Newport Vintage Dance Week

Newport Dancers' Gazette

The Newport Dancers' Gazette
Vol VII, Number 2
Monday, 14 August 2000

Welcome!

The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers welcome you to the 13th annual Newport Vintage Dance Week. We are pleased to be back on the serene Portsmouth Abbey campus. This year, we've some new venues and events planned. We're especially looking forward to using the renovated Rotunda Ballroom at Newport's Easton Beach for the mid-19th century ball on Friday. The adjacent carousel will be open for our use!

Happy Dancing!
Hannah Roberts Artuso
Conference Coordinator and Co-Director of CVD

Which Classes Should I Attend?

Those experiencing vintage dance for the first time, including people with other types of dance experience, are encouraged to take the beginner classes, as are those with only a little vintage dance experience. This will help you learn the basic vintage dance steps. Dancers familiar with basic vintage dance steps may want to try the more advanced classes. Dancers of any level may attend either afternoon class (beginners often find the dances of the 1920’s and Ragtime Era easier to pick-up than those of the 19th Century).

Volunteers

Any questions about Volunteer assignments should be directed to Victoria Wagner. Please check the bulletin board daily for updates on volunteer assignments. The co-ordinators for the various events are also available to answer questions and make further arangements.

Quadrille Class

Once again there will be a Quadrille class after class I and before the morning meeting. The Quadrille will be danced without calls at the Friday night mid-19th Century Ball. It is advisable that all dancers attend these classes to make the Quadrille run smoothly at the ball. The Quadrille instructions will be printed (almost legibly!) on the back of that evening's dance cards, but learning them ahead of time will make things much easier.

Morning Meeting

Attendance at the morning meetings is strongly recommended as it is the forum for important announcements relating to the dance week, especially schedule and location updates.

Campus Tour

Portsmouth Abbey’s Father Damian will give a tour of the campus and a short history of the school and its buildings on Monday evening promptly at 7pm; it will start in front of the dining hall. Father Damian has an extensive history with the campus: he graduated from Portsmouth Abbey School in the mid-1940’s, went on to attend Yale University, and returned to join the monastery. Those who took the tour last year found it to be quite interesting.

Gazette

Two more issues of the gazette will be published during the 2000 Newport Week on Wednesday and Friday with descriptions of the events for the week as well as directions to off- campus events.

Afternoon Teas

The daily teas are an opportunity for dancers to relax, meet their fellow campers, and play a game of croquet. These events are fairly casual by Newport standards, if you wish to dress up for tea (not required) suitable clothing would be vintage Summer day wear from any period (such as Summer whites). Hats, parasols, and fans are especially useful for tea on the lawn. You may wish to save your most formal or elaborate period outfit for the formal tea on Friday. In case of rain tea will be moved to the Winter Garden, the site of registration and the Wednesday tea.

Security

We remind you to be security conscious. Please lock your rooms, as the dormitories themselves are not locked. REMEMBER YOUR KEYS!!! Portsmouth Abbey does not have a 24hr. security office. If you do lock yourself out of your room please see the member of CVD who has been designated the "house parent" for your dorm. She or he will have a master key for that building.

Smoking and Alcohol Policy

Smoking is not permitted in or near any of the buildings, including dormitory rooms. Please remember that alcohol may not be brought into the dining hall.

Parking

Please park your car in the hockey rink lot. The parking lots near the dorms are for school staff only. Some concern has been expressed about people not following this directive in the past -- if you must have your car in the lower campus, please contact Hannah first.

Afternoon Outings

Please remember that many of our dancers have arrived by plane and are without vehicles. If you are planning and outing on Tuesday or Thursday afternoons and have an extra seat, please consider putting an announcement offering it on the bulletin board in the gym.

Rides

Terry Crumb is our ride co-ordinator; her job is to help those without vehicles get to our off-campus events. If you need a ride, or can offer one, please inform Terry.

A Trip to the Green Animals Topiary

If you are looking for something to do on Tuesday afternoon, you may wish to consider a visit to the Green Animals Topiary adjacent to the Portsmouth Abbey campus. It is one of the properties maintained by the Newport Preservation Trust. A stately manor house graces the lawn overlooking the bay and its world- renowned topiaries and beautiful gardens are a delight to observe. If 20 people pre- register for this trip we can get a group rate. A sign-up sheet, with further details, will be on the gym bulletin board.

5th Annual Vintage Yacht Excursion

Sale on Newport's fastest schooner, the 78' ADIRONDACK II. Cost is $20 (group rate). Limited, reserved, places available, see Tom Walton asap to reserve space. First come, first served! FREE transportation and parking arranged on site! Carpool leaves hockey rink parking lot at 2pm sharp! Soft drinks served as well as a cash bar; full refund if rained out. Wear clothing that can't be easily blown overboard and can survive a light salt water spray.

"This is a whaling ship not a society ball."

Captain Ahab to Starbuck in Moby Dick by Herman Melville.

Costume Workshop:
Headpieces and Corsages

Katy Bishop and Terry Crumb will lead an informal workshop in the design and construction of headpieces and corsages. A headpiece or corsage is the perfect compliment to any vintage ball dress. A limited supply of flowers, feathers, ribbons and wire will be available (some for a small fee), for those ladies who do not have their own supplies. Many of the supplies were graciously donated to CVD by designer Karen McCollen, the owner of Exclusive Millinery in Saugus, MA. Period fashion illustrations, as well as a few modern reproduction examples, will be available to assist inspiration. The workshop will meet on the porch at Manor House Dorm, and continue until tea is served . A sign-up sheet will be on the Gym bulletin board.

ASK MRS ASTORBILT

Dear Mrs. Astorbilt,

This is my first time at Newport. I used the guidelines from the Newport "Greetings" letter to pick out from my closet the best clothes I had and I borrowed a few nice outfits from friends. Now that I'm here and see some of the beautiful and elaborate gowns some others have brought, I am feeling very intimidated. Will I look out of place in my plain, non-historical, dresses?

Not Yet A Butterfly

Dear Miss Butterfly to Be,

Many of the ladies you will see at Newport have been acquiring one or two nice dresses a year for many years, and now own a different lovely outfit for each tea and ball on the schedule. Others are content with a very few serviceable outfits that fit in with a variety of activities.

Mrs. Astorbilt is sure that everyone remembers their first Newport, when they had fewer clothing choices and much less packing to do! If you want to take the opportunity this week to do a little "window shopping" for the future, you will find that most everyone loves to talk about their clothes, and a simple question will elicit floods of information. On the other hand, polite folk will not offer advice on proper dress unless asked.

Enjoy yourself, work on your dancing, and find some congenial companions. While Mrs. Astorbilt feels that wearing historically styled clothing adds a nice touch to the events of the week, she hopes that no one gets so wrapped up in clothing worries that they forget to have fun.

Mrs. Astorbilt

Silent Film

The Silent Film we will be viewing Tuesday evening will be The General, starring Buster Keaton. Produced in 1927, this Civil War Era tale of a railroad conductor determined to enlist in the confederate army is a favorite of Buster Keaton fans. When Keaton’s beloved engine is stolen by union spies he pursues them behind enemy lines.