Jane Austen Dancing
Wednesday, July 29th, 2026
7:15-9:15pm
Vinnie’s Jump & Jive, 635 Main Street, Middletown, Connecticut
$15/person in advance by Paypal or $18/person cash at the door
Flat, flexible, leather-soled shoes strongly
recommended; no high heels!
SCROLL DOWN FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION
ABOUT THESE CLASSES!!!
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Pre-register at the advance ($15/person) rate
(note: payment is final and not refundable!)
Please note in Paypal that the payment is for
Jane Austen Dancing and the
date you are registering for!
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Welcome to my new dance experiment, for which I am looking for people in Connecticut who want to learn dancing in the style of Jane Austen rather than just learning dances in the style of today!
These are not your typical Jane Austen/Regency/English Country Dance event or classes.
These are early experiments in what I hope will become a regular series of classes for people who want to experience dancing as close as we can get to the way it was done by Jane and her contemporaries. And maybe work up to a social event!
What does that even mean?
We will do our best to recreate the experience of dancing country dances and cotillions as it was in Jane Austen’s time, including learning period steps, learning the “pieces” of dances rather than specific choreographies, choosing country dance figures and music to match, and having the dancers themselves guide the dancing.
That sounds terrifying!
No, really, it’s easy! Cotillions are square dances! And for country dances, you don’t have to memorize choreography! Trust me; I know how to teach this. I have previously gotten dancers doing it in a single class and then conducted an entire ball on this basis that same evening. Jane Austen danced like this, and you can too!
Plus, we’ll also work on other dances with some connection to Jane Austen that are not either cotillions or country dances, such as the Boulanger and perhaps the infamous Perigourdine!
Is it like in the movies, or in Bridgerton?
No. It’s livelier and more chaotic than you see in most Jane Austen movies and does not involve lots of cute couple choreographies like you see on Bridgerton.
Are the steps hard?
They are not complicated, but they energetic and involving hopping and jumping. I realize not everyone is up to a lot of jumping, but everyone is encouraged to do their best, at least bounce a little bit, and perhaps work more on the other elements of the experience.
Why is it in Connecticut?
Because I live here. If you would like classes like this elsewhere, I am available for hire and would be happy to travel to teach your group!
Why is it on a weeknight?
Because many people, including me, are very busy on weekends.
Does anyone really want to do this?
Well, some people do! I honestly have no idea whether we can make this viable or not, but I’m willing to give it a few tries and see how it goes because this kind of immersive historical experience is what I love most!
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pre-register at the advance ($15/person) rate
(note: payment is final and not refundable!)
Please note in Paypal that the payment is for
Jane Austen Dancing and the
date you are registering for!