Capering & Kickery

November 2024 Gig Calendar

My November has two main events: a weekend of waltzing in which I travel up and down I-91 from Connecticut to Massachusetts and back, and the big Remembrance Day Balls in Gettysburg.  In between, another Bridgerton class.  Afterward, rest and catching up on life!

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Friday, November 1st ~ Greenfield, Massachusetts
Mostly Waltz in Greenfield (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:00-10:30pm.  Evening of mostly waltz with other couple dances mixed in at the Guiding Star Grange.  From 7:00-7:50pm I will be teaching a beginner cross-step waltz workshop followed by dancing from 8:00-10:30pm to live music by Donal Sheets, Eileen Grady, and Guillaume Sparrow-Pepin.  Price $15-20.  See the Grange website for directions, etc., or the Facebook event for the workshops the next day for help with homestay housing for the weekend.

Saturday, November 2nd ~ Greenfield, Massachusetts
Intermediate & Advanced Cross-Step Waltz Workshops (Facebook event)
Waltz workshops at the Guiding Star Grange; see the Facebook event for contact information, help with homestay housing, more about the waltz the night before, the contra dance that evening, etc.  Prices and schedule:

• 10-11am: Intermediate Workshop #1, $15-20
• 11am-noon: Intermediate Workshop #2, $15-20
• Noon-1pm: DJ'd music for open dancing and time for lunch
• 1-3pm: Advanced Workshop, $35
• 3-5pm: Social Dancing (DJ'd by me) and/or practice (free for workshop attendees, otherwise $5-10)
  
  

Sunday, November 3rd ~ Wethersfield, CT
Mostly Waltz Hartford (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
2:30-5:30pm.  I will be doing a quick lesson from 2:30-3:00 on the foxtrot of c1915, focusing on the easy one-step/two-step combinations.  The rest of the time will be general couple dancing (2/3 waltzes, 1/3 other, a couple of mixers).  Music will be DJ'ed, not by me, but they have assured me they will play some up-tempo foxtrots in with the waltzes and other material.  $15 admission includes lesson and dance.  For those driving south from the Greenfield waltz workshops the day before, this is right on the way!

Sunday, November 10th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
Dances of Bridgerton: Pen & Colin class at Vinnie's Jump & Jive (Facebook event)
2:00-4:00pm.  Dearest Gentle Reader, you are cordially invited to a class on authentic dances from the fabulous Bridgerton TV series.  This month we will focus on learning Colin & Penelope's dance from Season 3 and, time permitting, will also review Simon & Daphne's dance from Season 1 and the "Harmony" dance from Season 2 and perhaps mix in a bit of actual historical Regency dancing for contrast.  $18.00 per person cash at the door or $15.00 per person online in advance. Details and advance registration form here.

Friday-Saturday, November 15-16th ~ Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
The 20th Annual Remembrance Day Dinner & Ball (Facebook community) 
5:30pm-midnight each day.  TWO nights!  TWO formal dinners!  TWO balls!  Both evenings will be formal Civil War-era events with live music by the dance band Metamorpheus and pre-1865 costume (civilian or military) required.  Hosted by John & Nancy Newbold.  Dinner/ball ticket sales are now closed but ball-only tickets are still available online at the event website until right before the weekend then at the door if space is still available.

Friday, November 29th ~ ONLINE
Podcast recording session
3:15-4:30pm.  Release details TBA.

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event, workshop, or talk!

Coming in December: a trip to Boston for research and DJing then the 200th anniversary of Tallahassee!

October 2024 Gig Calendar

I'm going to be bouncing around geographically in October, both physically and virtually: first, a quick trip to Boston to do research and DJ for Bluesy Tuesy and a virtual appearance at an Oregon event focused around the composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.  Then I'm off to Scotland once more (wasn't I just there?) for the European Association for Dance History's annual conference, complete with a workshop on the double quadrille by the not-nearly-notable-enough Mrs. Nicholas Henderson.  The workshop is free, if anyone happens to be in Scotland!  

 

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Monday, October 1st ~ Somerville, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy at NESFA!  (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Bluesy Tuesy takes up residence at its new summer home in the NESFA Clubhouse library in Somerville!  Lesson (not me - I don't teach blues!) from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer (possibly a lot longer!) if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with multiple air cleaners going; masks optional.  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $25.  Volunteers get free admission!  Directions are at the NESFA Clubhouse page.

Saturday, October 5th ~ ONLINE / Oregon-based
Lecture for The Salon at Palais-Royal: An 18th-Century Chevalier Experience  (thoughts from the organizer)
for Costumers of Color
I will be presenting a brief online lecture as part of this larger in-person historical-educational-social event centering on Paris in the lifetime of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.  Tickets for the Friday dinner and Saturday salon (which includes my lecture) are available here.  This is an in-person event; only some of the talks are online.  I will not be physically present, alas.

Friday-Sunday, October 18-20th ~ Edinburgh, Scotland
European Association for Dance History Conference (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
"Women in Dance: Patronage, Performance, Pedagogy".  Extensive program of academic papers with some workshops.  A detailed schedule (PDF) may be downloaded here.  I will speaking about the career of Mrs. Nicholas Henderson, a dance teacher in Victorian London, on Saturday and teaching a workshop on her double quadrille (Facebook event for workshop) on Sunday afternoon.  The workshop is free and open to the general public.  Register in advance for the conference and/or workshop at the EADH website.

Monday, October 28th ~ New Britain, Connecticut
"From Branles to Bridgerton" dance workshop at Central Connecticut State University
10:00am-12:00pm.  Guest-teaching for a dance history class.  Enrolled students only.

 

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event, workshop, or talk!

Coming in November: cross-step waltz in Massachusetts (Facebook link) and the Remembrance Day balls in Gettysburg!

September 2024 Gig Calendar

This month is going to mostly be personal time for me: a family visit and an Actual Vacation^tm.  I'll be squeezing a few days of library research (three different sites) in around these, but mostly I'll be quietly traveling around doing non-dance things. 

Then, at the very end of the month, something new: Bridgerton dance!  This is specifically dance from the television series which -- news flash! -- is not intended to be historically accurate.  I regard the show as speculative fiction (alternate history) and the dances as fantastical, not historical.  You can read some of my thoughts about this here.  I taught a couple of these dances in Scotland last month, but this will be the first time teaching them in the USA.

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Sunday, September 29th ~ Middletown, Connecticut
"Dances of Bridgerton" class at Vinnie's Jump & Jive (Facebook event)
2:00-4:00pm.  Dearest Gentle Reader, you are cordially invited to a class on authentic dances from the fabulous Bridgerton TV series.  Time permitting, we'll learn one of Simon & Daphne's dances from Season 1, the "Harmony" dance from Season 2, and Colin & Penelope's dance from Season 3.  $18.00 per person cash at the door or $15.00 per person online in advance.  Details and advance registration form here.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

Coming in October: blues in Boston, a dance history conference in Edinburgh, and perhaps a surprise event late in the month...

August 2024 Gig Calendar

I'll be starting out August with a couple of weeks in Scotland.  The first weekend, I'll be teaching a dance workshop and leading a tea dance in Edinburgh, both with a general theme of Scottish dances influenced by or connected to those of Continental Europe and Continental dances that appeared in Scottish sources.  The second weekend, I'll be having a very eclectic time at the World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, which for me will include giving a popularly-oriented paper, leading a masquerade ball for which I've been reconstructing some truly terrifying dances from video, and DJ'ing a blues dance.  In between: library time and perhaps a bit of tourism!

Later in the month I'm looking forward to a reunion with a group of my most dedicated online students from pandemic times.

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Saturday-Sunday, August 3-4th ~ Edinburgh, Scotland
Edinburgh Victorian Weekend (Facebook) for Les Danses Antiques (Facebook)
6:00-9:00pm Saturday: Victorian tea dance at beautiful Inch House.  Beginner-friendly social dancing, all dances taught.  Live piano music and light refreshments.  Victorian costume encouraged but not required.  (Facebook event)
10:00am-1:00pm Sunday: A Bridge across the Sea: Continental Couple Dances in Scotland.  Beginner-friendly workshop in couple dance technique with dances including German Schottische, Varsovienne (La Va), Pas de Quatre, the timeless Waltz, and Dundee dancing master David Anderson’s unique Scottish-Continental fusion, the Highland Mazourka!  (Facebook event)
More information and tickets available here.

Thursday-Monday, August 8-12th ~ (Glasgow, Scotland)
Glasgow 2024: The World Science Fiction Convention (Facebook) (Instagram) (TikTok)
This is not a dance-focused event in general, but I will be conducting a Timey Wimey Masquerade Ball (dances from science fiction and fantasy TV shows and movies) on Friday from 4:00-6:30pm, presenting a paper on important Scottish sources for early nineteenth century French quadrilles on Saturday at noon, and DJ'ing a blues dance Sunday night after the Hugo Awards Ceremony from 10:30 to ???.  The paper will be streamed online to convention members.  There will also be two ceilidhs (Thursday and Monday nights) and two other DJ'ed club dances (Friday and Saturday late nights) during the weekend; see the dance programme page for details.  The full programme for the weekend will be released in late July.  Information about full-weekend memberships and day tickets to the convention are here.  There are no separate tickets for the dances or other individual events; you must buy either a full-weekend membership or a full-day ticket for the appropriate day.  Much more information about the convention on the website.

Saturday, August 31st ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class (CDR)
4:00-6:00pm.  Private event.

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

Coming in September: Bridgerton dance!

July 2024 Gig Calendar

I was expecting to spend July quietly at home, but it looks like I'll be making a quick DJing-and-research trip to Boston before returning home to prepare for my trip to Scotland in August!

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Tuesday, July 16th ~ Somerville, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy at NESFA!  (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Bluesy Tuesy takes up residence at its new summer home in the NESFA Clubhouse library in Somerville!  Lesson (not me - I don't teach blues!) from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer (possibly a lot longer!) if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with some AC and multiple air cleaners going; masks optional.  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $25.  Volunteers get free admission!  Please see the Facebook event for more notes on the location, parking, accessibility, etc.  Directions are at the NESFA Clubhouse page.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

Coming in August: I'm off to Scotland for a tea dance and workshop for Edinburgh Victorian Weekend and then some research time!

June 2024 Gig Calendar

Summer is a-coming in, and it's likely to be hot.  I want to spend my time in nice, cool libraries doing research instead of hot, sweaty dance spaces with no air conditioning!  I'll be DJ'ing in the Boston area early this month and spending at least five days reading in various libraries.  And doing yardwork.  Lots and lots of yardwork.  Sigh.  Stay cool!

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Tuesday, June 4th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Lesson (not me - I don't teach blues!) from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer (possibly a lot longer!) if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with an air cleaner going; masks optional.  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $25.  Volunteers get free admission!  This is Bluesy Tuesy's last month at the Democracy Center, so this will be my last time DJ'ing for them until they find a new venue.

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

Coming in July: vacation month!  But in August I will be off to teach in Scotland!

May 2024 Gig Calendar

I'm going to start off May with a long trip to England to teach and call at a folk festival and then do some research in London, where the British Library is finally semi-functional again after last autumn's cyberattack.  I have a lengthy "shopping list" of sources to look at and a list of museum exhibitions to visit while they are paging them!

After that, and April's travel insanity, I'm going to spend the rest of the month at home recovering and hopefully catching up on processing and cataloguing my research photos all the way back to February...

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Friday-Monday, May 3rd-6th ~ Evesham, UK
May Heydays
Major folk festival with a wide variety of dance and music.  I will be doing six workshops Saturday-Monday, a talk Saturday evening, and a Regency ball Sunday night.  Advance registration is closed but you can join at the door!

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

 

Coming in June: back in Boston to DJ for Bluesy Tuesy and do a bit of research, and a private online lecture!

April 2024 Gig Calendar

April is going to be fun!  I'll be heading to Chicago to run dance workshops and a ball for a Regency-themed LARP and an evening of 18th and 19th century French dance, to Massachusetts for the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA), and then down to Staten Island (NYC) for an 1824 Lafayette Ball.  I don't put library days on my schedule, but I'll have time this month at both the New York Public Library and the Newberry.  In between I'll try to keep catching up on cataloguing material from previous library trips!

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Sunday, April 7th ~ ONLINE (Chicago-based)
Lies & Liability pre-LARP webinar for  Grimmoire Productions
4:00-5:00pm Central time.  Private event for attendees of the Lies & Liability LARP (registration is closed).

Friday-Sunday, April 12-14th ~ Racine, Wisconsin (Chicago area)
Lies & Liability (Grimmoire Productions)
A weekend of live-action role-playing set in 1803!  I will be giving dance lessons and conducting the ball (recorded music) on Saturday night.  Registration for this event is closed.

Sunday, April 14th ~ Glen Ellyn, Illinois (Chicago area)
Dance in France for Chicagoland English Country Dance and Alliance Française DuPage
6:00-9:00pm.  Historic dances from 18th and 19th century France as part of a weekend of French-themed dance including a Bal Folk evening on the 13th.  $15 per person per evening.  No reservation needed, pay at the door.  More information at the event website.

Friday-Sunday, April 19th-21st ~ Massachusetts
The New England Folk Festival Association (NEFFA) Festival
Large folk festival with all kinds of music and dance.  The hopefully-final schedule is up.  Barring any last-minute changes, I am going to be teaching 1910s foxtrot on Sunday at 10:00am and nineteenth-century galopades of various kinds on Sunday at 1:30pm.  I expect to be around on Saturday as well, enjoying the dance and music.  Tickets are now on sale!

Saturday, April 27th ~ Staten Island, NY (New York City)
Lafayette Bicentennial Ball for Historic Richmond Town
7:30-10:30pm.  1824 ball celebrating Lafayette's first stop in the USA on his tour as Our National Guest: Staten Island!  I will be teaching and calling the dances to recorded music.  Period costume encouraged but not required.  Tickets $50, or $40 for members for members of Historic Richmond Town, available from their website.  Do not delay; event is expected to sell out!

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

Coming in May: a folk festival in the UK and a Bridgerton-style fantasy-Regency ball in Connecticut!  (The latter has been canceled.)

March 2024 Gig Calendar

March is...Massachusetts month!  Two trips to Boston (well, Cambridge and Concord) for DJing, researching, and teaching a weekend of waltz and more, plus an online lecture for a Lowell group.  Woo hoo!

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Tuesday, March 12th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Lesson (not me - I don't teach blues!) from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with an air cleaner going; masks required (N95 preferred).  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $20.  Volunteers get free admission!

 

Friday-Sunday, March 22nd-24th ~ Concord, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Waltz (and more) Weekend for Mostly Waltz Boston
7:00pm Friday to 12:45pm Sunday.  Workshops, practice time, and a DJ'ed evening dance.  Featuring cross-step and rotary waltz, early foxtrot, and easy sequence dances.  Plus, stay for the regular Sunday afternoon Mostly Waltz (2:00-5:30pm) with live music by Jacqueline Schwab and Dave Langford, for which I will be teaching a bit of polka (2:00-3:00pm).  Tickets on sale now at the website!

Wednesday, March 27th  ~ ONLINE / Massachusetts-based
I Wear My Own Clothes: The Fascinating Life of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker
for LIRA (Learning in Retirement Association - University of Massachusetts, Lowell)
Details TBA.

 

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

Coming in April: an 1805 LARP and French dances in Chicago, NEFFA, and an 1824 ball in New York City!

February 2024 Gig Calendar

The end of winter is in (distant) sight. and I am slowly ramping up travel again as we hopefully pass out of peak-respiratory-illness season.  But I still expect to spend most of February quietly at home muttering over translations from several languages.

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Tuesday, February 6th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Lesson (not me - I don't teach blues!) from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with an air cleaner going; masks required (N95 preferred).  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $20.  Volunteers get free admission!

 

Thursday-Friday, February 22nd-23rd ~ ONLINE (Pennsylvania)
Early Dance Symposium 2024: New Work on Old Dance: A Pre-1800 Dance Studies Symposium
Academic conference.  I will be presenting a paper on manuscript annotations in different copies of John Essex's 1710 translation of Feuillet as part of the Saturday morning session.  This is an updated version of the paper I presented in January at the British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies 53rd Annual Conference “Work and Play”.  The full program is available here.  Registration (free!) is open.

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

Coming in March: a waltz weekend in Boston and a lecture for a university alumni group.

January 2024 Gig Calendar

Happy new year!

Since I didn't really get a holiday break in December, and I'm traveling overseas again the first week in January for a conference, the rest of January will be my Official Post-Holiday Break -- the first time in several months I won't be preparing a gig, preparing a paper, preparing to travel, or recovering from some/all of the above.

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Wednesday-Friday, January 3-5th ~ Oxford, England
British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies 53rd Annual Conference “Work and Play”
Academic conference.  On Friday morning, I will be presenting a paper on manuscript annotations in different copies of John Essex's 1710 translation of Feuillet.  Conference members only; registration is closed.

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

Coming in February: for the overwhelming majority of the world who were not in the room at the BSECS conference, I'm going to present the same paper online at the Early Dance Symposium 2024: New Work on Old Dance: A Pre-1800 Dance Studies Symposium.  Registration is free!

December 2023 Gig Calendar

It feels like November is going to stretch for two more days as I wind up an intense trip to the UK that has so far involved two days of teaching and visits to three different libraries and archives in three different cities/towns.  Today and tomorrow will be library #4 in yet another town.  On Saturday I fly home and have one entire day there before turning around and heading to Boston for my last public event of the year: DJing once more for Bluesy Tuesy!  I'll be sneaking in some research there, too.  Weather permitting, this may include a cemetery stroll...

Edited 12/20/23 to add:
Okay, one more public event: I will be teaching some Lancers (quadrille) at Yiddish New York 2023!  It's a long story....

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Tuesday, December 5th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Lesson (not me - I don't teach blues!) from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with an air cleaner going; masks required (N95 preferred).  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $20.  Volunteers get free admission!

Monday, December 25th ~ New York City (in person and online)
The Lancers (Quadrille) for Yiddish New York 2023
9:30-10:45am.  As part of Dr. Sonia Gollance's class on dance in Yiddish literature, I will be coming in to teach part of an 1870 Lancers from Odesa.  This class will be online as well as in person!  There are a complex ticket options for various combinations of days and in person/online for this festival; see registration options here.  An online pass for just this class would be $18, or $25 for in-person attendance.  Ticket sales close on December 23rd.  Note that there is a strict Covid policy (masks/vax/testing) for in-person attendance!

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

Coming in January: I'm back in England for the British Society for Eighteenth Century Studies 53rd Annual Conference “Work and Play” at Oxford University!

November 2023 Gig Calendar

This month will be very, very quiet for sixteen days.  Then it will be very, very busy for ten days as I ricochet from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to London, England, leading balls and teaching.  Whee!

After my London weekend I will be wandering around the UK for a few days doing research.  Dorset, here I come!

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Friday-Saturday, November 17-18th ~ Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
The 19th Annual Remembrance Day Dinner & Ball (Facebook community) 
5:30pm-midnight each day.  TWO nights!  TWO formal dinners!  TWO balls!  Both evenings will be formal Civil War-era events with pre-1865 costume (civilian or military) required.  Hosted by John & Nancy Newbold.  Advance reservations (dinner and ball - $86.00 or ball-only - $40.00) are needed, and this event generally sells out well in advance!  Friday night: 1860s fancy dress ball.  Saturday night: classic formal Civil War ball.  I will be calling with live music both evenings by Calliope and different beginner-friendly dance programs!  Registration is open through November 6th only for dinner/ball tickets; ball-only later and at the door if available.

Sunday, November 19th ~ Lancaster, Pennsylvania area
Quadrille Workshop for Historic Rock Ford
Private event.

Saturday-Sunday, November 25-26th ~ London, England
America's Dance Revolution: 1876-1900 for The Historical Dance Society
A weekend of workshops on couple dances, quadrilles, and contra dances of the late nineteenth century.  This weekend will be accessible to all levels of dancers from beginners to experienced, and teachers will find my approach to couple dance technique and teaching of interest as well.  One- and two-day pricing; special rates for HDS members.  Registration is now open at the HDS website.

 

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

October 2023 Gig Calendar

Life and dancing return!  October is going to be filled primarily with a two-week trip to Europe for a conference and a very special dance workshop, then home to Connecticut to prepare for a crazy late November.

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Friday-Sunday, October 13-15th ~ Utrecht, Netherlands
European Association for Dance History Conference (Facebook group)
"Queerness in Dance History".  Extensive program of academic papers with some workshops.  In-person and online attendance available; some papers will be presented remotely.  I will be speaking about Dr. Mary Walker's involvement in social dance and how it connects to dress reform and teaching a workshop on basic 1910s maxixe as danced in America.

Thursday, October 19th ~ Kyiv, Ukraine
Dance workshop for Vintage Dance Community (Facebook group) (Facebook announcement)
7:00-9:00pm.  A sampler workshop!  A 1910s American contra dance, easy 1910s foxtrot variations and ornaments, a little cross-step waltz, and a new Steampunk contra dance choreography!  See Facebook announcement for location, cost, etc.

Monday, October 30th ~ New Britain, Connecticut
Dance workshop at Central Connecticut State University
11:00-12:05 pm.  Guest-teaching eighteenth & nineteenth-century dance for a dance history class.  Enrolled students only.

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

Coming in November: the Remembrance Day balls in Gettysburg and a late nineteenth-century workshop weekend in London (UK)!

September 2023 Gig Calendar

To sleep, perchance to actually get rested?  Once again, I have a non-gig calendar for the month, though I will be making a couple of personal trips, including an Actual Vacation for the first time since 2018.  See you in October, when things get lively again!

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!  I am currently scheduling through summer 2024.

August 2023 Gig Calendar

We are now on May, Take III, and I have nothing original to say about it except that I am really looking forward to autumn.  I'll make a short trip to Boston for DJing and library research, then back at home again for research and writing and all the mundane life stuff.

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Tuesday, August 8th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Lesson (not me - I don't teach blues!) from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with an air cleaner going; masks and proof of vaccination required.  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $20.  Volunteers get free admission!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

 

July 2023 Gig Calendar

For the first time in four years we have a non-gig calendar!  Previous July plans have been postponed, so I will be hibernating quietly at home this month, getting things prepared for later in the year (autumn will be lively!) and taking care of non-dance business.

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!  I am currently scheduling through summer 2024.

June 2023 Gig Calendar

June feels a bit like May, Take II: a quick trip to Boston early in the month to DJ and do a bit of library research, then holing up at home for research and writing...and yardwork and home renovations and all those little things I do when I'm not working.

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Tuesday, June 6th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Lesson (not me - I don't teach blues!) from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with an air cleaner going; masks and proof of vaccination required.  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $20.  Volunteers get free admission!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

 

May 2023 Gig Calendar

Tra la...it's May!  Waltz workshops and DJing a waltz afternoon in Boston early in the month, then I'll be taking a break from travel for some needed time at home for research and writing!

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Sunday, May 7th ~ Concord, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Cross-Step Waltz Workshops & DJ'ed Dance for Mostly Waltz for Boston (Facebook event)
11:00am-5:00pm.  Three cross-step waltz workshops (one introductory, two intermediate) plus a couple of hours of waltz and other couple dances to my eclectic collection of recordings.  Pricing below; details here; registration page here.  Capacity is limited!

• Each workshop: $15 / FAC members $13 / Student, Need a Break $10
• Dance: $10 / FAC members $8 / Student, Need a Break $5
• 2 or 3 workshops + dance: $40 / FAC members $34 / Student, Need a Break $25.  

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

 

April 2023 Gig Calendar

As April begins I'll still be on my March Chicago trip, now extended to Wisconsin.  Then after a couple of weeks at home, I'll be on the road again to the amazing New England Folk Festival (NEFFA) and a Civil War ball in Pennsylvania, with a bit of DJing tucked in between.  I'm looking forward to a fabulous and eclectic month!

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Saturday, April 1st ~ Racine, Wisconsin
Regency Ball for Grimmoire Productions' LARP Lies and Liability
Private event for LARP attendees.  

Friday-Sunday, April 21st-23rd ~ Marlborough, Massachusetts
NEFFA 2023 (The New England Folk Festival)
I will be teaching and speaking on Saturday and Sunday as part of this enormous folk festival filled with music and dance.  High-quality masks and vax requirements!  See the full schedule here.  My sessions:

• Saturday, 1:00-1:50pm: Early American Cotillions (workshop) 
• Saturday, 4:00-4:50pm: A Black Caller in Napoleonic France (talk)
• Sunday, 12:30-1:20pm: Shadow Waltz Variations (workshop) 
• Sunday, 2:00-2:50pm: Allemande: The Couple Dance (workshop) 

Tuesday, April 25th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy (FUSEY Tuesy (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  This is a Balter/Fusion night!  Lesson (not me - I don't teach blues/fusion!) from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blue/fusion from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with an air cleaner going; masks and proof of vaccination required.  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $20.  Volunteers get free admission!

Saturday, April 29th ~ Waverly, Pennsylvania
The 17th Annual Grand Civil War ball (Facebook event)
7:00-10:00pm.  Formal 1860s ball to be held at the Waverly Community House with live music by Spare Parts and a beginner-friendly dance program!  This ball is a benefit event for the Lackawanna Historical Society.  Pre-ball workshop 1:00-3:00pm.  No mask or vaccination requirements.  Tickets $40 (includes workshop); see the website to purchase.

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

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Coming in May: a day of cross-step waltz (workshops and DJ'ed dance) for Mostly Waltz for Boston!

March 2023 Gig Calendar

March for me will come in like the proverbial lion as I wrap up my little European tour with a weekend of workshops in Munich and go out, err, still like the lion with a trip to Chicago for research and an evening of country dancing (loosely defined).  In between, I'll be in Boston for DJing (and more research).  Updated: the DJing and Boston trip are canceled, conveniently replaced by a class at a local university!  Whee!

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Saturday-Sunday, March 4-5th ~ Munich, Germany
"In the Manner of …" Tänze „verschiedener Nationen“ um 1800 (Facebook event)
Dance workshops on late 18th to early 19th century dances that involve one nationality presenting a dance "of" or "in the style of" another.  Country dances and quadrilles.  Teaching language will be English.  Download the event flyer (PDF) here or see the website for more details and registration information.  This weekend is just about sold out but will be keeping a wait list in case of cancellations.

Tuesday, March, 21st ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook page) (Facebook group)
CANCELED DUE TO VENUE RENOVATiON WORK
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Lesson (not me - I don't teach blues!) from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with an air cleaner going; masks and proof of vaccination required.  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $20.  Volunteers get free admission!

Tuesday, March 21st ~ New Britain, Connecticut
Dance workshop at Central Connecticut State University
12:30-1:30pm.  Guest-teaching eighteenth & nineteenth-century dance for a dance history class.  Enrolled students only.

Friday, March 31st ~ Glen Ellyn, Illinois (Chicago area)
Dancing Through Time for Chicagoland English Country Dance
7:30-10:30pm.  An evening of various forms of set dancing - longways, squares, circles, etc. from the Renaissance to the 21st century.  Some experience with some form of set dancing (country dance, contra, squares, etc.) will be helpful.  Sliding scale $5-15.  See website for COVID safety requirements.

 

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

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Coming in April: from Chicago to Wisconsin for a Regency-themed ball at a LARP, then a lull before NEFFA and a Civil War Ball at the end of the month!

February 2023 Gig Calendar

February starts gently for me with an online lecture that is a sort of sequel to one I did in Moscow eight (!!) years ago and one of my regular trips to Boston to DJ before I head off to Europe at the end of the month for a teaching trip to Belgium and Germany that will also take me briefly through Dublin and Amsterdam for research, art, and reunions.

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Wednesday, February 8th ~ ONLINE / Massachusetts-based
Lecture: Ignatius Sancho and Julien Clarchies: Black Men of Letters and Music
for LIRA (Learning in Retirement Association - University of Massachusetts, Lowell)
1:00-3:00pm.  Zoom lecture.  

Tuesday, February 14th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Lesson (not me - I don't teach blues!) from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with an air cleaner going; masks and proof of vaccination required.  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $20.  Volunteers get free admission!

Friday-Tuesday, February 24-28th ~ Néthen, Belgique (Belgium)
Voyage Dansé: La Révolution américaine, sur les traces d'Outlander (Facebook event)
Four-day dance festival organized by Compagnie Aliquam Amentis centering around American dance from the Boston Tea Party (250th anniversary) to the War of 1812.  Colonial to Federalist, in American terms; Jane Austen to Regency in English.  Dance program will include American cotillions, country dances, and allemande.  Grand costumed ball of the period 1773-1815.  Other creative activities of the era such as sewing and writing will be included as well.  See the event website for tickets.  (This event is mostly sold out for the weekend, but tickets are still available as of early February for the ball and for Monday-Tuesday.)

 

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

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Coming in March: I go from Belgium to Germany for Regency-era (more or less) workshops in Munich!

January 2023 Gig Calendar

Happy new year!  I wasn't planning to travel for anything but library research this month while I wait out the post-holiday Covid surge and polish a bunch of old and new reconstructions for my European trip in February-March.  But it seems I'm going to Boston to DJ again.  Tomorrow!  Whee!

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Tuesday, January 3rd ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Lesson (not me - I don't teach blues!) from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with an air cleaner going; masks and proof of vaccination required.  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $20.  Volunteers get free admission!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

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Coming in February: off to Belgium!

December 2022 Gig Calendar

Winding down for the year after a busy late autumn with a final trip up to Boston.  Then home for a few weeks to attempt to catch up on writing projects!

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Saturday, December 10th ~ Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Boston Gender Free Contra Dance (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:30pm.  The main caller is Rich Sbardella, but I will be doing a single guest slot calling my circle mixer, Masha Poka!  Live music by Woody & The West Side Warblers.  Role identifiers: Larks and Robins.  Fragrance free (helpful info here).  Masks and proof of vax + booster required.  Sliding scale $5-15 plus donations requested for the music fund.  

Sunday, December 11th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Second Sun Rising (Facebook page) (Facebook event)
7:00-11:00pm (plus).  Lesson (not me) from 7:00-8:00, then I will be DJing fusion for partner dancing from 8:00-9:30, followed by another DJ (TBA).   Top-tier masks (or buy at door for $1-2) and proof of booster (or vax + test at door) required.  Sliding scale $5-20; volunteer opportunities available.  

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

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Coming in 2023: a festival in Belgium, workshops in Germany, and more!

November 2022 Gig Calendar

Things are getting lively again!  Online and in-person workshops, two balls, and a DJ gig, plus at least two library visits, and I'm hoping for four...

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Saturday, November 12th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
12:00-1:30pm.  Private event.

Friday & Saturday, November 18th & 19th ~ Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
The 18th Annual Remembrance Day Dinner & Ball (Facebook community) 
5:30pm-midnight each day.  TWO nights!  TWO formal dinners!  TWO balls!  This is the return of John Newbold's event!  Both evenings will be formal Civil War-era events with pre-1865 costume (civilian or military) required.  Advance reservations (dinner and ball or ball-only) are needed, and this event generally sells out well in advance!  Friday night: 1860s fancy dress ball.  Saturday night: classic formal Civil War ball.  I will be calling with live music both evenings by the Fleeting Moments Orchestra and different beginner-friendly dance programs!

Sunday, November 20th ~ Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Private dance workshop at Historic Rock Ford
1:00-4:00pm.  Workshop on early nineteenth century American dances.  Private event for Rock Ford dancers only.

Sunday, November 27th ~ Concord, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Mostly Waltz Boston (Facebook event)
2:00-5:30pm.  I will be teaching a lesson in basic cross-step waltz from 2:00-3:00 followed by dancing (waltz and other couple dances) to live music by Becky Tracy and Keith Murphy from 3:00-5:30pm.  FAC members $13, non-members $15, students/need a break $7.  Attendance is limited and attendees must pre-register via the website.  

Tuesday, November 29th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Lesson with Clayton & Kelly from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer if the dance floor is full!  Indoors with excellent ventilation; masks and proof of vaccination required.  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $20.  Volunteers get free admission!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

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Coming in December: back to Boston again to DJ for Second Sun Rising and call a waltz mixer at Boston Gender Free Contra Dance.  Then home for the holidays!

October 2022 Gig Calendar

Writing time!  I have a huge backlog of papers and articles to get written, so I'll be spending most of October home doing that, with one trip at the end of the month to the UK for an academic conference.

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Friday-Sunday, October 28-30th ~ London, England
European Association for Dance History Conference (Facebook group)
"War, Peace & Politics in Dance".  Extensive program of academic papers with some workshops.  I will speaking and teaching a workshop on French social dances celebrating the Franco-Russian Alliance.  Note that this is late nineteenth-century material which is not in any way connected with current events.

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

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Coming in November: back to the beautiful Gettysburg Hotel for the The 18th Annual Remembrance Day Dinner & Ball!

September 2022 Gig Calendar

Finally, a month that begins to look like normal for me, with workshops and DJing and lots of research time.  On the road again!

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Friday, September 2nd ~ Chicago, Illinois
Steampunk Dance Workshop at Chicon 8 (Facebook group)
7:00-8:00pm.  Workshop on my own steampunk choreographies: historically-inspired figures set to Abney Park music - probably "Wanderlust" (USA premiere!) and "Overboard".  Masks and vaccination required.  Limited to attending members of Chicon 8, the 80th World Science Fiction Convention.  See their website for membership information.

Saturday, September 10th ~ Oak Park, Illinois (Chicago area)
Workshops & Dance (Facebook event) for Chicagoland English Country Dance
1:00-10:00pm.  Two dance workshops and an evening dance with live music by Jonathan Whitall and Meg Dedolph.  Workshops: (1) steps for early 18th century hornpipe country dances and (2) cotillions.  Evening dance: a potpourri of dances from the 17th to 21st centuries, modern style.  Masks and vaccination required.  $15 per workshop, $20 for evening dance, $40 for the full day.  Payable in cash or check at the door.  More information at the website.

Tuesday, September 20th ~ Cambridge, Massachusetts (Boston area)
Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook page) (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
7:30-10:00pm (plus).  Lesson with Julie Brown from 7:30-8:30, then I will be DJing blues from 8:30 until at least 10:00, possibly longer if the dance floor is full!  Outdoors if the weather is good, indoors with excellent ventilation if not.  Masks and vaccination required for indoors.  Sliding scale donation, $5 to $20.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

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Coming in October: the European Association for Dance History Conference in London!

August 2022 Gig Calendar

Onward goes the hot and quiet summer!  I am still consolidating and collating and cataloguing my research collection, with interesting results, especially in the "collating" area, with my only event this month a reunion with my pandemic group of online cotillion students!

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Saturday, August 13th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
6:00pm-7:30pm.  Private event.

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

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Coming in September: I will be in Chicago for the first ten days of the month doing research and teaching!

July 2022 Gig Calendar

Well, now I have two months of a fairly long, hot summer ahead of me without much going on before things kick back into gear again in the autumn.  I've been making a project for the last month or so of organizing and cataloguing my rather enormous collection (and, um, backlog) of research photos from various libraries, so I expect I'll continue with that, and I have plenty of writing to do!  But first, one more online lecture!

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Sunday, July 17th ~ ONLINE / Maryland-based
Lecture for the Jane Austen Society of North America - Maryland Region (JASNA-MD)
2:00-3:00pm.  Private event for JASNA-MD members; see their website to join the group.

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I am available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, pandemic permitting.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

 

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Coming in August: a quiet month at home!

June 2022 Gig Calendar

Another month full of exciting travel, this time to Germany, and then on to precepting a Civil War ball in Pennsylvania.  In-person teaching and dancing, hurrah!

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Wednesday-Sunday, June 15-19th ~ Burg Rothenfels, Germany
Historical Dance Symposium (Facebook community)
International conference of dance historians and historical dancers with workshops, papers, dance evenings, and a ball.  I will be presenting a workshop on late nineteenth century couple dance teaching techniques and a paper on a late eighteenth century manuscript about contredanse (cotillion) steps.  Note that I will only be present Wednesday night through Saturday.

Saturday, June 25th ~ Waverly, Pennsylvania
The 16th Annual Grand Civil War ball  (Facebook event)
7:00-10:00pm.  Formal 1860s ball to be held at the Waverly Community House with live music by Spare Parts and a beginner-friendly dance program!  This ball is a benefit event for the Lackawanna Historical Society.  Ticket information and more here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am once again available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, always providing the pandemic does not spiral back into disaster again.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

 

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Coming in July: an online lecture for JASNA-Maryland!

May 2022 Gig Calendar

IN-PERSON EVENTS.  That pretty much sums it up.  See you on the real, live dance floor!

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Friday-Sunday, May 6th-8th  ~ St Katharine’s, Parmoor, Frieth, England
Early Dance Circle Biennial Conference 2022: Retrieving & Reconstructing the Past through Dance  (Facebook event)
This conference will feature an international set of speakers on historical dance topics spanning the 15th century to the 20th, plus five workshops, three performances, and an evening of participatory dance.  I will be presenting a paper on the opening "changes" of the mid- to late-18th century French contredanse (cotillion, square dance) and teaching a workshop on a late 1810s French version of Le Grand-Père, a Continental finishing dance.  A full list of contributors and paper/workshop topics is included on the registration form (pdf).

 

Saturday, May 21st ~ Essex, Connecticut
The Essex 1814 Ball  (Facebook event) - CANCELLED
A formal 1810s ball with live music by Marnen Laibow-Koser and Jean Monroe and an American-specific program of country dances and cotillions.  $25 in advance; ticket information here.

 

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I am once again available to travel for in-person dance teaching, lecturing, and ball precepting, always providing the pandemic does not spiral back into disaster again.  I am also still available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice).  Please email me directly if you would like to schedule an event or workshop!

 

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Coming in May: a trip to Germany and an American Civil War Ball in Lackawanna, Pennsylvania!

April 2022 Gig Calendar

Spring has sprung, I'm still in the USA, and I have one more month of online events before transitioning back to primarily in-person teaching in May and June!

Please note: online events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Saturday, April 9th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
12:00pm-1:30pm.  Private event.

Sunday, April 24th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Friday-Sunday, April 22nd-24th ~ ONLINE / Boston-based
New England Folk Festival (NEFFA) Online (Facebook group) (Facebook event)
Large festival featuring contra, English country dance, international folk dance, waltz, many other forms as well as music (lots!), crafts, etc.  I will be teaching two sessions with an emphasis on quick instruction and then participatory dancing: Hand Jive! (Saturday, 12:00-12:50pm) and Having a Brawl: 16th Century French Circle Dances (Sunday, 10:00-11:00am).  I will also have an informal dance history chat (about anything people want to discuss) in the Cafeteria breakout rooms on Saturday from 6:00-7:00pm - come to the Cafeteria and look or ask for the room.  The full schedule is posted here.  Registration info here.  

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in May: the Early Dance Circle conference and an 1814 Ball in Connecticut!  In person!!!

March 2022 Gig Calendar

Well. 

The major possibility I was expecting for March was to move back to Moscow and resume teaching dance in Russia and Ukraine, so I didn't plan much of anything else.  As anyone who has not been living under a rock for the last few days is no doubt aware, that is probably not happening this month, and it's hard to say whether it will happen in the foreseeable future.  Or at all.

So...new possibilities are needed.  I'll make a quick research trip to Boston early this month and will be working on other events and workshops in the USA for later this spring, plus planning for one or two conferences in Europe.  For those who've been wanting me in the USA but have been blocked first by my mostly being in Russia and then by the pandemic, this is a great time to book me.

Is anyone else tired of being resilient after the last two years?

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Sunday, March 20th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

 

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in April: online dance workshops at the New England Folk Festival (NEFFA)!

February 2022 Gig Calendar

As we come out of the Omicron surge, I'm starting to plan actual, in-person events for later this spring (May/June), hoping they will actually take place this year.  Meanwhile, I'm back with the California-based Historical Tea & Dance Society again this month for another Zoom lecture and will have a research trip or two as well.

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Saturday, February 19th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
12:00pm-1:30pm.  Private event.

Sunday, February 20th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Saturday, February 26th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Dancing à la Carte: a Century of Dance Cards (Facebook event)
for The Historical Tea & Dance Society (Facebook page)
2pm Pacific/5pm Eastern.  "Whether plain or fancy, covered with feathers or in the shape of a fan, your dance card guided you through the ball. It ensured you didn't miss your waltz with Walter Whirligig or your quadrille with Quentin Quickstep, and then became a treasured souvenir forever after. But what were dance cards? When did they arise, what did they look like, and what can they tell us about dancing in the past?"  A popularly-oriented Zoom lecture on dance cards, primarily nineteenth century, with lots of lovely images! $5 per person, limited to fifty people.  Registration information in the sidebar here!

 

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in March: life is full of possibilities...

January 2022 Gig Calendar

Happy new year!  It's got to be better than the last one, right?  Did I say that last year, too?  (Nope.)

This month I'm back (online) with the California-based Historical Tea & Dance Society for another lecture and will have a research trip or two, but we're in the midst of the Omicron surge, so not much else is happening, alas.

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday, January 22nd ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
12:00pm-1:30pm.  Private event.

Sunday, January 23rd ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Saturday, January 29th ~ ONLINE / California-based
From Jane Austen to Fezziwig, and Beyond: Why the last dance of the evening became the best dance of the night.  (Facebook event)
for The Historical Tea & Dance Society (Facebook page)
2:00-3:30pm.  A popularly-oriented Zoom lecture on three popular finishing/finale dances from England and France in the late 18th and 19th centuries.  The official description: "The ball is almost over: you've worn holes in your slippers, your hair is coming down, and you may be a little bit drunk -- but you still want that one last dance, the finishing dance! Whether it's La Boulangère (the only dance mentioned by name in Jane Austen's novels) or Sir Roger de Coverley (stretching through the Regency to Charles Dickens), or the Grandfather dance, the finishing dance was your last hurrah of the evening."  $5 per person, limited to fifty sixty people.  See the Facebook event or the HT&DS website for registration.

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in February: more of the same, including another lecture!

December 2021 Gig Calendar

And...we may be heading into another winter viral surge.  Fortunately, I've only got online events this month, but I'll be making research trips to Boston and Washington, D.C., and continuing to push my writing (now with extra added translation!) forward.  Life may be quite, but it's not boring!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Saturday, December 11th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
12:00pm-1:30pm.  Private event.

Sunday, December 12th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in January: a new year!  Better things?  Another lecture on La Boulangère?

November 2021 Gig Calendar

Back in the ballroom at last!  This month I will return to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for a Remembrance Day Ball (though in a different location and with a different organizer than in previous years) as well as doing a presentation for an online conference in the UK.  I'll squeeze in a research jaunt around the Gettysburg trip and expect to spend time early in the month sewing a new costume for it since my ballgown is (sigh) still in Moscow.  I'm so excited to get back on the dance floor in costume for the first time since early March, 2020!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Sunday, November 14th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Saturday, November 21st ~ Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
Remembrance Day Ball hosted by Civil War Lady / Joy Melcher
In person!  American Civil War-era dinner and ball.  I will be calling the dancing to live music by the Susquehanna Travellers.  This is not my usual Remembrance Day Ball, which is still on pandemic hiatus; this is a different organizer and location.  Tickets $40; Covid vaccination strongly recommended.  See the website for registration and hotel information.

Saturday-Sunday, November 27-28th ~ ONLINE / UK-based
An Assembly for Jane Austen
An online conference run by the UK's Historical Dance Society (Facebook page) with historians, dance researchers, and practitioners giving Austen-themed presentations.  There will also be an evening soiree with a nautical theme with live music by Green Ginger's Meryl and Ian Thomson and prompting by Lizzy Curzon.  I will be speaking at 4:20pm (UK time!) Saturday on the history of the Boulanger, the only dance mentioned by name in Jane Austen's works and letters.  Tickets £20; register here.

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in November: a real, in-person ball in Gettysburg and an online Jane Austen conference in the UK!

October 2021 Gig Calendar

All right, this month is actually less of the same, relative to last month.  Let's hope that roots grow deep in the dark, because this is definitely a dark and quiet month for me.  But better things - including an in-person thing - are coming in November!  Edited to add: And better things have arrived!  I will be doing an in-person dance class!  In person!!!  Not open to the public, alas, but in person!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Sunday, October 17th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Monday, October 27th ~ New Britain, Connecticut
Dance workshop at Central Connecticut State University
9:25am-12:05pm.  Guest teaching (in person!!!) nineteenth-century dance for a dance history class.

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in November: a real, in-person ball in Gettysburg and an online Jane Austen conference in the UK!

September 2021 Gig Calendar

I'm cautiously optimistic that things will start to pick up this autumn, though I'm not sure about winter.  This will be a fairly quiet month (like so many recently...) with an online lecture and a research trip.  

And if your dance group us back to actual in-person dancing, I'm willing to travel for small, vaccinated-only events and classes and, of course, to do Zoom lessons and talks for those who are not yet back to in-person events.

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Tuesday, September 14th ~ ONLINE / Massachusetts-based
Lecture on masquerades and fancy dress balls
for LIRA (Learning in Retirement Association - University of Massachusetts, Lowell)
10:00am-12:00pm (Massachusetts time). Zoom lecture. This will be similar to the lectures I've done this year on Regency-era masquerades, but expanded to cover the later nineteenth century and into the twentieth.

Saturday, September 18th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Private event.

Sunday, September 19th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in October: likely more of the same, but it's very hard to plan, nowadays...

August 2021 Gig Calendar

I'm now in that in-between space in which online lesson series are no longer viable but, with the delta variant surge, in-person lesson and classes have not really started up again, at least not to the extent of hiring traveling teachers.  But I have a wonderful research trip planned this month -- two separate libraries, two days in each, plus seeing friends I haven't see since 2019 -- and expect to have plenty of work to keep me busy, what with wrapping up my July events, revamping my masquerades lecture for another outing in September, and pushing several research and writing projects forward.

That said, I'm also still somewhat willing to travel for small, vaccinated-only events, depending on what and where and how the pandemic is going.  And (sigh) to do Zoom lessons and talks.

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance! 

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Sunday, August 1st ~ ONLINE / California-based
Hand Jive Dance Review
for Stockton Folk Dance Camp
At approximately 6:25pm (Pacific time), I'll be doing a quick (ten-minute) review of my second Stockton Hand Jive class (the Hand Jive Dance) at the closing party.  The schedule is subject to slippage, so it may happen a bit later.  The overall festival is free, though it's a bit late to join in an eight-day event at this point, and donations are encouraged.  Register to attend here.

Saturday, August 28th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group Reunion Class
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Private event.

Sunday, August 29th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

 

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I am available for private or group online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in September: another version of the masquerades lecture!  And maybe more!

July 2021 Gig Calendar

All right, this is getting a little ridiculous.  Remember I said last month that that series of online classes was really the last one?  Well...it wasn't. 

So let's try this again:

Still no in-person classes, but this month I'll be doing one more series (the last one! really!) of cotillion working group classes, using a different potpourri scheme - multiple figures repeating multiple times.  I'll also be lecturing for the Regency Fiction Writers Virtual Conference and teaching hand jive at the fabulous (and free!) online Stockton Folk Dance Camp.  Stockton is a fabulous bargain - a week of classes with an international cast of teachers, tons of dancing and music, and free.

And if anyone is ready to sponsor in-person classes in the USA again...I'm fully vaccinated and ready to travel!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

 

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Saturdays, July 10th-31st ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group III: The Last Series
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Online lesson series experimenting with a three-figure, nine-change potpourri cotillion of the Federalist period (1780s-1800s).  Continuing students only.

Thursday-Saturday, July 22nd-24th ~ ONLINE / EDT-based
Lecture: Regency Masquerades
for the Regency Fiction Writers 1st Annual Conference - 2021 “A Brand New Day: The Many Facets of Regency Fiction”
Part of a three-day writers' conference for the Regency Fiction Writers (a.k.a. The Beau Monde).  My lecture will be from 3:00-4:00pm on Friday, July 23rd.  Attendance is limited to conference attendees.  Conference registration is open through July 15th.  More information at the RFW website.

Friday, July 23rd - Sunday, August 1st ~ ONLINE / California-based
Workshops: Hand Jive (two)
for Stockton Folk Dance Camp
I will be teaching two session of 1950s hand jive as part of this huge online folk dance event with teachers and musicians from all over the world.  My workshops will be Thursday the 29th at 3:00pm (Pacific time) and Friday the 30th at 4:00pm (Pacific time).  The first will be typical hand jive moves and clapping rhythms.  The second will be something new (for "1958" values of new) and rather unusual as hand jive goes.  Then at approximately 6:25pm (Pacific time) on Sunday the first, I'll be doing a quick (ten-minute) review of the second class at the closing party.  The event (the whole camp, not just my workshops) is free to all, though donations are encouraged.  Register to attend here.

Sunday, July 25th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

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I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in August: research time!  Because somehow I haven't had enough isolation?

June 2021 Gig Calendar

I just can't seem to quit the online classes!  Much to my surprise, I'm doing one more series - this is really the last one, I think - of experimenting on students with fresh cotillion research.  I also hope to add a couple of Connecticut-local, vaccinated-only, in-person classes later this month.

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Four Saturdays, June 5th-26th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group II: A Patriotic Potpourri!
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series experimenting with an American potpourri cotillion of the Federalist period (1780s-1800s).  Fresh research; students are the guinea pigs.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  To be followed by an online cotillion-dancing party on July 3rd.  Prerequisite: returning students or instructor permission.  Contact me directly for permission and registration information.

Sunday, June 13th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.  I am also available for small-group in-person dance events; fully vaccinated dancers only, please!

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Coming in July: Stockton Folk Dance Camp and the Regency Fiction Writers/Beau Monde Annual Conference, both online!

May 2021 Gig Calendar

Moving right along, pandemic-wise, I've now had both vaccinations (Pfizer/BioNTech) and am waiting out the two weeks until my immunity matures.  For May, I'm teaching what will probably be my last full series of online classes and starting to plan out summer travel, which will with luck include both research and, just maybe, some in-person teaching!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Four Saturdays, May 1st-29th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Cotillion Working Group
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Five-part Zoom series experimenting with American cotillions of the Federalist period (1780s-1800s).  Fresh research; students are the guinea pigs.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  Plan (subject to change) is for four classes and a cotillion-dancing party.  Prerequisite: rigadaun step and previous experience with historical footwork.  $35 for the series; limited to twenty students.  Contact me directly for permission and registration information.

Sunday, May 16th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

 

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I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.

April 2021 Gig Calendar

I am now half-vaccinated and anticipate being fully so around the end of the month!  Lessons and events continue to be online-only for me for now, with a return to limited in-person teaching possible as early as June.  This month's highlight for me: after many years, a return to NEFFA (online version) to teach, of all things, 1950s hand jive!  Details below!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Four Saturdays, April 3rd-24th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 102c (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series covering basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  Prerequisite: 101 class or permission. This is the third in the HT&DS rotation of 102-level footwork classes, a revised version of last year's 102c.  The class assumes that you have an understanding of the basic steps for Regency and Colonial footwork, including the chassé-jeté-assemblé sequence, the kemshoole and kemkossy for Scotch reels, and the rigadaun step, and moves on from there to more complicated steps and sequences for quadrilles and reels.  This is a friendly, gently-paced class for footwork beyond the absolute basics.  $20 for the series; see event page for registration link.


Sunday, April 11th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Tuesday, April 13th ~ ONLINE / Boston & Philadelphia-based
Social Time & Blues DJing (Facebook event)
for Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook group) & Powerhouse Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-8:15pm Social Time; 8:15-9:00 Dance lesson with Kerian Pearson.  9:00-10:00pm DJed dance music.  I'll be hanging out during the first half of the evening and spinning the tunes for at-home dancing for the second half!  Zoom link at Facebook event.  Suggested donation $5.00.

Sunday, April 25th ~ ONLINE / Massachusetts-based
Hand Jive! 
at the Online New England Folk Festival (NEFFA)  (Facebook event)
11:00am-12:00pm.  1950s hand jive was much more than shown in "Grease," with many different movements, patterns, and musical rhythms. Learn different arm and hand motions for grooving to the music even when there's no space to dance. No partner needed, family-friendly, and accessible to those with lower-body disabilities.  Attendance only through the full Online NEFFA, which runs from 4:00pm on April 23rd to 7:00pm on April 25th and includes many online music, dance, and discussion lessons plus social spaces.  Pay what you can (suggested donation $40) for the festival as a whole; register here.

 

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I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.

March 2021 Gig Calendar

The pandemic continues, but vaccines are rolling out apace in the USA, so I am feeling cautiously optimistic about later this year, though I've no idea when I'll be able to resume significant travel again.  In the meantime, I'm still online-only!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Four Saturdays, March 6th-27th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 101 (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
1:00pm-2:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series covering absolute basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  No previous experience needed!  This is the first in the HT&DS footwork classes, a revised version of last year's 101, and is the prerequisite for the 102 and 103 level classes.  The class is intended for absolute beginners and moves very slowly.  Steps include the chassé-jeté-assemblé sequence, the kemshoole and kemkossy for Scotch reels, and the rigadaun step.  $20 for the series; see event page for registration link.

Four Saturdays, March 6th-27th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 102b (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series covering basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  Prerequisite: 101 class or permission. This is the second in the HT&DS rotation of 102-level footwork classes, a revised version of last year's 102b.  The class assumes that you have an understanding of the basic steps for Regency and Colonial footwork, including the chassé-jeté-assemblé sequence, the kemshoole and kemkossy for Scotch reels, and the rigadaun step, and moves on from there to more complicated steps and sequences for quadrilles and reels.  This is a friendly, gently-paced class for footwork beyond the absolute basics.  $20 for the series; see event page for registration link.

Sunday, March 21st ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.

February 2021 Gig Calendar

My excitement for February: returning to DJing blues!  I'm not a big blues dancer, but I love the music and look forward to spinning online for my old Boston-area pals at Bluesy Tuesy and new folks from Powerhouse Blues!  I'll also be returning to my ultra-basic footwork classes and might add another pop-up class or lecture somewhere in there...

Otherwise: it's still a pandemic.  But the vaccines are coming!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Four Saturdays, February 6th-27th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 101 (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
1:00pm-2:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series covering absolute basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  No previous experience needed!  This is the first in the HT&DS footwork classes, a revised version of last year's 101, and is the prerequisite for the 102 and 103 level classes.  The class is intended for absolute beginners and moves very slowly.  Steps include the chassé-jeté-assemblé sequence, the kemshoole and kemkossy for Scotch reels, and the rigadaun step.  $20 for the series; see event page for registration link.

Four Saturdays, February 6th-27th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 102a (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series covering basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  Prerequisite: 101 class or permission. This is the first in the HT&DS rotation of 102-level footwork classes, a revised version of last year's 102a.  The class assumes that you have an understanding of the basic steps for Regency and Colonial footwork, including the chassé-jeté-assemblé sequence, the kemshoole and kemkossy for Scotch reels, and the rigadaun step, and moves on from there to more complicated steps and sequences for quadrilles and reels.  This is a friendly, gently-paced class for footwork beyond the absolute basics.  $20 for the series; see event page for registration link.

Tuesday, February 9th ~ ONLINE / Boston & Philadelphia-based
Social Time & Blues DJing (Facebook event)
for Bluesy Tuesy (Facebook group) & Powerhouse Blues (Facebook group)
8:00-9:00pm Social Time; 9:00-10:00pm DJed dance music.  I'll be hanging out during the first half of the evening and spinning the tunes for at-home dancing for the second half!  See Facebook event for Zoom link.  Suggested donation $5.00.

Sunday, February 21st ~ ONLINE / UK-based
Online Club Session 9: Regency Ballroom: or the art of being improper (Facebook event)
for Nonsuch History & Dance (Facebook group)
1:00-3:00pm.  "Despite their success and long-lasting popularity, waltzes and quadrilles took time to conquer regency ballrooms. This session will connect dance master instructions with reviews, diaries and caricatures to understand the first impression these continental dance forms left on the British public before becoming long-term favourites."  I will be responsible for about half an hour of the event, briefly talking about quadrilles and teaching variations of turn for the figure dos-à-dos then discussing wilder dance moments from French ballrooms.  Other presenters include Darren Royston, Professor Michael Burden (University of Oxford), and Alena Shmakova.  Short talks and dance practices will include: a Strathy-based warmup, Regency waltz, eighteenth-century masquerades, body/posture-shaping devices, and ballroom etiquette.  Short Q&A at the end.  £10 per person; register in advance via the website or Facebook event.

 

Sunday, February 28th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

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I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.

January 2021 Gig Calendar

Well, we're still online-only...this month is planned as a research/writing month, so while I'm doing one brand-new lecture, I'm not planning any other major teaching events, just a few low-key private pop-up classes, which will keep popping up here throughout the month.  I expect more organized public classes to resume in February!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Saturday, January 2nd ~ ONLINE / California-based
Pop-Up Class: Arbeau's Bransles
3:00-4:30pm.  Private event.  Fun and easy dances for the new year!  Sixteenth century line and circle dances.  Easy steps, great music, and no partner needed!  $5 per person; pay by Paypal at class.  This class is limited to students of my HT&DS 101-102-103 classes only.  Facebook link for student group only.

Saturday, January 9th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Regency Masquerade Lecture (Facebook event)
10:00-11:30am.  Lecture and discussion on late 18th- and early 19th-century masquerades and fancy dress balls in England.  Discussion time afterward.  $5 per person, preregistration required - see Facebook event for registration info.  Limited to 50 people and likely to sell out SOLD OUT.

Saturday, January 9th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Pop-Up Class: Arbeau's Bransles II
3:00-4:30pm.  Private event.  Fun and easy dances for the new year!  Sixteenth century line and circle dances.  Easy steps, great music, and no partner needed!  Price split by number of students; pay by Paypal at class.  This class is limited to students of my HT&DS 101-102-103 classes only.  Facebook link for student group only.

Saturday, January 16th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Pop-Up Class: Minuet
3:00-4:30pm.  Private event.  Basic minuet step forward and sideways, basic minuet "Z" figure and hand turns.  No partner needed!  $5 per person; pay by Paypal at class.  This class is limited to students of my HT&DS 101-102-103 classes only.  Facebook link for student group only.

Saturday, January 23rd ~ ONLINE / California-based
Pop-Up Class: Minuet, part two
3:00-4:30pm.  Private event.  No partner needed!  $5 per person; pay by Paypal at class.  This class is limited to students of my HT&DS 101-102-103 classes only.  Facebook link for student group only.

Sunday, January 24th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Sunday, January 30th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Lecture on Regency ballroom practices/etiquette
for Teel House Emma Virtual Regency Retreat (Facebook event)
7:00-9:00pm.  Online "ball" with concerts, at-home dancing, and at some point my prerecorded lecture (about 25 minutes) and brief Q&A time.  Lecture will be first-person, living history style, on Regency ballroom practices and etiquette.  This event is limited to attendees of the weekend-long Teel House Emma Virtual Regency Retreat.  Register here.  Full schedule here.

Saturday, January 30th Sunday, January 31st ~ ONLINE / California-based
Pop-Up Class: Minuet, part three
3:00-4:30pm.  Private event.  No partner needed!  $5 per person; pay by Paypal at class.  This class is limited to students of my HT&DS 101-102-103 classes only.  Facebook link for student group only.  Rescheduled from Saturday to Sunday!

 

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I am available for private online lessons and talks via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson or talk.

Coming in February: a return to regular basic footwork classes and an online blues DJing gig!

November 2020 Gig Calendar

November is going to feel strange this year, with no trip to Gettysburg for the Remembrance Day Balls.  Hopefully they will be back next year!  In the meantime, I'm going to spend November ping-ponging from the 17th century (unusual for me) to the early 20th, with a detour for footwork classes focusing mostly on late 18th to early 19th century dance.  I'm especially excited about both the Playford Then and Now Festival, hosted by The Historical Dance Society (formerly the Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society) in the UK with a great lineup of speakers, and the chance to repeat for the Historical Tea and Dance Society in California a lecture I gave for a university group back in September on the intertwined lives of the dancers Vernon and Irene Castle and the musician James Reese Europe.  Both the Castles and Europe are frequently discussed, lectured, and written about separately.  I'm thrilled to bring their stories together!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Saturday-Sunday, November 7-8th ~ ONLINE / UK-based
Playford Then and Now Festival (Facebook event)
for The Historical Dance Society (Facebook group page)
12:00-18:30 (UK time) Saturday / 12:00-18:00 (UK time) Sunday.  Please adjust times for your own time zone!  Online (Zoom) dance festival/conference centered around historical and modern English country dance.  I will be giving a presentation at 14:10 (UK time) Sunday on songs attached - or not - to the country dance tune "Jamaica".  Other presenters include Anne Daye, Charlotte Ewart, Jeremy Barlow, Colin Hume, Aaron Macks, and more.  More details on the event website.  Tickets £15; purchase online here.

Sunday, November 15th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-2:00pm.  Private event.

Saturday, November 21st ~ ONLINE / California-based
A Ragtime Revolution: Vernon and Irene Castle and James Reese Europe (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
10:00-11:30 (Pacific time).  Online (Zoom) lecture: "For a few brief years in the 1910s, an English vaudeville actor, a New York socialite, and the son of a former slave were some of the most famous entertainers in America. Join us to explore their intertwined stories, ranging from Harlem to Broadway, from New York to Paris, from World War I’s flying aces to the trenches of France, before this magical historical moment ended in tragedy. This lecture will trace the parallel careers of James Reese Europe and the Castles, their complicated interracial collaboration, and their influence on music, dance, and entertainment."  Limited to 50 people, advance registration required, tickets $5.00/per person.  Ticket link here.

Four Saturdays, November 21st-28th/December 5-12th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 103b: Fitting Steps to Dances (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
2:00pm-3:30pm.  Four-part Zoom series covering basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson plus after-class discussion.  Prerequisite - 101 class or permission. Continuing the HT&DS series of historical steps for country dances and related forms, this second "fitting steps" series will again focus on using steps we've learned with the specific figures of dances from different historical periods. Some previous experience required - either our 101 class or basic knowledge of steps such as doubles and singles, the chassé-jeté-assemblé Regency sequence, and the rigadaun. Other steps will be reviewed or taught briefly as needed. This is a friendly, gently-paced class going beyond the absolute basics to how to apply steps in the ballroom.  $20 for the series; registration link here.

Saturday, November 28th ~ ONLINE / Maryland-based
Macoronarena! (Facebook announcement)
for Chessiecon 2020 (Facebook group)
4:00-5:00pm.  A short dance class in Sidney Grant's new solo dance, the Macoronarena, a pandemic-inspired, socially-distanced variation of the Macarena.  Catchy bilingual music, easy dance, family-friendly, and lower-body-disability-friendly - can be done upper-body only!  This event is limited to members of Chessiecon, an online science fiction convention, only.  Weekend memberships $10 or free with purchase of 2021 membership - see webpage for details.

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Coming in December: I wrap up my classes for the year...and perhaps do a Jane Austen event?

I am available for private online lessons via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice) during the pandemic; please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

October 2020 Gig Calendar

Life continues on in pandemic time, which feels like a cross between time flying by and a sort of vague timelessness. 

October will be a quiet teaching month for me while I work on a new research project for a festival next month, but I have a new double series of California-based basic country dance footwork classes this month before we probably take a break over the holiday period.

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Four Saturdays, October 3rd-24th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 102c (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
1:00pm-2:30pm.  (FIRST CLASS ONE HOUR EARLIER)  Four-part Zoom series covering basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  Prerequisite - 101 class or permission. This is the third in the HT&DS rotation of 102-level footwork classes! Footwork 102c assumes that you have an understanding of the basic steps for Regency and Colonial footwork, including the chassé-jeté-assemblé sequence and the rigadaun step, and moves on from there to more complicated steps and sequences for quadrilles, cotillions, country dances, and reels, covering different material than 102a and 102b.  This is a friendly, gently-paced class for footwork beyond the absolute basics.  $20 for the series; see webpage for registration link.

Four Saturdays, October 3rd-24th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 103a: Fitting Steps to Dances (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
3:00pm-4:30pm.  (FIRST CLASS ONE HOUR EARLIER)  Four-part Zoom series covering basic steps for Regency and Colonial era dance.  One-hour lesson including warm-up/cool-down plus after-class discussion.  Prerequisite - 101 class or permission. Continuing the HT&DS series of historical steps for country dances and related forms, this new class series will focus on fitting steps we've learned into the specific figures of favorite dances from different historical periods. Some previous experience required - either our 101 class or basic knowledge of steps such as doubles and singles, the chassé-jeté-assemblé Regency sequence, and the rigadaun. Other steps will be reviewed or taught briefly as needed. This is a friendly, gently-paced class going beyond the absolute basics to how to apply steps in the ballroom.  $20 for the series; see webpage for registration link.

Sunday, October 11th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-1:00pm.  Private event.

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Coming in November: a country dance history festival based in England!

I am also available for private online lessons via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice); please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.

September 2020 Gig Calendar

Well, I had hoped to be moving back to Russia this month as usual, but it's clearly not to be.  So, online lessons continue.  September is going to be a (relatively) lively month for me, bookended by a lecture and class at a Russia-based festival at the beginning of the month and wrapping up with a pair of USA-based lectures at the end.  In between, my double series of California-based basic country dance footwork classes continues!

Please note: the events listed below are hosted in different cities/countries in different time zones.  Please adjust for your own time zone before planning online attendance!

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Saturday-Sunday, September 5-6th ~ ONLINE / Saint Petersburg-based
Historical Dance Festival Online  (Facebook)  (VK - in Russian)
for Международный фестиваль"Анно Домини"
10:00-18:00 (Moscow time) Saturday / 9:00-19:00 (Moscow time) Sunday.  An online festival of classes and lectures with teachers from Russia, France, England, and the USA!  There will be a total of eighteen hours of classes, lectures, and seminars offered in English (eight hours) and Russian (ten hours) with translation both ways.  Material will range from the 16th century through the 1920s.  I will be offering both a class and a lecture, unrelated to each other.  The class will be on an 1896 American recital solo, "Cachucha", which is based on the famous ballet solo "La Cachucha" performed by Fanny Elssler in 1836.  The class will be in some mixture of English and Russian, with translation as needed, and will be held from 16:00-17:00 Moscow time/9:00-10:00am NYC time on Saturday.  The lecture (in English with Russian translation) will be "Hunt the Squirrel, Chase the Lady!" and will cover two centuries' worth of evolution of this country dance, from early 18th century England to late 19th century America.  This will be from 14:00-15:00 Moscow time/7:00-8:00am NYC time on Sunday.  Please adjust times for your own time zone!  Registration: fifteen Euros or 1000 rubles for the entire weekend.  Tickets: in English and in Russian.

Saturday, September 5th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 101 (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
1:00pm-2:30pm.  Class #3 of a four-part series.  Continuing students only.

Saturday, September 5th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 102b (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Class #3 of a four-part series.  Continuing students only.

Saturday, September 12th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 101 (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
1:00pm-2:30pm.  Class #4 of a four-part series.  Continuing students only.

Saturday, September 12th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Low-Impact Historical Footwork 102b (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
3:00pm-4:30pm.  Class #4 of a four-part series.  Continuing students only.

Sunday, September 13th ~ ONLINE / Connecticut-based
Dance Historian Meetup
11:00am-1:00pm.  Private event.

Saturday, September 26th ~ ONLINE / California-based
Lecture: "Hunt the Squirrel, Chase the Lady!" (Facebook event)
for the Historical Tea and Dance Society (group Facebook page)
2:00-3:30pm (California time).  Zoom lecture.  The lady flees and the man pursues her…and then when she turns to him he runs away!  Is it a dance or the story of courtship?  How did the elegant weaving figures of an early eighteenth century English country dance turn into the simple chases of a late nineteenth-century American contra dance?  Or did they?  The lecture will look at how a single country dance evolves, disappears, and - perhaps - reappears over the course of two centuries and two countries and place it in context with other chasing dances and figures from both Europe and America.  $5.  See the Facebook event for registration link!

 

Wednesday, September 30th ~ ONLINE / Massachusetts-based
Lecture: "A Ragtime Revolution: Vernon and Irene Castle and James Reese Europe"
for LIRA (Learning in Retirement Association - University of Massachusetts, Lowell)
10:00am-12:00pm (Massachusetts time).  Zoom lecture.  For a few brief years in the 1910s, an English vaudeville actor, a New York socialite, and the son of a former slave were some of the most famous entertainers in America.  Join us to explore their intertwined stories, ranging from Harlem to Broadway, from New York to Paris, from World War I’s flying aces to the trenches of France, before this magical historical moment ended in tragedy.  In this lecture, I will trace the parallel careers of James Reese Europe and the Castles, their interracial collaboration, and their influence on the music and dance of the 1910s and onward.

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Coming in October: more California-based basic footwork classes!

I am also available for private online lessons via Skype or Zoom (or your videoconferencing software of choice); please email me directly if you would like to schedule a private lesson.