A Weekend of 18th Century Military and Civilian Life

Period Dancing

A military Subscription Ball is planned for Saturday evening featuring Playford dances of the 18th century. The Master of Ceremonies will be Jere Brubaker with music provided by live performers.

The Rules

1. Dance cards will be used to assign partners.
   Dance cards will be given to the ladies participating in the Promenade at 3:00 pm on Saturday afternoon. Ladies are encouraged to wear their finest clothing for this activity, and dance cards for three specific dance sets and times during the evening will be issued at that time. In addition, eight couples will be selected at this point to participate in a demonstration set which will perform once during the afternoon.
   
2. A gentleman may only dance with a lady after placing his name on her dance card.
   He may ask her to dance, or she may ask him - there will be no stigma attached to a lady who chooses to dance with the same gentleman more than twice, nor to a lady who seeks out her own partners.
   
3. Gentlemen may, due to the stress of military duties or other obligations, be rendered unable to to accommodate the partner who chose them for a particular dance.
   Not all gentlemen will have the opportunity to select partners at the outset. However, should a lady be in need of a partner when one of her dances is due to commence, she shall be allowed to choose a new partner from those onlookers who are willing to dance.
   
4. Should a lady need to withdraw, she should offer her dance card to a lady without one, so as to keep the set full.
   Sadly, the new possessor of the dance card will be bound by the names on that card.

Country dances were a popular form of social dance, and remain so today. There are many online sources for information on the dances, the steps, and the music. Some useful links include

Palmer's Pocket Playford - Short descriptions of many popular dances of the period
Terms for English Country Dance - A list of terms with descriptions for commonly-used dance figures
Animations for Common Figures - short Flash animation showing how the figures are performed
Links to Selected Dance Sites - Includes resources for dance notes, music, and other dance resources