Recreating a Bygone Era
The Victorian Dance Ensemble has performed at the Smithsonian
Institution’s
Museum of American History.
The years 1861 to 1865 were not all blood and mud, death and destruction.
On the home front there was grace and elegance, candlelight . . . and
dancing!
Dancing was enjoyed by almost everyone in America during the Civil War -
young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural, North and South. During the
1860s, a ball was one way to forget, at least for an evening, the “fiery
trial” of the Civil War.
Unlike modern dancing that is couple oriented, dancing in the mid-Victorian
era was much more “social”. Almost all dances were done in formations of
circles, squares or lines, with the couples interacting with other couples.
It was considered ill-mannered to dance with the same partner all evening.
Everyone at a ball had a social duty to mingle and to ensure that everyone
else had a pleasant time.
Although there were strict rules of behavior, they tended to add an
agreeable degree of formality and decorum that has been lost in today’s
world. The Victorian Dance Ensemble is dedicated to recreating the grace and
beauty of this bygone era.
The Victorian Dance Ensemble demonstrates and teaches dances of the mid-19th
century. Many of the members belong to Union, Confederate or civilian Civil
War reenactment units,
while others are interested in the Victorian era or vintage dancing. Most of
the members of the VDE reside in the Harrisburg to Baltimore area.
The group began after Dr. Thomas Foster, retired Deputy Superintendent of
Baltimore Schools and a Civil War reenactor, taught Civil War Dance at
various community colleges. Students from those classes demonstrated dancing
at the first Harrisburg Civil War Exposition in March 1995. Almost
immediately after that first demonstration, the group was asked to give
other dance programs and the Victorian Dance Ensemble was born.
The Victorian Dance Ensemble has since grown to over fifty dancers and its
schedule includes more than two dozen demonstrations and balls each year in
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey, North
Carolina, Kentucky, and Washington, D.C.
The Victorian Dance Ensemble has presented programs at the Smithsonian
Institution, Gettysburg National Military Park, Harpers Ferry National Park,
Arlington House, National Civil War Museum, Pennsylvania State Museum,
Maryland Historical Society and Pamplin Park. It also conducts the Civil War
Preservation Ball in the Rotunda of the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg,
the Sons of Union Veterans’ Remembrance Day Ball in Gettysburg, and the
Abraham Lincoln Ball at the Union League in Philadelphia.
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Victorian Dance Ensemble
2 Westminster Blvd.
Camp Hill, PA 17011
Email: civilwardancer@aol.com
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