Newport Vintage Dance Week

Wednesday Class Schedule

Remember that there is no Wednesday afternoon class to allow more time for our special outing. The Wednesday afternoon class period will be held on Saturday morning at the time of the usual first class period.

The Bristol Stroll
Wednesday, Linden Place and the Town of Bristol
500 Hope Street, Bristol, RI

Join us for a tour of Linden Place mansion, in the heart of Bristol, and a stroll through town. The event starts at 2pm, with the tour taking place promptly at 2:30. The estate is about 15 minutes from Campus. Bristol is a picturesque harbor- side town steeped in history. The town was the site of the first battle of King Philip’s War in 1675 and during the Revolutionary War suffered many attacks by British Troops. With ties to rum running and slave trading, sailing and shipbuilding have played an important role in Bristol life since the 17th century. There will be no additional charge for this event.

Directions from Portsmouth Abbey: turn left at light at the end of Corey's Lane onto Rt 114, go .4 mi. to where Rte 114 and Rte 24 split. Bear LEFT towards Bristol on Rte. 114. Go 1.2 miles. At light turn LEFT onto Turnpike Rd/Rte. 114. Go 1.2 miles. At light turn LEFT to cross Mt. Hope Bridge. After light on other side of bridge, go .2 mi. and, following signs for Bristol, turn LEFT on Rte. 114 and follow to Bristol. Linden Place is located in the center of Downtown Bristol on Rte. 114, also known as Hope Street. The house is on the right hand side of the street. PARKING: Parking is allowed in the lot behind the Colt Memorial School, which is next door to Linden Place. To reach the school lot, turn RIGHT onto Bradford St. Take a RIGHT on Central St., which will lead to the parking entrance on Wardwell St. You may also park on the city streets around Linden Place.

A Brief History of Linden Place

Linden Place mansion built in 1810 by the seafaring General George DeWolf and was featured in the film The Great Gatsby. Built in the Robert Adam inspired Federal style, Linden Place magnificently reflects the prosperity of the DeWolf merchant princes and the exquisite Adamesque Federal taste inspired by the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. Visitors will see one of the best examples of Federal architecture in New England, from the magnificent Palladian windows to the fluted Corinthian columns which gracefully flank the front entrance to the mansion.

Tour highlights include tales of DeWolf family exploits, from their privateering and slave trading to their financial ruin and triumphant return to prosperity during Victorian times. Family members include Ethel Barrymore who married in to this most prominent of American families, Pomeroy Colt, founder of United States Rubber, now Uniroyal, and his mother Theodora DeWolf Colt ran Bristol Society from Linden Place as if she was Queen Victoria. You may stroll the sculpture-filled gardens where you will find Greek bronzes and an 18th Century gazebo and also stop by the barn for lemonade and dancing. For more information on the estate visit www.lindenplace.org

Wednesday Dinner

Dinner will be served ½ hour early on Wednesday evening to allow more time to prepare for and travel to the Ball at The Astors’ Beechwood.

1890’s ball at
the Astor’s Beechwood
Wednesday, 580 Bellevue Avenue, Newport

Directions from Portsmouth Abbey: Turn left onto Cory's Lane, drive to the intersection with route 114, turn right onto 114 and almost immediately, at the first light, turn left onto Hedley Street (there is a sign to Portsmouth Business Park). A little over ½ mi. down Hedley Street there is a stop sign, with a second stop sign almost immediately beyond it. Go straight at the first stop sign and turn right at the second onto route 138 south. Go approximately 4½ miles on Route 138; 138 intersects with 138A (Aquidneck Avenue) at a Dunkin Donuts, turn left onto 138A. Follow Aquidneck Avenue for about 2 miles, it eventually intersects with Memorial Blvd. Turn left onto Memorial Blvd., which bears right and past Newport's First Beach (on left). Follow Memorial Blvd. up the hill to the first major intersection with traffic lights (which is Bellevue Avenue). After turning left onto Bellevue Avenue, go approximately 1½ miles; Beechwood is on the left just after Rosecliff and just before Marble House (watch carefully as the sign can be difficult to spot). If you get to Marble House, turn around.

A brief History of Beechwood
and the Astors

Caroline Schermerhorn married William Backhouse Astor in 1853. She brought long lines of established social background to the Astor fortune and became the undisputed Queen of American Society. Caroline Astor insisted upon being called "The Mrs. Astor" by family and friends. With the help of a southern gentleman, Mr. Ward McAllister, she devised the famous "400," a list of 213 families and individuals whose lineage could be traced back at least three generations

        Beechwood was built in 1851 for a southern cotton merchant named Daniel Parrish; the architects were Andrew Jackson Downing and Calvert Vaux. William Backhouse Astor, Jr., purchased the mansion in 1881, and it became the social center for New York Society for twenty-five years of the Gilded Age. William B., as his wife called him, was the grandson of John Jacob Astor, the German immigrant who made himself the richest man in America by investing in fur trading and real estate. Even in 1999, he was listed as the fourth-wealthiest American ever (Microsoft's Bill Gates was fifth).
        The Astors hired architect Richard Morris Hunt to create an atmosphere at Beechwood that would be worthy of America's finest citizens. The family invested two million dollars into the renovations. Caroline Astor presided over countless social activities during the eight weeks of each year she visited Beechwood. The highlight of every summer season was Mrs. Astor's Summer Ball. Mrs. Astor retired from social life in 1906. She lived quietly until her death in 1908.
        After Mrs. Astor's death her son John Jacob Astor, IV, inherited Beechwood. In 1911 he remarried a much younger woman named Madeleine Talmadge Force; their ceremony was held in the ballroom of Beechwood. After the service the couple headed to Europe to escape the gossip of their union. Unfortunately, they were returning to New York on the RMS Titanic. Madeleine, who was five months pregnant, survived. Her husband, Titanic's most wealthy passenger, did not.

-text courtesy of
The Astor’s Beechwood Mansion

Bathing Beauty Tea Thursday, Manor House Gazebo & Campus Beach

Come sit and chat with other Dance Week participants, play a game of croquet, or visit the lovely stony beach adjacent to the lower field where tea is served. Casual dress, modern or vintage, or bathing costume of any period, is welcomed. No need to get wet if you don’t want to, really.

Both Stylish and Economical: Summer Evening Gowns.

The question of the summer evening gown is always a perplexing one, for most women hesitate to expend large sums upon toilettes that are certain to be exposed to the dampness that follows an August sunset; and organdies and the like, while they are of comparatively little cost, droop too readily to be regarded with extreme favor. Much can be done with little, however, if one be ingenious and deft. The fashion of ruffling an entire skirt is in itself a boon; and a few yards of net, together with a skirt that did duty during the winter, can be converted into a fresh and fascinating gown. The net is not costly, is very wide, and stand hard usage far better than do most diaphanous materials. A series of narrow ruffles edged with tiny Valenciennes lace-black or white, as the color demands-set upon the silk foundation, will give a charming result; while a draped bodice, made half low and unlined, mousquetaire sleeves, together with a corselet of satin, can be trusted to complete a really striking costume at minimum cost.

Modes,
edited by May Manton,
August 1897

ASK MRS. ASTORBILT

Dear Mrs. Astorbilt

At a recent ball, my partner and I stood up for a quadrille with another couple and waited for two additional couples to join us. No one ever did. The four of us discussed this at the time, but could come up with no other solution than to look for places in other sets. What should we have done - we considered jumping up and down while lamenting to the heavens our need for two more couples, but we restrained ourselves.

Mr. & Mrs. Unsettled

Mr. & Mrs. Unsettled

Mrs. Astorbilt cannot express how pleased she is that you refrained from your final strategy. She suspects that your discussion among yourselves probably contributed to your set not being filled. What you should have done was to set yourselves up as the two head or side couples, or even one head and one side, of a quadrille set and waited in those positions. Catching the eye of a passing couple in an inviting way might have helped as well; but the most important thing is to convey by your placement on the floor that you represent a set being formed. Moreover, by standing in your proper places, you further present yourselves as couples that know your way around a quadrille and that will contribute to the dance going smoothly in that set. Standing in a clump while discussing strategies for intercepting other couples sends ambiguous signals about whether you really want to be joined as well as about your familiarity with the dance form.

Mrs. Astorbilt

Formal Dinner and Ragtime Ball
Thursday, Glen Manor House
Coelho Drive, Portsmouth

“The Glen,” as it is referred to by locals, is the setting for Thursday’s formal dinner and Ragtime Ball.

About Glen Manor House

In 1920 H. A. C. Taylor, a prominent farmer who also owned homes in New York and Newport planned to build a proper home on his farm. He hired architect John Russell Pope, designer of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC. His French style design for the house was based on the Petit Trianon at Versailles, and was unique for the area. Although Mr. Taylor died before work began in 1921, his son Moses continued the work.
 
The Taylors moved into the house in 1923 and lived there for many years. Reginald, Moses’ son, sold it to the sisters of the Sacred Heart, who moved their Elmhurst School to the property in 1961. When the school closed in 1972, the town of Portsmouth purchased the property. Glen Manor House now provides an exquisite setting for special functions.

Directions from Portsmouth Abbey: Turn left onto Cory’s Lane, drive to the intersection with route 114, turn right onto 114 and almost immediately, at the first light, turn left onto Hedley Street (there is a sign to Portsmouth Business Park). A little over ½ mi. down Hedley Street there is a stop sign, with a second stop sign almost immediately beyond it. Go straight at the first stop sign and turn right at the second onto route 138 south. Go approximately 2 miles on Route 138, and then turn left on Glen Road; landmarks as you approach Glen Road are a big sign on the right just before the turn (“Daniel Chapter One”) and the “Old Almy Village” directly across from Glen Road (if you reach the state police barracks you have gone too far). Go to the end of Glen Road (approximately 1 mile) and turn right onto Coelho Drive. After passing the Elmhurst School on the left, the road ends at the courtyard in front of Glen Manor House. Passengers may be let out at the door; parking is back up the hill across from the school.