Titus Sparrow Park, and a New Hat

Today I did a dance performance with the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers. Some very nice gentleman donated the money for a beautiful fence to be put up around this park. It is very lovely, so admire the fence.To celebrate the new fence, there was a dramatic and lovely opening event, and the organizers hired us to do a dance performance. There were lots of other things going on as well - antique bicycles, horse and carriage rides, Louisa May Alcott - but the main event was a large orchestra playing Strauss music, which was just wonderful to listen to.

For the event (which I took very few pictures of, apologies), I decided that I needed to trim a new hat. So last night, I pulled out a random scrap of obnoxiously slippery pink fabric, and plain straw hat, and did this to it!
And here is the outfit as a whole, if you were curious.

Failures in Shopping - Moulin Rouge necklace

I just discovered something very neat, and simultaneously sad. There is a point in the movie Moulin Rouge where the main character is given a dramatic diamond necklace. See here.


It is sparkly, and pretty, and drippy, and cast metal (rather than wired, which makes things look cheaper). And it was once available to buy. Jessica McClintock made and marketed a reproduction a couple of years ago. But of course, I did not know about it then, and as far as I can see the only way to buy one now is to be very lucky and find someone selling an old one. This is a sad day for shopping. The world deserves more sparkle.On the bright side, I have recently ordered something very very sparkly, but I don't want to say anything until it arrives. I will have to show you later! Also, I am working on a project, but that I will reveal tomorrow!

Bloodville!

The New York Public Library has this in its photostream. It is a map from 1866. So it is possible that Bloodville no longer exists. This makes me sad, because I want to live in Bloodville. What a fantastic name! To be fair, Gansevoort is pretty cool too.

What, Another Peacock Dress?

I am not actually planning on making a peacock dress, I promise. I just keep finding interesting ones, and this is too cool not to share.

These are pictures of Mary Victoria Curzon, Baroness Curzon of Kedelston. Her husband was the viceroy of India, so she had a reason for the indian influence in this dress. This dress was from the house of Worth (so you already know it is going to be good), embroidered all over in gold peacock feather designs, and in the eye of each feather was a beetle wing. The blue-green beetle wings were so pretty and sparkly that people though her dress was covered in emeralds and sapphires. Isn't that a great story?


And this one I just thought was cool. Here she is in India, with her husband, and a tiger. Cool.

Event Announcement - Returning Heroes Ball

Saturday, May 29, 2010
The Berlin Massachusetts Town Hall

The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers will be holding their annual Returning Heroes Ball. And it is in less than two weeks! You should definitely show up to this most elegant of fairy-tale experiences. It is an 1860s ball, and it is the only ball where we require period dress. So in terms of the time-travel experience, this is probably as good as it gets. There will be gorgeous music by the lovely Spare Parts, delicious refreshments, beautiful people, and of course fantastically fun dancing!
For the serious details, see the CVD website here. In fact, go there this very moment to buy a ticket in advance! Here is a brief rundown of the facts, though:

The event is in the Town Hall of Berlin, MA, on May 29.
The fee is $25 per person ($20 Berlin residents, $15 students) if registered in advance. ($5 additional if tickets purchased at-the-door)
This includes admission to the ball and to a pre-ball workshop. I promise you don't need to know how to dance to learn enough to have a wonderful time. Dances will be taught at the ball.
If you have any questions about the clothing, dancing, etc, you can call Barbara at 781-396-2870 or email query@vintagedancers.org. Unfortunately this event is our most intimidating, but it is also incredibly special. So don't be intimidated! Everyone is really nice, and you shouldn't hesitate to ask questions. We'd love to help, and we'd love to see you there!

Shallow Boaters

I've been feeling a need to have a really cute boater hat with a very shallow crown. Modcloth had one in red that I adored, but they don't seem to be selling it anymore. They still have one in straw color, and it is very pretty. Then recently I found another side called Berkley Hat which is selling three colors. Pretty pretty. Something to keep in mind, although I don't really need to buy more hats at the moment without a very good excuse. Aren't they really lovely, though?

Another Peacock Dress

Ruth St. Denis would not have worn this one, though. I see no way you could dance in that thing. But it is very dramatic. And very expensive. Interesting.

The Ruth St. Denis Peacock Dress Returns

This is kind of cool, having seen the photograph of her actually wearing the dress. Here is a painting of Ruth St. Denis in her Peacock dress.

More of Ruth St. Dennis

Oh wow. What incredible costumes. I especially love the parasols for the Burmese dance and the train on the Peacock. Oh wow. I am a bit jealous, though I'm not quite sure where I would even wear such outfits. Wow again.

Ruth St. Dennis in The Peacock.
Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn in Cuadro Flamenco, a Spanish gypsy dance scene. (1923)Ruth St. Dennis in a Burmese solo dance. (1923)

Rusalochka

As you may or may not know, the Hans Christian Anderson story of the little mermaid has very little to do with the happy Disnified version. For example, she gets legs, but every moment she feels like she's walking on knives. This is a really beautiful 1976 version of the rather less happy version of the story. It is just so pretty! Unfortunately, it is in Russian. Youtube has a few clips with translations, but the clips don't include the whole movie and the visual quality of those is just not as good. So take a look at the Russian version. You can still appreciate how gorgeous it is. Here is the begining. I don't like water, but I have to admit that the underwater sequences are stunning. Also, in the fifth segment she dances. Remember that she's dancing on knives, though.