Party like it’s 1865
Join members of the Victorian Dance Ensemble, dressed in period costumes and familiar with the customs of the times as they recreate the style, grace and grandeur of Abraham Lincoln’s 1865 Inaugural Ball. Learn a few steps and join in the party.
The ball was held at a large hall at the US Patent Office at 8th and F Streets, NW. Tickets to the event were $10 with the proceeds going to support the Union was effort.
A brass band played music in the foyer, welcoming the 4,000 guests, while upstairs, a string ensemble played popular dance music from the period. Women wore silk, satin and velvet dresses, while many men were in Union uniforms or formal evening attire.
I found an online copy of the original menu from the event, as well as
an invite that sold at auction and a dress worn to the event by the wife of the Secretary of the Interior.
Dr. Lawrence E. Keener-Farley, the Dance Master at The Victorian Dance Ensemble, provided me with a few pointers for attending a dance from that era. It’s interesting how fragile women were thought to be (see #1 and 5) and how clumsy men were assumed to be (see #6).
1860s Ball Room Etiquette:
- Never forget that ladies are to be first cared for, to have the best seats, the places of distinction, and are entitled in all cases to your courteous protection.
- If you accompany your wife to a dancing party, be careful not to dance with her, except perhaps for the first set.
- Be very careful how you refuse to dance with a gentleman. A prior engagement will, of course, excuse you but if you plead fatigue, do not dance the set with another.
- Dance quietly, do not kick and caper about, nor sway your body to and fro, dance only from the hips downwards.
- Lead a lady as lightly as you would tread a measure with a spirit of gossamer.
- The fall of a couple is not a frequent occurrence in a ball room, but when it does happen it is almost always the man’s fault. Girls take much more naturally to the graceful movements of the dance, and are, besides, more often taught in childhood than their brothers.
- Never remain in a ballroom until all of the company have left, or even until the last set. It is ill-bred, and looks as if you are unaccustomed to such pleasures, and so desirous to prolong each one.
- It is best to carry two pairs of gloves, as in contact with dark dresses, or in handling refreshments, you may soil a pair, and thus will be under the necessity of offering your hand covered in a soiled glove to some partner.
Quoted from various 1860s sources.
Lincoln’s Inaugural Ball
Smithsonian American Art Museum
8th and G Streets - Great Hall, Third Floor
Washington, DC (map it)
Dates and Times - Saturday, August 16, 2008, performances at Noon, 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.
Tickets - FREE
Nearest Metro Subway Station - Gallery Place – Chinatown, Red, Green and Yellow lines, then a 2-block walk or use the DC Circulator.
Parking – Metered street and paid garage parking is available in the area.
Images – Lincoln gown, Mary Todd Lincoln – public domain, Victorian Dance Ensemble photo courtesy of same.
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4 Comments
We were a little disappointed by the ‘authenticity’ of the women’s dresses, and by some of the obvious mistakes made during the dancing; since we were led to believe that this was a semi professional group, not amateurs.
Suppose it wasn’t too bad considering it was a volunteer type group. Would like to have seen the dances performed more accurately to the original sources since it’s a rather easy task to locate an original dance manual. The technical skills of many of the dancers could have been better; most of the men and some of the women were not able to perform the basic waltz step of the era. Fairly sure that one of the dances was a total fabrication.
Wow…sorry to hear the group seemed to miss. Their website makes it seem as if they really know their 1800 dances.
I was only recently made aware of these posts. Neither poster gave the Ensemble the courtesy of asking questions at the event or emailing them to our website. It is also somewhat curious that the two postings were made on the same day, about an hour apart and two weeks after the demonstration. The postings lack specifics that make them somewhat difficult to answer so I will have to be somewhat general in my answers.
DRESS AUTHENTICITY
I wish Ms. Sigourney had been more detailed in what she thought was inauthentic about the dresses. I do not recognize her name as an authority on 19th century clothing but I do not know everyone in the field. If there was something that was wrong with the clothing, we would like to know. The VDE has an authenticity committee that reviews all clothing based on currently available research. Dresses are based on original clothing, period photographs and drawings. We do not say that we are perfect but we have been praised for our high level of authenticity by recognized authorities in the field. Authenticity in living history attire has always been a journey not a destination. We are constantly learning and improving
Juanita Leisch-Jensen, author of the book Who Wore What? Women’s Wear 1861-1865 and President of the Society for Women in the Civil War has used VDE ladies in her fashion shows (see our website at http://www.civilwardance.org/programs.htm). Many of the dresses worn at the Smithsonian were made by Beth Miller-Hall and Robin Stokes, both are noted clothing historians, writers and lecturers on Civil War-era clothing, and judges of the NSSA Clothing Competition. I think our clothing at the Smithsonian would compare favorably to any living history organization and is more accurate than any theatrical or film production (see our website at http://www.civilwardance.org/bygone_era.htm for a picture of the group at the Smithsonian).
After the Smithsonian demonstrations, we asked people to come forward with questions. The only clothing question we received was “Why were some of the ladies in day dresses rather than ball gowns?” We did this because the newspaper reports of the ball said some of the ladies had dress up to the neck and down to the wrist. Interestingly, it was even reported that some ladies dropped there cages (hoops) because of the crowd. This was the first time I had ever read of this happening so I learned something in preparing for the event.
DANCE AUTHENTICITY
Again, it would have been helpful if Darrell T. would have been more specific, especially identifying the dance he was “Fairly sure . . . was a total fabrication.” Again, I do not recognize the name of the poster so I am not familiar with his dance group or background. I must admit I have never met a person who knew every 19th century dance and all variations from published and unpublished sources.
Dance authenticity is much harder to approach than dress authenticity. We can examine original clothing. We cannot watch original dancers. Unfortunately, no one knows exactly how any dance much before about 1900 was actually performed. No one is alive who did the dances in the period. No one has films or videotapes of 1860s dancing. To the best of my knowledge, no one has a time machine that can take them back to see the dancing.
Thus, dance historians today generally agree that all performances of vintage dances are interpretations. Our primary sources are various period dance manuals (see our website at http://www.civilwardance.org/resources.htm for some of our primary sources). We also use some dance masters’ hand-written notes, diaries, letters and drawings in reconstructing our dances.
The problem with dance manuals is that they give a written description of physical activity. Trying to turn words into movement is no easy task, especially when the written descriptions often lack details.
As an example, Hillgrove’s 1863 manual describes the first moves of the Spanish Waltz as:
“All forward and back, joining hands (Fig. 103),” [The drawing shows two couples, holding inside hands and stepping toward each other.] “forward again, and exchange partners, turning quarter round and face each other, but at right angles from the first position.”
The manual does not tell us whether the dancers should take hands with their opposite during the change of partners. Perhaps they waltz past their opposite and make a smart military right of left face to face their partner. More likely the join hands but is it left, right or both? Do they turn clockwise or counter clockwise? All of these are possibilities but the manual does not say. Dance instructors, both period and modern, might reasonably come up with different answers even though they are reading the same text. The form we use, developed by our original dance master, Dr. Thomas Foster, is very theatrical and elegant. Other groups do it differently and this is in keeping with the realities of the time period.
From the primary sources, it is clear there were different ways of performing dances. After briefly describing La Tempete, Beadle’s 1858 dance manual adds “There are variations to this dance, but they are complicated, and seldom attempted out of a dancing academy.” This statement clearly implies that dance teachers were improvising and varying published forms of dances. We actually do a version of this dance based on a hand written description. Another example is an 1863 letter from a lady visiting New York saying she danced the Lancers Quadrille but it was different than she was used to at home.
In the 1990s, Phillip Troll, another modern dance master who is not currently active, found a description of a dance at a ball in Harper’s Ferry in a Civil War soldier’s diary. The moves were explained but they match no published dance that Phil could find. Obviously, a dance master made up a dance. Since no name was given for the dance, Phil called it “The Harper’s Ferry Reel” and often taught it at balls.
I apologize for the length of this post but I thought it was necessary for readers to understand what goes into recreating the past.
I would also like to say the VDE is a remarkable group of people who donate a considerable amount of time to historic sites and museums. All are volunteers. No one is paid and all of us pay our own expenses for apparel and travel. Fees that we earn are donated to preservation and education projects (see our website http://www.civilwardance.org/history.htm). In the last eight years, the VDE has directly donated over $23,000 to help various causes and we have helped other nonprofit organizations raise thousands of dollars more by conducting fundraising balls and presenting dance demonstrations.
Lawrence Keener-Farley
VDE Dance Master