Touring the world of dance through space and time

Fall 2007 and Winter/Spring 2008

Second Sunday Afternoons, 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm

October 2007 through April 2008

About the Tea Dances

Each Tea Dance features a particular time and place, with refreshments, decorations, and featured dance chosen to match the theme. These themes are only for inspiration; dancers are not required to dress according to the theme, or even to the era, though it's lots of fun if you do. Some themes inspire us more than others; sometimes we will have elaborate refreshments but simple decorations, sometimes elaborate decorations and simple (well, simpler) refreshments. The refreshments will always be quite lavish, though; it's part of what we do.

The dances are intended as social occasions with some instruction. Some "set dances" will not get taught, but will be led and are suitable for anyone. Some couple dances will be taught at the beginner level, but more advanced dancers will be free to practice their more advanced steps. Some months, we will teach beginning steps for a number of different dances of the period; some months, we will look at a particular dance and dive into it a little more deeply.

We have a selection of different teachers through the year, and mix up time periods, trying not to favor any particular period. Our historical range extends from the Regency Era (1811-1820) through the beginning of the Jazz Age (1920s). In dance terms, that's from the introduction of the Waltz to the heyday of the Fox Trot and Charleston; it also covers the gradual replacement of the Country Dance by the Quadrille, the rise and fall of the Polka; the Galop or Galopade; the introduction of the Tango, the One Step, and the Hesitation Waltz; and briefly popular dances such as the Maxixe, the Half and Half, and the Lulu Fado. That's a lot of dances. We don't do them all at any one dance. We won't necessarily even do them all over the course of the year.

Previous Experience? Partners?

You don't need any previous experience, nor to bring your own partner. Some dances will always be taught, and we change partners frequently, in fact, during the entirety of the historical range we cover, it was considered very rude to dance more than twice at one dance with any single partner, even your own spouse.

Music

We usually have recorded music, selected by our instructors to suit the period and the dances. This year, we hope to occasionally have a local band, but details have not yet been nailed down.

Admission

Admission this year is $6; this includes tea, pastries, and sometimes other special treats. Students $4.

Volunteers

If you are interested in helping serve refreshments, or in making refreshments, or helping decorate the hall, or publicity, or flier design, please contact Michael: (617) 964-7684, or email .

Dress & Shoes

There is no specific dress code. When pressed for space, we say: "Modern casual dress and historical semi-formal afternoon wear are all welcome." Since we have more space here, let's examine that in more detail.

Historical Costume: If you have historical costumes, the period of each dance is shown in the schedule, and varies from month to month. Ideally, you would wear something "nice" intended as afternoon wear, not work clothes, not formal evening wear. However, any period costume will be welcomed.

Making do with things from your closet: If you want to dress up, but haven't done this before, you can call our clothing historians, Katy and Barbara, and they can help you choose the most appopriate of those clothes that you already own. Contact me to get their phone numbers: (617) 964-7684, or email .

Modern Costume: If you aren't interested in historical costume, you're still absolutely welcome. Please wear something "nice"; for gentlemen, we prefer something better than jeans and a T-shirt and ask that you not wear shorts; for ladies, in addition, we prefer that you not wear a very short skirt, and skirts or dresses are preferred rather than trousers. But, these are preferences, not requirements.

Shoes: Both of our venues have nice floors in good condition, and we ask that you bring a pair of shoes that are not street shoes, or that have been cleaned very well, to dance in. Suede soled dance shoes are excellent. For ladies, for ragtime and nineteen-twenties themed dances, medium height heels can be helpful; so-called "Character Shoes" are ideal. For 19th century dances, flats are preferred.

LOCATION

FALL: While the dances will be on the same dates (Second Sundays) and at the same time (2:00 - 5:00 PM) as they have been for many years now, we will have a new location: the Second Church of Newton (UCC) for the fall.

SPRING: We will return to our usual location, the First Unitarian Society of Newton, in January.

Directions? Public Transportation?

There is a parking lot, which is free on Sundays, at the intersection of Washington Street (Route 16) and Highland Street. It's owned by a bank which is closed on Sundays. There is also on-street parking on both Washington and Highland Streets, as well as other side streets. Finally, there are a couple of large parking lots behind the storefronts on the south side of Washington Street.

The Framingham/Worcester branch of the Commuter Rail has a stop, the West Newton stop, directly behind the First Unitarian Society.

Tea Dance Schedule

Fall/Winter 2007:

October 14th: 1890s Vienna. Join us in Sigmund Freud’s Vienna at the turn of the last century. Barbara Pugliese will teach some dances of the late nineteenth century, and for refreshments we will have Viennese pastries as well as Coffee, Tea, and "Heisse Chocolate mit Schlagobers." Mmm.

November 11th: Paris in the Ragtime Era. Susan de Guardiola will teach the Half and Half, a 5/4 waltz, in homage to Vernon and Irene Castle, who started their career in Paris demonstrating American dances in cafés and nightclubs and went on to dominate American Society untl Vernon's death in WWI. Probably petits fours, croissants, café au lait.

December 9th: 1830s London: It’s the holiday season, which leads us to thoughts of Charles Dickens, with a visit to London, his home and the site of his first success, The Pickwick Papers, in the 1830s.  Susan de Guardiola will teach the Galopade. Scones, marmalade, English tea.

Winter/Spring, 2008:

January 13th: Mid-19th century Scotland: Visit the home of Queen Victoria’s beloved castle, Balmoral, and the great dance musician, James "Scott" Skinner.  Barbara Pugliese will teach mid-century dances with a Scottish influence.  Good preparation for the Goblin Ball at the Arisia F&SF convention the next weekend. Tea, shortbread, and other goodies.

February 10th: Regency Bath: Susan de Guardiola will lead country dances and quadrilles of the Regency era as we visit the English resort town of Bath in the days of Jane Austen. We may sneak in some of that new-fangled and scandalous waltz as well….and perhaps some Rout Cakes and Naples Biscuits?

March 9th   Mid-19th century Newport: After Commodore Perry’s voyage to Japan, Japanese styles influenced western fashions and vice versa. Feel free to wear a kimono or Hapi coat, as long as it’s something you can dance in. Instructor TBA.

April 13th   Ragtime/Twenties New York: Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon were English, but Manhattan’s Metropolitan Museum of Art provided enormous support for the King Tut expedition and wound up with most of the artifacts that left Egypt. We’ll dance to “The Crocodile Fox Trot”, “Egyptian Ella”, “Lena from Palasteena”, and more. If we're lucky, perhaps Little Egypt will pay us another visit (though of course she's really from Chicago). Instructor TBA.

Mailing List

If you aren't already on our mailing list, it might be a good idea to join; it's low traffic, and high signal to noise ratio. It's a closed list, and so far that's been working to keep out the spam. Postings are almost exclusively notices about upcoming vintage dances, with a small number of allied events thrown in. To join, send an email to me at .