Jane Austen Ball

This post doesn’t have much to do with being a non-consumer, but I thought I’d give you a peek into my personal life, and one of my favorite yearly activities: the Jane Austen Ball. It’s held nearby in Pasadena, and I’ve been attending ever since the very first one in January of 1998. I’ve only missed two due to work (yes, I was actually AT work on a Saturday night, while I was working as an assistant editor on feature films). I don’t miss it if I can help it, it’s great geeky fun!

I used to go alone, but my friends David and Colleen have been joining me for the past several years. Colleen comes over early for tea and then she does our hair and we get dressed. I finally had my dress made for me last year, but Colleen made her own dress! The dressing up is fun, but the best part is the dancing. Yes, we do the dances just like you see in the Jane Austen movies.

This photo is without a flash, also taken in our living room.

And this photo was taken at the dance. Can you tell how I excited I am? I think I look a little scary, like I’m about to burst into a maniacal fit of laughter. Colleen looks so beautiful, and David is so popular at the Ball that we have to beat off the other women to dance with him. As you can imagine, there are always more women than men at the event.

Every year I come home so high I can’t go to sleep for hours, and I wake up with the tune to my favorite dance in my head. The name of the dance is “Mr. Beveridge’s Maggot,” I’m not kidding. Apparently the word “maggot” means “whim” in this context. The dance is beautiful to watch and so much fun to dance.

I used to rent a dress every year, but last year I finally had one made, so this was the first year that I didn’t have to do anything to get ready the week before. And I only had to spend $30, the cost of the dance, which was well worth it.

I don’t know how many cities put on a Jane Austen Ball, but I do know there are groups that do English Country Dancing all across the country.

Have you ever been to this type of dance, or a Jane Austen event? I think Jane Austen would be absolutely baffled by the extent of her popularity two centuries later.