderful!

I'm planning on looking into taking a beginning pointe class over the summer or next autumn, if I can. Dancing on pointe was always a girlhood dream of mine. I didn't stick with ballet long enough to get that advanced before, but why not try it now? Better late than never!