Hello Dancers, Jane-ites, and Other Dear Friends, Once again we look forward to the elegance, time travel, and sociability of English Regency Dancing. We would love to have you with us. Please join us at English Regency Dancing celebrating the World of Jane Austen and the English Regency Period. Our last dance of the year shall be on: Sunday -- JANUARY 21, 2024 - LOCATION: FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH 6952 VAN NUYS BLVD, VAN NUYS, CA 91405 Enter parking lot from driveway on Van Nuys Blvd. Dancing from 2:30 - 5:30 pm, Seated tea from 3:30 to 4:30 pm There shall be tea and snacks, conviviality, and Regency Dancing in the style of aristocratic ballroom dancing in England, 1795-1825 [The “Long” Regency]. We shall be learning longways set dances, waltzes, some finishing dances, and Jane Austen’s favorite dance, the Cotillion. Recorded music by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and traditional tunes. Light refreshments shall be provided. PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN WATER. Donation is $15.00 prepaid via PayPal [Friend] or Zelle to KFreasStudio@earthlink.net or mail a check. Email Laura for her street address. We prefer prepayment but will accept money at the door. [a head-count ahead of time lets me know how much food to buy and how many tea sandwiches to make] COVID 19 PROTOCOL: We shall be following Los Angeles guidelines: NO Vaccination or negative tests required – Masks Optional
Dressing in Regency attire is encouraged but not required. Beginner friendly -- No partner or experience necessary. All dances taught and prompted by your dancing Mistress: Laura Beraha.
🎼 ♪♫♪♫♪ Let’s all party like it’s 1799!! ♫♪♫♪
Valley Area English Regency Society is a Los Angeles-based group affiliated with the Country Dance and Song Society. For more information please contact: Laura Beraha Email: KFreasStudio@earthlink.net Land Line: (818) 992-1252 * Mobile & Text: (818) 970-5118 More information about us: Facebook: Valley Area English Regency Society [VAERS]
FUTURE DATES FOR THIRD SUNDAY ENGLISH REGENCY [NO DANCES DURING THE MONTHS OF MAY AND DECEMBER] 2024 JANUARY 21 FEBRUARY 18 MARCH 17TH APRIL 21 =================================================================================== MORE ABOUT THE ONLINE, ZOOM ONLY DANCES We are holding ZOOM ONLY English Regency dancing ONLINE on 2nd and 4th Sundays at 10 AM Pacific Time. Contact us for the Zoom link. General information : The dances shall be adapted to one or two dancers. Period clothing and fancy teacups are optional. Zoom invitations will be sent via email BEFORE the day of the dance. Contact KFreasStudio@earthlink.net (and include your first and last name) for the links. OUTLINE OF THE ZOOM ONLY SESSIONS: [All times are Pacific Time] 9:45 - 10 a.m.: ZOOM will open GREET AND CHAT. 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.: with a 5 minute break at 10:30 11:00 -: The Zoom will stay open for additional socializing. There is no charge for the Zoom only dances, but if you would like to contribute, we will be grateful for your donation on PayPal to KFreasStudio@earthlink.net. Any contribution would be gratefully appreciated and we thank you in advance. We invite you to join us as we party like it’s 1799!! ==================================================================================================== Future Dances on Zoom: 2nd & 4th Sundays 10 - 11:10 a.m Pacific Time Email Laura Beraha for the Zoom links: KFreasStudio@earthlink.net
10-11:00 am PDT. CONTACT LAURA BERAHA FOR THE LINK: FOR 2ND AND 4TH SUNDAYS ZOOM REGENCY DANCING Email: kfreasstudio@earthlink.net Facebook: Laura Brodian Freas Beraha General information: The dances shall be adapted to one or two dancers. Zoom invitations will be sent via email. Contact KFreasStudio@earthlink.net (and include your first and last name) for the links. OUTLINE OF THE ZOOM ONLY SESSIONS: [All times are Pacific Time] 9:45 - 10 a.m.: ZOOM will open GREET AND CHAT. 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.: Dance, with a 5 minute break at 10:30 11:00 -: The Zoom will stay open for additional socializing. There is no charge for the Zoom only dances, but if you would like to contribute, we will be grateful for your donation on PayPal to KFreasStudio@earthlink.net. Any contribution would be gratefully appreciated and we thank you in advance. We invite you to join us as we party like it’s 1799!!
Let us meet for a Regency Tea Dance and also chat, watch dance videos, talk about period clothing, or just sip tea & chat [period clothing optional].
I've pushed back the start time to 9:45 a.m., to give people 15 minutes to check in and socialize. I shall continue to admit people once the meeting is started at 10 a.m. , but shall NOT be able to answer phone calls, texts, or emails asking for login information. Please login to the Zoom meeting early. Dancing ends at 11:00 am, but the meeting shall remain open for 30 minutes [untl Noon] for socializing.
Those who RSVP shall be given the link to login.
THIRD SUNDAY ENGLISH REGENCY DANCING IN-PERSON IN Van Nuys November 19, 2023 NO PROOF OF VACCINATION or Negative COVID Test required: Masks Optional Dear Dancers, Janites, and other Dear Friends:
Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday, September 17th, 2023. Please join us at English Regency Dancing celebrating the World of Jane Austen and the English Regency Period.
NOVEMBER 19, 2023 - LOCATION: FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH 6952 VAN NUYS BLVD, VAN NUYS, CA 91405 Enter parking lot from driveway on Van Nuys Blvd. Dancing from 2:30 - 5:30 pm Short Break for light refreshments There shall be Regency Dancing in the style of aristocratic ballroom dancing in England, 1795-1825 [The “Long” Regency]. We shall be learning longways set dances, waltzes, some finishing dances, and Jane Austen’s favorite dance, the Cotillion. Recorded music by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and traditional tunes.
Donation is $15.00 with light refreshments [Paypal Friend or Zelle: KFreasStudio@earthlink.net] CONTRIBUTIONS OF FINGER FOODS TO SHARE SHALL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. NO PROOF OF VACCINATION or Negative Covid Test required..MASK OPTIONAL
Dressing in Regency attire is encouraged but not required. Beginner friendly -- No partner or experience necessary. All dances taught and prompted by your dancing Mistress: Laura Beraha.
THE FAVOR OF A REPLY IS APPRECIATED SO AS TO ARRANGE FOR FOOD AND SEATING. 🎼♪♫♪♫♪ Let’s all party like it’s 1799!! ♫♪♫♪
Valley Area English Regency Society is a Los Angeles-based group affiliated with the Country Song and Dance Society. For more information please contact: Laura Brodian Freas Beraha Email: kfreasstudio@earthlink.net Land Line: (818) 992-1252 * Mobile & Text: (818) 970-5118 More information about us: Website: https://www.ValleyAreaEnglishRegencySociety.orgFacebook: Valley Area English Regency Society [VAERS]
Just reply to this posting via email at KFreasStudio@Earthlink.net or on Facebook Messenger -[Laura Brodian Freas Beraha]
ABOUT US: VAERS celebrates the life and times of the Jane Austen period by holding a mostly monthly "drum" [the Regency word for "party"] on the Third Sunday of almost each month: we're 'dark' in May and December. Begun on April 17, 2016 we are still growing and would love to have you join us. VAERS [Valley Area English Regency Society] is the sister group to BAERS, the Bay Area English Regency Society, both founded by your dancing mistress, Laura Brodian Freas Beraha. Email us: <KFreasStudio@earthlink.net> See us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/473189852842482/ Let's party like it's 1799!! Find us on FaceBook under VAERS [Valley Area English Regency Society] Mrs. Beraha's email: <kfreasstudio@earthlink.net> Teaching "Childgrove": https://www.facebook.com/laura.b.freas/videos/10155367974714998/ Teaching the cotillion "La Royale" www.facebook.com/tony.blass/videos/10154124595205899/ Essay: RUNNING BEHIND: CATCH UP OR NOT? While Vintage Dancing: "Oh, No! We're behind! Do we rush to catch up?" The short answer is "No, the music is always faster than you are." OK.....what do we do instead? Short answer: "Be like the cat...the cats glides to where-ever it wants to go to and makes it look deliberate." HOW DO WE DO THAT? How do we know where to go and with which figures we'll wind up where we started? Short answer: Decide where you're going to end up at the end of the figure and just go there and Wait for the music to catch up with you. HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN OR HOW TO DO THIS? Think ahead. There are LOTS of figures where you wind up exactly where you started. Some examples: 1. Anytime a figure 'goes around once' 2. Back-to-Back 3. Siding [side Right - side Left] 4. Right hands across - Left hands across 5. Circling right and Circling left 6. Ladies full chain 7. Rights and Lefts - four changes 8. A's cast down & B's move up, then A's cast and go up and B's move down. All back in original places. 9. Full Pousette Trust me on this: Rushing to catch up is not elegant. Going to your final place on the figure is Very elegant. The music will beat you to the finish every time. Just go your starting place and look smart while the music catches up with you. [remember the cat: "I MEANT to do that. I MEANT to do that." Guess what? Adjacent minor sets won't even notice because they'll be busy concentrating on their own figures. If you happen to hear me calling some weird sounding figures on the other side of the room, it's probably me catching up one Very late minor set by clapping my hands and calling "Stop! Everybody Home, Home, NOW!" If your minor set is running very late, at least one of you in your set can take the lead and gesture or say to the others in your minor set: "Let it go. No time. Everyone home." Something to ponder...Try it the next time your minor set runs late. You'll look so meant and so put together if you do this. You'll also help prevent a breakdown and keep the continuity.
SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY One of our dances is the British progenitor of America's "The Virginia Reel" called "Sir Roger de Coverley". Was there an actual historical person so named? Actually, there was and there wasn't. According to Encyclopedia Brittanica: "Sir Roger de Coverley, fictional character, devised by Joseph Addison, who portrayed him as the ostensible author of papers and letters that were published in Addison and Richard Steele’s influential periodical The Spectator. As imagined by Addison, Sir Roger was a baronet of Worcestershire and was meant to represent a typical landed country gentleman. He was also a member of the fictitious Spectator Club, and the de Coverley writings included entertaining vignettes of early 18th-century English life that were often considered The Spectator’s best feature." Vignettes of eary 18th-century English life? OK. I must find these and read them. From the latest issue of the Jane Austen Newsletter comes this challenging Jane Austen Quiz: See how you fare! https://www.janeausten.co.uk/jane-austen-quiz/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Costume%2C+Conferences+and+Hooray+for+Mr+Bennet%21&utm_campaign=centre+newsletter+8%2F3%2F17
THE SCANDELOUS WALTZ A few words about the Waltz during the English Regency Period and how absolutely scandelous it was then for a man to be holding a woman in his arms IN PUBLIC!! [courtesy of Auburn University] The term for the dance, the Waltz comes from the old German word "walzen", which means to roll, turn, or to glide. When first introduced into the English ballrooms in the early 1800's, the Waltz was denounced by both church and state for its vulgarity and immorality, primarily due to its closer hold and rapid turning movements. Religious leaders almost unanimously regarded it as vulgar and sinful. In July of 1816, the waltz was included in a ball given in London by the Prince Regent. A blistering editorial in The Times a few days later stated: "We remarked with pain that the indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced (we believe for the first time) at the English court on Friday last ... it is quite sufficient to cast one's eyes on the voluptuous intertwining of the limbs and close compressure on the bodies in their dance, to see that it is indeed far removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered distinctive of English females. So long as this obscene display was confined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now that it is attempted to be forced on the respectable classes of society by the civil examples of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion." Auburn University website:https://www.auburn.edu/academic/classes/hhp/hastie/social%20dance/waltz.htm
Hello again, Dancers and Jane Austen Era Enthusiasts, Thanks to all who came to English Regency Dancing in Pasadena on June 16th, 2019. It was so lovely to have you with us. The sociability of Regency dancing is what sets it apart from contemporary dance parties: people actually get to carry on conversations!
Last time we enjoyed doing longways set dances, Salamanca Castanets [a dance for three couples], and, one of Jane Austen's favorite dances, a Cotillion. Here is a video, courtesy of Tony Blass, of the Cotillion, "La Royale": www.facebook.com/tony.blass/videos/10154124595205899/
We'll dance "La Royale" again, and if you really like cotillions, I'll start introducing new ones in the coming months. Let me know. If there's a particular dance that you enjoy, and if you tell me ahead of time, I'll see if I can include it in the next dance program.
On April 28th, 2019 we celebrated our 3rd anniversary of Valley Area English Regency Society [we had cake!]. However, we are still a young group and growing and we'd like more people to join us. Start thinking about bringing some friends [or at least one friend] to Regency dancing. Even if they are not 'dancers'. If someone can walk and can follow instructions, practically Anyone can do this! It's like a time travel oasis from the travails of daily life, a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Before you leave the 'drum', please take some of the cards on the table to give out. You'll never know who has an appreciation for Jane Austen until you ask!! When: Third Sundays of mostly each month from 2:30-5:30 pm
Your Dancing Mistress is Laura Brodian Freas Beraha Voice:(818)-992-1252; Text: (818) 970-5118 Light refreshments provided however your donation of snacks to share is always appreciated! Costumes admired but never required! No partner or experience necessary: all dances taught and called. Find us on FaceBook under VAERS [Valley Area English Regency Society] Mrs. Beraha's email: <kfreasstudio@earthlink.net>
ESSAYS AAAK! A COUPLE LEFT THE SET WHILE WE WERE DANCING!! A Note on Etiquette on the dance floor: As dance instructor Walter Nelson admonished dancers [many were new] in the first set dance at the Social Daunce Irregulars Formal Victorian Ball November 26th 2017, "Once you're in a set, you stay in a set. If you leave a set in the middle of a dance it will ruin it for the other dancers." Unfortunately, not all dancers get the message. Some new dancers miss the point that as social mixers these dances demonstrate that one essentially dances with everyone in the room. Figures need a set number of dancers to be executed. Sometimes new dancers are so focused on themselves that they are unaware of the results of their actions on other dancers. This brings up an interesting question: You are dancing in a duple minor set dance. You have progressed and suddenly discover that there’s no new couple to dance with. What happened? Apparently one couple has left the set in the middle of a dance. What do you do? The only saving grace is this: if a couple leaves your minor set during a dance, quickly extricate yourself and your partner, go down to the bottom of the set and re-enter there. If you have the misfortune of your partner leaving during the dance, tell the other couple in your minor set to reenter at the bottom while you leave and try to find another partner. Then you and your new partner shall come back in at the bottom of the set. It recently happened at one of my ‘drums’: a dancer panicked, left the dance, and could not be convinced to stay. In my case, I was fortunate enough to call a by-standing person onto the floor to replace the errant person, and the dance continued without interruption. Barring that, if someone in your minor set leaves, whoever remains in your minor set, just go to the bottom of the set and re-enter the dance. That way, it won't be ruined for the rest of the members of the adjacent duple minor sets. I don't want to even think about the nightmare that would occur if someone bugged out of a triple minor set dance!!!
Escape the stresses of everyday living. Let's all party like it's 1799.
