Balls of 20th century

T

Tenehill

New Member
I have recently read Emily Post's book on etiquette. She has a chapter on balls:

http://www.bartleby.com/95/17.html

Man, have things changed since 1920s! Gone are hostesses, committees, exclusive lists, maids, suppers, orchestras, invitations, cutting in... (From what is gone, I miss over all the supper. The menu is astonishing: lobster Newburg, sweetbreads, mushrooms, fancy cakes, champagne, ...and I suspect all without MSG, Yellow 6 and Red 4). But most of her writing about individual behavior is still very valid.

All we have now is "studio party" begging for patrons... But isn't the total enjoyment of ballroom dancers much better now?
 
For some dances, committees, suppers, even orchestras are still involved. Granted you won't see lobster Newburg or champagne all that much.

Tenehill said:
All we have now is "studio party" begging for patrons... But isn't the total enjoyment of ballroom dancers much better now?
Click to expand...

I imagine they were enjoyed quite a bit in the 1920s, too.
 
I don't move in the sort of circles that would have hosted those kinds of balls, and I don't think having fun was the point. (Which I'm actually okay with. I like have an ordered social structure where everyone knows how they're supposed to relate.) I don't have that kind of money.
 
Tenehill said:
I have recently read Emily Post's book on etiquette. She has a chapter on balls:

http://www.bartleby.com/95/17.html

Man, have things changed since 1920s! Gone are hostesses, committees, exclusive lists, maids, suppers, orchestras, invitations, cutting in... (From what is gone, I miss over all the supper. The menu is astonishing: lobster Newburg, sweetbreads, mushrooms, fancy cakes, champagne, ...and I suspect all without MSG, Yellow 6 and Red 4). But most of her writing about individual behavior is still very valid.

All we have now is "studio party" begging for patrons... But isn't the total enjoyment of ballroom dancers much better now?
Click to expand...

I looooooove early Emily Post books; I have editions from the 20s, 30s, and 40s. When I got married, I looked up in the '20s edition what should be in my trousseau. Swoon To The Max, if you like linens, and I do...

A Ball was a wholly different thing from modern day going social dancing -- it was an evening's entertainment from soup to nuts, literally, not just about dancing. The last time I threw a Ball -- about 20 years ago -- (long story) we had invitations, dance cards, escorts, hostesses, a master of ceremonies narrating presentation of the Ladies to the Distinguished Guests, but no meal, although oodles of champagne and cake. Actually was a huge amount of fun.

Oooh, what you've started me thinking about. I'd *kill* for a real ball. (I've been angling to get invited to the Russian Nobility Ball for a couple of years, but they don't like my bona fides. Hmph. There's no snob like a noble Russian snob.)

Might be time to throw one again. Once every 20 years, whether I need it or not...
 
It's funny you bring this up. My interest in 19th century Victorian etiquette, especially the kind of etiquette one encountered in a ballroom, is part of what drew me to ballroom dancing in the first place! Imagine a world where the waltz was considered "risque" because of the physical contact, and a lady couldn't cross a dance floor by herself without being considered forward, or you couldn't dance with the same man more than twice in a single night without causing a scandal.
 
Terpsichorean Clod said:
San Francisco Waltzing Society has an annual ball.

Students at Stanford have been holding the Stanford Viennese Ball since 1978:
Trailer
Opening Committee Waltz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwsh2jPrXyM
Click to expand...

Interesting dances!

Not a single young soul is seen at the San Francisco's ball. Maybe the ticket price is too high.

The video shot at Stanford Viennese Waltz Ball is impressive. For eight minutes, fellas dance to same (almost) four bars of orchestra music, doing the same natural turn, almost all in an improper hold. And I thought I was the only one able to do something like that.

There is a lot of power in the raw video. Very trustworthy.
 
Tenehill said:
Interesting dances!

... almost all in an improper hold. And I thought I was the only one able to do something like that.

There is a lot of power in the raw video. Very trustworthy.
Click to expand...

Note that they are NOT doing modern competitive VW, but rather vintage VW. The frame is indeed proper for the dance they are doing.
 
There's a waltz community around here. My husband saw one of their parties, said that to him it was like the difference between AT and ballroom tango, that was what it was like between this other waltz and ballroom waltz.
 
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