Jane Austen Historical Dance
Dec 18th, 2007 by LA Brain Terrain
Don’t despair if you can’t get tickets to the 2008 Jane Austen Evening (the Jan 19, 2008 event is sold out), you can watch the action on YouTube. I don’t know why more historical dance organizations don’t capture their events on video and upload it onto the Internet. I’ve always thought Bravo or some other enterprising reality TV producers would do a show on these vintage dance enthusiasts. Hey, World of Wonder, what are you waiting for?
I smiled to see the Friends of the English Regency name checked in the November 27,007 LA Weekly article about getting your Jane Austen on. I found Gendy Alimurung’ suggestions to be superficial. If you are going to write about becoming more Jane then you should discuss more than places to buy stationary on which to compose thank-you notes and prose. Really now!
How about places to buy gloves, fans and feathers for the upcoming dances listed at the bottom of the article? You don’t have to arrive as a total hayseed even if you don’t possess a Regency ball gown. Further, where in L.A. can you find dishes and foodstuffs mentioned in the books?
There was more eating that writing going on in Austen’s narratives. How about listing some LA restaurants where you can find dishes approximating the foods of Jane Austen’s time. I know the Tam O’Shanter serves a pretty accurate Old English roast beef dinner.
You know what would have been cooler? A mixologist list of places to get Regency style drinks in L.A.’s blossoming cocktail scene. I just visited Seven Grand, that all-whiskey bar downtown, and their Winter Cocktail menu has plenty of inventive toddies, flips, sours and Sazeracs. Gentlemen of Austen’s day may have enjoyed a flip or early variation of it.
And what about cultivating the art of conversation, a skill that’s woefully under-exercised in the Southland. Why not suggest books or, god forbid, local instructors who can teach readers a thing or two to say to a new acquaintance. I am sure the suave dudes over at Dandyism.net could have offered some guidance.
