For a long time I
didn’t consider myself as a Jane Austen fan – a Janeite as I learned the term a few months ago. Of course I knew
the books, or at least I heard about them. But – the moment of truth – I was
about 16 when I first saw (saw, not read) the Sense and Sensibility. The Emma Thompson/Kate Winslet movie. And I
loved it. But still, the great recognition, the falling in love was still
missing. I mean yes, Willoughby was handsome and I admire Alan Rickman, but
come on... Neither of them is Darcy, am I right?
So I needed a few
more years for The Day to come... My sister showed me the Pride and Prejudice.
THE Pride and Prejudice. The BBC one. With Colin. And Jennifer Ehle. And I fell in love. Not just with Darcy, but with the whole ... Austen World! The atmosphere,
the characters, the dresses, the balls, the story amazed me and I thought how
wonderful it would be to relive or at least try to reproduce the Jane
Austen era atmosphere.
After I got
hooked, I not only watched the series many, many times, but I showed the
episodes to my best friends, and read the book in Hungarian and in English as
well, and read many others and I discovered other writers. By the way my
sister’s favourite is Wives and Daughters (also BBC with Justine Waddell) from
Elizabeth Gaskell's novel, but I don’t argue, because I love that too. So I think I can
say that slowly but surely now I understand a little more about the regency
era.
“There were twenty dances & I danced
them all…” – Jane Austen
In Jane Austen’s time, dancing was one of
the few ways young men and women could spend time together and court one
another. “Every savage can dance,” Mr. Darcy says, but unless one wished to
dance very ill (Mr. Collins comes to mind) lessons were crucial. Dancing was
considered such an important social skill, that parents hired dancing masters
to come into the homes and teach their sons and daughters not only dance steps,
but also deportment and etiquette. So, as an author of half a dozen other books
set in the Regency era—and someone who loves to dance-- it was probably only a
matter of time until I wrote about a dancing master.
To research the book, I read old instructional
guides and journals written by dancing masters of ages past. But the best and
most enjoyable kind of research was actually learning dances from that time
period. My dear, longsuffering husband and I went English country dancing several
times. It was research, after all! We
learned a lot and enjoyed ourselves.
I also attended the annual general meeting
of the Jane Austen Society of North America, held in Minneapolis in September
2013. It was my first time attending the conference, though I have been a JASNA
member for several years. A sold-out crowd of nearly 800 gathered to celebrate
the 200th anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice—a favorite with Austen fans everywhere.
Shannon Hale’s popular novel, Austenland, was recently adapted into a movie--the story features a
woman who goes to an exclusive, Austen-themed resort in search of a
husband. But what if you’ve already
found your Mr. Darcy/Mr. Knightley/Captain Wentworth/Mr. Tilney? Well, then you’ll just have to hold a Jane
Austen-approved hen party. After all,
what better way to celebrate the famed author (who is soon to grace the £10 note)?
Make it a costume party
What better way to celebrate Jane Austen than to wear those
decadently beautiful Regency-era gowns?
We’ve all drooled over the beautiful cap sleeves in Emma, the crisp white muslins in Pride and Prejudice, and the at-times comical bonnets in Sense and Sensibility. Luckily, Regency wear is among some of the
easiest to make--well, it’s no walk in the park, but it’s still much easier than creating a
fully-embellished Elizabethan gown! And
if you’re not quite the type to pick up a needle and thread, check out
Etsy--it’s full of beautiful empire-waisted gowns that even Caroline Bingley
would approve of.
Eat Jane Austen-approved
food
While British cuisine isn’t exactly lauded the world over, you
can still have a little fun with some Regency era food. Apparently, Jane Austen herself created an
ice cream recipe--plus, she accompanied it with the quote, “I shall eat ice and
drink French wine, and be above vulgar economy”. For real devotees, author Pen Vogler has
created a recipe book--enticingly titled, Dinner With Mr.
Darcy. She was able to
adapt many of the recipes from a book of recipes written by Martha Lloyd, a close
friend of Jane’s.
Access to any kind of music during the Regency era was largely dependent on the abilities of amatuer musicians in a given household to play it on their own. There was no television or recording devices, and live music was generally limited to the cities and streets, where performers were easy to find, and the sounds of music were fairly commonplace.
However, in a household like the one Jane Austen grew up in, learning music was looked upon as a highly valuable and important aspect of life, thus every member of a family was expected to develop their skill with a particular instrument. In Austen’s case, the pianoforte was the most popular option.
So, if Austen had an iPod during that time, she would have undoubtedly had music that was played by herself and her family members recorded and kept on one of her favorite playlists. Scotch and Irish Aires were popular during her time, as well as folk music and a variety of classical composers, many of which we would recognize today.
Louise Smith is my guest today to present her group performing dances from different historical periods, Renaissance Historical Dance and to tell us about her incredibly rewarding and entertaining activity. Renaissance Historical Dance Society (RHD) is based in Plymouth, Devon, and its members learn and perform dances from four historical periods - Medieval, Elizabethan, Stuart and Regency. Louise is here to tell us about their Regency performances.
As a historical dance group, we cover four separate periods
of history, but some of our favourite dances are those from the Regency period.
Interestingly, lots of the dances classed as Regency and the
ones you see in the films were actually danced before the Regency period. Minuets
and waltzes started to come into favour during the true Regency, when Prince
George was declared Prince Regent.
One of our favourite dances shows the transition
particularly well – The Duke of Kent’s Waltz is danced as a long-way set, with
men and women facing each other. However, there’s the opportunity for men and
women to get rather close to each other, more so than in
slightly earlier dances. Twice in each verse, men and women step in towards
each other with their hands together, before the woman turns under the man’s
arm to end up in the other line. You can imagine this truly being a lovers’
dance, with the chance to gaze into your partner’s eyes and get physically
closer than would have been allowed in any other polite circumstance. One lady
in our group says the bit she enjoys the most about this dance is ‘flirting
with her eyes’!
The Duke of Kent’s Waltz is a favourite for another reason
too – it’s the only Regency dance we can think of where each pair gets to lead
up the centre of the dance, making it really distinctive and good fun too!
One of the most popular Italian women's magazine, Donna Moderna, is going to feature one of Jane Austen's six major novels each week.
Starting with Persuasione - Persuasion, of course - on March 8th , Italian Janeites will get also a nice box to contain their new collection at the cost of 6.90 euros. Then, week after week, Orgoglio e pregiudizio (Pride and Prejudice) on March 15th, Emma on March 22nd, Ragione e Sentimento (Sense and Sensibility) on March 29th, Mansfield Park on April 5th e L'abbazia di Northanger (Northanger Abbey) on April 12th. This is the new look for our beloved classics.
2. REGENCY DANCE WORKSHOP
Riccione - March 16th-18th - "When Emma met Darcy"
Drawn by Yoko Hanabusa ( the artist of Lady!! – Milly), a modern graphic version of Jane Austen masterpiece for Italian readers, first of a series dedicated to the great English writer.
Matthew Mac Fadyen, Keira Knightley, director Joe Wright and other members of the cast and staff of Pride and Prejudice 2005 discuss the key role of balls in 18th century dating in one of the extra videos I have in my DVD.
"Dancing was absolutely central in ther society - says Jane Gibson, coreographer - in terms of finding a good husband or a good wife. When you went to a dance or if there was a dance at the end of a party you would almost always be in the presence of your parents.So if you think about how you want to behave with your mum and dad watching..."
We know much about this from reading our beloved Austen "majors" , especially Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Sense and Sensibility, since less about the importance of balls we find in Mansfield Park or Persuasion. As we also know that a dance was the only moment you were allowed to talk alone with someone you were attracted to or in love with.
As director , Joe Wright, states in the video below : " ... the fact that it's difficult to talk to someone who you're in love with is brilliantly highlighted in the etiquette of Austen's period, where you actually, physically, weren't allowed to talk to them alone, except when you were dancing. That's the only time you were alone, so to be able to use those dances in that way was a great way of forming collisions between characters". "If you are only allowed to have physical contact in the dance, then dancing with someone is electric, it's so charged. And it's having that formal structure. Especially the dance, playing the little moments between two people in that very formal structure..." - states Matthew MacFadyen (Mr Darcy)
And Keira Knightley adds: "They never really touch. Women do not shake hands with men, so the first time Darcy touches Elizabeth (she refers to a scene in the movie) is when he helps her into the carriage , which is a really beautiful moment because it is the first skin-on-skin touch and I think, today, we don't think twice about that all ..."
So we can just imagine the excitement you could experience at a ball dancing with a partner you liked!
I find this series of interviews extremely interesting and, since balls in Jane Austen 's novels and in their film adaptations have always charmed me, I've decided to post about them adding some of my favourite videos from Austen - related films and series.
First of all, there were three main kinds of dances or Formal Balls in19th century England as noted in Jane Austen's novels, and, as stated above, they played a significant role in people's lives.
These balls included: Assembly Room dances that occurred in town, smaller dances thrown at country inns, and private balls given at a country home by a private citizen.
The Assembly Room
Rooms were public venues specifically built for public balls. In his book What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew, Daniel Pool talks about the Master of Ceremonies, whose responsibility was to know the background of the young men and women present, and then introduce them so they could dance, as it was improper for men and women of the day to introduce themselves. The Master of ceremonies also made sure that the attendees maintained their propriety and proper etiquette.
We can see an example of this in Northanger Abbey 2007: Henry Tilney after meeting Lady Allen and Catherine at a public ball in Bath helps them and inappropriately talk to them without being previously and formerly introduced. So, in order to repair the serious crime against propriety, he asks the Master of Ceremony to introduce him to the ladies. Only after that, he asks Catherine to dance with him.
Dances at country inns were similar to this, but on a much smaller scale. They were usually held in smaller communities, organized by locals, and consisted of dancing and dining. When gentlemen and ladies of high rank happened to make their appearance in such happy but humble gatherings, surprising and unexpected things could happen. Thinking of Meryton Assembly Dance in Pride and Prejudice, of course. But also in Emma we've got a similar dance organized by Miss Woodhouse and Frank Churchill who hire a big hall in the village for the occasion.
The Private Balls
The smallest gatherings were balls thrown at private estates by individuals.These balls would also consist of dining as well as dancing. The dinner was held very late (around midnight) and could consist of a few courses to sometimes even eight or ten. According to Maggie Lane's book Jane Austen's World, the menu consisted of things such as soup, pigeon pie, veal, cheese, oysters, and trifles, and was typically served with wine or negus, which was a mixture of boiling water, wine, lemon, spices, and calves-foot jelly. Mr. Bingley throws one of these balls at Netherfield Park in Pride and Prejudice. See this beautiful fanvideo blending scenes from Pride and Prejudice 1995 with scenes from P&P 2005
Though we are not at all sure things went this way, I love the dance in Becoming Jane ( 2007) in which fictionalized Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway) and Tom Lefroy (James McAvoy) dance together at Lady Gresham's private ball. I love when he comes out of nowhere with that incredible smile and magnetic look.Classic romantic moment.
The Style of Dancing
As for the actual dances, they were not the dances of couples as we know in the modern sense. According to Janet Todd's Jane Austen in Context, the “ladies and gentlemen [would be] standing opposite each other in a line or a circle." These dances could have as few as three couples, and upwards of twenty. Because all of the dancers, not just the couples, were involved with the dancing, the more couples involved with the dance, the longer a set lasted. This was good for the couples, because if there were a lot of people dancing, they may have to wait their turn to dance, so they could flirt with their partner. This is seen at the Netherfield Ball in Pride and Prejudice when Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth converse throughout their dance. An average dance would last around thirty minutes, giving the couple ample opportunity to talk.
The Etiquette of Dancing
As for the dancing, it was improper etiquette for a woman to dance more than two dances with the same partner, and if two people did dance more than two dances together, they were assumed engaged. This is seen in Sense and Sensibility when Marianne and Willoughby are “partners for half the time” and “were careful to stand together and scarcely spoke a word to anybody else." Ladies would also carry dance cards to mark the names of men who they had promised dances to, so as to keep it all in order.
All of these circumstances provided the perfect opportunity to have fun, and if they were lucky, make a life match.
A PARODY OF AUSTEN REGENCY BALLS
How would a modern girl used to dancing in clubs and discos and to today's open, even blunt , interactions between men and women behave if invited by Mr Darcy himself (Edward Cowan) to join him and dance?
Though Pride and Prejudice and its world have no secret to Amanda Price (Jemima Rooper) , the protagonist of Lost in Austen, the result is not very succesful.
