"The Shade of a Departed Ball"

"...as the morning afforded her an opportunity of talking over Thursday night with Mrs. Grant and Miss Crawford, in a very handsome style, with all the heightenings of imagination and all the laughs of playfulness which are so essential to the shade of a departed ball, [Fanny] could afterwards bring her mind without much effort into its everyday state..."--Mansfield Park

Well, it may take some time to get our minds into an "everyday state"--but the fourth annual Rochester Jane Austen Ball is now "departed." And here are a few photographic reflections of its "shade."


JASNA Rochester Coordinator Celia Easton (left) and JASNA Syracuse Co-Coordinator Lisa Brown.


Caller Judi Rivkin, with the band, "Persuasion."


Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy seem to be having an important conversation.


And the elegance of both the setting and the costumes was beyond expression.

One Week Until the Jane Austen Ball

"Come, Darcy," said he, "I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance."

The Jane Austen Ball, the highlight of everyone's social calendar, is just a week away. We are all anticipation. There are still observer tickets left although the dancer tickets sold out last week. Go here for more information:

http://www.rochestercontra.com

Your Co-Coordinator has been preparing for weeks by taking ball prep dance classes. (Your Coordinator will be on the sidelines admiring her and the other dancers.) And there will be an elegant tea, authentic Regency toasts, and a raffle/silent auction with items guaranteed to appeal to Austenites in particular and Anglophiles in general. Come and join the fun!

Fashion and Thrift

Your Regional Coordinator and Co-Coordinator announce, with blushes, that they are this week's models on the recurring "Thrifty Threads" feature of the "My Year Without Spending" blog (http://myyearwithoutspending.blogspot.com). Many thanks to "My Year..." blogger Angela Barton for the post. And those who are thinking of attending this year's Jane Austen Ball in Rochester (or a JA Ball anywhere, for that matter) should lose no time in following the links to your Co-Coordinator's guides to Regency fashion on all budgets for both men and women--or just going to the "Jane Austen Ball" page of the Rochester Country Dancers' site (http://www.rochestercontra.com/?page_id=97).

Easter Thoughts and Spring Reminders

"Colonel Fitzwilliam's manners were very much admired at the parsonage, and the ladies all felt that he must add considerably to the pleasure of their engagements at Rosings. It was some days, however, before they received any invitation thither...and it was not till Easter-day, almost a week after the gentlemen's arrival, that they were honoured by such an attention, and then they were merely asked on leaving church to come there in the evening." Thus Jane Austen describes Elizabeth Bennet's Easter in Pride and Prejudice. Fortunately, the acknowledged pleasure of a conversation with Colonel Fitzwilliam about music--and the unacknowledged pleasure of a verbal fencing match with Mr. Darcy--are more than adequate evening rewards for having had to sit through Mr. Collins's Easter sermon in the morning!

A very happy Easter, late Passover, and spring to all CNY Janeites. First, there's some spring news about publications from the national JASNA organization. Persuasions No. 31--this year's edition of the hard-copy journal that is a major benefit of JASNA membership--will be mailed to members in early May. In addition, Persuasions On-Line 30.2 can now be accessed through the JASNA national website (www.jasna.org). This new edition of JASNA's electronic journal is a collection of papers from the "New Directions in Austen Studies" international conference held at Chawton House Library in summer 2009. The table of contents for Persuasions 31 can be viewed on www.jasna.org as well--and if you've never looked at our "mother ship" website before, do pay jasna.org a visit. You'll be glad you did.

Second, here are reminders of JASNA Syracuse's spring meetings. We do hope that all current JASNA members and would-be members in or near Binghamton will join us for our informational meeting this coming Saturday, April 10, at RiverRead Books on Court St. at 2:00 pm. See earlier posts and our "Events" listing for details; our guest musicians will be flutist Cheryl Spiese and keyboardist Charlene Thompson of the band Greenwood. And we equally hope that all current and would-be members in Syracuse and its suburbs will join us on Saturday, May 22, at Books & Memories on James St., also at 2:00 pm. Our topic there will be "In the Garden with Jane Austen" (again, see "Events" for details).

Finally, don't forget about the JASNA Traveling Lecturer's visit to Rochester on Saturday, April 17, at 11:00 am at the downtown Rochester Public Library. Professor Peter Graham of Virginia Tech will be speaking on "Jane Austen and the Labor of Leisure." There will be a $25 charge for this event, which includes lunch at the library's in-house branch of Simply Crepes. Registration for this event is open till April 14. If you're interested, go to the JASNA Rochester website (http://jasnaroc.wordpress.com) for a registration form.

Happy Lady-Day!

Today, March 25, is what Jane Austen and her Regency contemporaries knew as "Lady-Day." In the Church of England calendar, it was (and still is) the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary--that is, the day when the Angel Gabriel visited Mary to tell her that she was to become the mother of Christ. In the Regency calendar, it was one of the four "quarter days" on which important business was transacted. In particular--as Co-Coordinator Lisa Brown explained in Rochester on March 20, and will explain again in Binghamton on April 10--it was the day of the agricultural new year, and accordingly the day on which farm workers either renewed their contracts with their employers or sought new ones.

It was also the date of at least one important financial transaction in the Austen family. On December 9, 1808, Jane Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra that "my Uncle and Aunt [James and Jane Leigh Perrot, Mrs. George Austen's brother and sister-in-law] are going to allow James [the oldest Austen son] 100 pounds a year....The Hundred a year begins next Ladyday." In retrospect, we might well ask ourselves whether the wealthy Leigh Perrots couldn't have allotted the 100 pounds a year to Jane and Cassandra, who arguably needed the money even more than James and his family. However, as Jane herself expressed no open resentment on the occasion, let us as her 21st-century admirers try not to express any.

And if you'd like to learn more about the Regency "quarter days" and "cross-quarter days," do come to the JASNA Syracuse meeting at RiverRead Books, 5 Court St., Binghamton, on Saturday, April 10, at 2:00 PM. Regency history? Information about joining JASNA? Live English country dance music? The company of your fellow Janeites? Who could resist?

Whatever Shall I Wear?

Co-coordinator Lisa Brown reprises her popular workshop on assembling a Regency wardrobe on Sunday, March 7 at 5:00 pm in Rochester at the Friends Meeting House at 84 Scio St. Learn how to tie a cravat, choose a dress pattern, curl on ostrich feather and much more. A savory tea (optional) will be served during the presentation for a cost of $5.00.




Ball Dress from 1815

"Pride and Prejudice" at Skaneateles High School

Late-breaking news: "The Skaneateles High School Drama Program will present Jane Austen’s romantic comedy Pride and Prejudice March 4, 5 and 6 at 7:30 p.m. at Skaneateles High School. For tickets, call 291-2296. Tickets cost $7 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens. All of the wit and romance of Jane Austen's classic 1813 novel comes to life in this refreshingly fast-paced and engaging new adaptation by renowned producer and director Jon Jory."

This much is from the Skaneateles Central School District website--but your Regional Coordinator has also just learned that Hana Polacek (one of the Young Ladies from Joanna Manring's Jane Austen Singing School for Young Ladies) will be playing Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Yours truly is going to try to catch one of the performances this weekend for this reason alone, and encourages all CNY Janeites who can manage it to do the same!