Tales from the Dances of Vice Swan Lake Ball

Stories of this weekend's adventures are coming a little late, since I've been too busy to post about them for a couple of days. Friday we drove out to New York (my mother obligingly signed on for this crazy adventure). We found miraculously good parking and got dressed in the street. I didn't actually teach dancing until one in the morning, so I guess that was Saturday technically. Then we drove back, to be home in time for the next event! What a busy schedule.

It was well worth doing, however. The event was lovely, and everyone was very nice. The Galapagos art space was fantastically fun to see - imagine a stage, and the seating for the audience suspended on platforms with walkways over water. There were some excellent performances - an ugly duckling themed ballet, some wonderfully dramatic opera (with a little Lady Gaga thrown in for good measure), and a fashion show with stunning wigs. After that, I got to teach a few easy contra dances, which went really well. In fact, people were so excited to dance that when I invited them to come to the stage and learn, I got more volunteers than would even fit on the stage! It was really wonderful. As is always the case, it took a little while to get people set up, but after that the dancing went very smoothly. I am still thrilled that it went so well.

(Talking to some nice people after the dancing)

The organizer, Shien Lee was a very courteous and generous hostess. She really did a great job with this event. There were also lots of really incredible outfits to look at - I think it is really wonderful that there is so much enthusiasm for dressing up. There is a Dances of Vice flickr group with lots of pictures of people all dressed up for events, if you want to go look. The high standard for costuming inspired me to throw together an outfit for myself, aiming for dramatic and over-the-top. I hope I got close, even though some of the construction ended up being incredibly last minute (meaning that Friday before jumping in the car...). It isn't clear from the pictures quite how cool the skirt was. It is made from a crispy organza with a life of its own. If I moved the skirt, it would sort of hold whatever shape I had put it in. I was also very worried about the floating candles on the water, because I could practically see my large ungainly skirt of highly synthetic and probably flammable material bursting into flames as I walked down a walkway and brushed over a candle. Eek! But there were no unintended flames the entire night.
This is a picture of me, with my reflection in the water. Isn't that incredibly cool? It was a lovely and enjoyable event, and I really look forward to going to more events by Dances of Vice in the future.

Also, there was one last funny moment. As I was finishing getting dressed in the street, before actually going to the event, a couple of (mildly tipsy? I think) girls were wandering by, and started congratulating me. It turns out they though I had just gotten married. Personally, that is not what I would wear for a wedding, but I guess I can see where they are coming from. Maybe.(Getting out of the car. Or getting married?)

Thomas W. Holgate's Wife

The actual title of this painting is just "The Artist's Wife." But aside from having a beautiful dress, she has a really fun feathery fan. I am jealous. Also I really do like her dress... cool fabric.

Monsters in Love by Dionysos

A while ago I wrote about Dionysos, a french band with a couple of songs that embody exactly what I would look for in steampunk music. They also have a lot of songs that I would not characterize as steampunk. They also sometimes sing in English (with great accents, though). This is one such song... not steampunk, not in french, but particularly entertaining. Just read and enjoy the lyrics for "Monsters in Love":

We live like monsters
Like monsters in love
We live like monsters
Like monsters in love
I've stolen your perfume last night
On your bathroom floor
I've drunk all the bottle
And I feel like I was riding
My bike into the forest of your black hair
We live like monsters
Like monsters in love
Drunken trees got whisky in their veins
Lick them all
Drunken birds got whisky in their veins
Eat them all
The night is a friend of mine
I'm sure she'll hide us
Down by her arms
Nobody can see us
Nobody can tell us
Wake up my baby
Light up your body
Follow the dead trees
That make their shadow dancing like in musicals
Nobody can tell us that we live like monsters
'Cause love make monsters pretty
When they hug under a dead tree
Monsters in love, monsters in love

I love those last couple of lines. Isn't it darling? You should probably go hear the song for real, because the dramatic music and tempo changes (and the funny accent) all help make it even better. Cute song, very much stuck in my head...

Exhibit Opening at the Peabody Museum

Yesterday I went to the opening of a new exhibit at the Peabody Museum. It was a neat topic - using old spy satellite data to see what landscapes used to look like, because apparently a lot of landscapes have lost important archaeological features in the meantime. Using those old pictures, you can see the things that have since disappeared, where you would otherwise have no way of studying them.

It is also very cool that this exhibit was worked on by archaeology students, so two of my closest friends had been working on this for months. It was great to go see them present it. Here they are, with the wall they worked on.

Stripey Corset

A couple weeks ago I made a stripey black and white corset. Read on for detailed blathering on about that, if you're curious about corsets. I made it as an experiment, but as I was throwing together a last minute outfit to wear to the Dances of Vice event, it turned out to be useful for that.

This is not a picture of a corset, but it is vaguely similar looking. I find it to be a really interesting bodice design. For pictures of my corset, stay tuned...
My corset was an experiment, and a learning experience, I suppose. Lesson one - this is a viable pattern for me (it is a significantly modified version of a Past Patterns pattern), and fits my difficult measurements well, but in the final analysis is a little too big. I can lace it completely closed and it is still a little bit loose. I think a well-fitting corset should have a little bit of space in the back where it laces... not many inches, but the edges shouldn't completely touch. The important measure for the fit of a corset is not how wide the gap is, but how parallel it is. For example, if a corset laces closed at the bottom, but there is a gap at the top, it was not made to accommodate your bust size. If the opposite, it is not big enough for your hips. You get the idea. If you wear a corset that does not fit, it will never be comfortable the way that a perfectly fitting customized corset will. You ought to be comfortable if you wear a corset. Unless, I suppose, the intention is to be uncomfortable, in which case I probably don't want to hear any of the details anyway.

Lesson two is that trying to make the stripes vertical was not particularly effective. It causes some weird optical illusions at the bust and hips, and I think I don't like them. Perhaps with thinner stripes this would look a little better. Perhaps with a less curvy underbust pattern this would be more successful. Perhaps I will angle the stripes the next time I use this fabric, and see how that goes.

Jenny Lind

We often hire a wonderful band called Spare Parts to do music for balls. They are a fantastic historical dance band. One song they play is called "The Jenny Lind Polka." It is a great song, but I had never given it more thought than that.

But apparently Jenny Lind was a famous singer, referred to as the Swedish Nightingale. Interesting. I stumbled across this picture of her in a pretty dress. I also found this very weird story about an antique "scarecrow" that ended up being a statue of Jenny Lind, apparently from the bow of a ship. If you're curious, it's here.

Two Hundred Years Too Late to Apologize

I don't listen to modern music frequently. I used to hear the current songs on radio on the bus to school, but college has fixed that. I do know about Lady Gaga, but only because she is such standard party-fare for college-campus parties that if I walk down the street on a Friday or Saturday night, I will hear final clubs (what we have instead of fraternities, basically) BLASTING her songs. On my own, I really don't listen to modern music.

But I do love a good parody. So, since you are almost certainly more familiar with modern music than I am, you probably know the song "Too Late to Apologize." First of all, I have a friend who is fairly obsessed with the movie of 1776, and she introduced me to the 1776 version of this. It is pretty funny... I would suggest that you watch the original music video for the song, because this mimics its format pretty effectively. And to great comedic effect. I also must admit to really enjoying the "No liberty, no tea" line. Well done.

The second one I just saw in section for a science class. The production value is not nearly so high, and the science is quite specific. So if you know a bit about apoptosis and regulated cell death systems, it is shockingly clever, but I bet the mass appeal is not so great as for the 1776 version.

So here they are, for your viewing pleasure...

The Scarlet Pimpernel, or THERE'S MORE!?!

As anyone who has ever read it must know, the Scarlet Pimpernel is one of the most wonderful books ever written. I really do love it, and if you haven't read it you should. Unless, of course, there is not a romantic bone in your body, in which case I don't know what you are doing listening to me.

But even if you know the book (or one of any number of film adaptations, but I promise the book is worth it), you may not have realized that there are several other books. Yes, it is, in fact, a SERIES. Super exciting, no?

See? This is an illustration from a later book, the Elusive Pimpernel. Proof!I have actually know this for a long time. My father used to point it out. I am confident that somewhere in our house, we have all these books. But since our house is full of books and treasures, I have never found them. And since they are not very well known, they are not easy books to find. So imagine my delight when I found this. That's right, the second book. Thank you, internet.

Although I am itching to read it, I have way too much reading for school to do. And I am technically in the middle of a couple of other books. I wish I had more time for reading, right now and in general, but college is cramping my style, if you will. It doesn't seem right that I would read less in college, does it? Ah well. I'll read this sometime in the summer, and let you know if it is just as wonderful as the original.

Two Strings to her Bow

The artist is John Pettie. It was painted in the 1880s, so it is not the best thing to use as an example for research, because I am sure it is intended to be regency. But it is pretty... I like her bonnet. I think I need to make some regency bonnets. Also, I think that every young lady deserves two well dressed and handsome gentlemen as fashion accessories. I mean, it might be a bit excessive, but it would solve our gender balance issues at balls, because ladies are generally so much more eager to dance.

Wellesley SCA Event

I was finally feeling a little bit better (after an absolutely vicious cold), so although I though I would have to miss this even, I made an appearance. A sniffly, less than impressive appearance, but it was nice to see things anyway. I have a couple of friends who go to Wellesley (or "Felding" in the SCA), really lovely girls, and all their friends there also seem very nice. They should be proud of pulling off an adorable event, even in the face of adversity (getting permission to use college spaces can be really difficult!). There was lots of sunshine and pretty grass to sit on. There was fighting, but I think I missed most of it. There was a Commedia del'Arte play. There was some dancing. There were marinated mushrooms (which I have a ridiculous affinity for). In my opinion, that adds up to a very nice event indeed!

I was so not together that I didn't even take pictures of people being lovely. But this is one I have scavenged from facebook... shhhh! Don't they look lovely?