Newport Vintage Dance Week

by The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers

NEWPORT 2009, HELPFUL INFORMATION

Newport Vintage Dance Week 2009 will place Monday July 27^th to Sunday August 2^nd 2009

This page is designed to help you with important pre-registration and pre-arrival information. Most of this information is also covered in the '09 Brochure.
Please email us at the address below if you have any further questions.
 

Travel back in time to the summer playground of the Gilded Age. Perfect your dancing skills with classes taught by leading experts on vintage dance. Experience the breathtaking opulence of America’s finest ballrooms as you dance in Newport’s famous mansions. Let yourself be immersed in a bygone era as you sip tea by the shore.
 

RESERVATIONS
 
Reservations must be accompanied by a $200 deposit per person, fully refundable until June 30th. The balance must be paid by June 30th. A discount is offered if account is paid in full by May 31. Please make all checks payable to: CVD. Registrations will be acknowledged as they are received. A printable Registration Form is available on our website.
 
Lottery: The capacities of our historical venues limit the space for the dance week. A lottery for all who register singly will be held on May 9. Singles, not admitted in the lottery, will be placed on a waiting list and will be admitted (and notified) as they are matched with a single of the opposite gender. Every effort is being made to balance the sexes. Historically, we have had more women apply than men.
 
Registration Partners: A man and a woman who indicate each other on the registration form are registration partners. Please state clearly whether you wish to room together or not. Applying as partners places you under no specific obligation to the other person during the dance week but provides enough partners for everyone at all dances.
 
Singles: A man or woman registering without a partner of the opposite sex is a single. After the lottery, singles will be accepted only when an opposite-sex single applies. To avoid unpleasant delays in registration, reread the paragraph above about registration partners, and then find a partner!

THE NEW CAMPUS, HOUSING AND MEALS
 
We have found an exciting new location for the conference: Roger Williams University (RWU). This 140-acre campus in charming Bristol, RI (just 5 minutes from our former home in Portsmouth) offers a beautiful coastal location overlooking Mount Hope Bay. The campus offers state-of-the-art facilities including air-conditioned dance studios, gyms and dormitories. All campus buildings are within walking distance of each other.
 
Accommodations
Our new accommodations offer comfortable, air-conditioned living. On campus, we’ll be staying in Bayside, an apartment-style dormitory. There is also an option for hotel-style rooms in the University’s Baypoint Inn & Conference Center, a five-minute drive from campus.
 
All Bayside apartments consist of one or more bedrooms with twin beds and spacious closets, a living room, bathroom and kitchenette. Most apartments are Quads. These house 4 people in two bedrooms. A limited number of Doubles, housing 2 people in 1 bedroom, and Quints, housing 5 people in 3 bedrooms, are available.
 
The Baypoint Inn rooms have 2 double beds and include continental breakfast. Reservations for the Inn must be made directly with the hotel at 401-683-3600 x9 (ask for a room in the "Vintage Dance" block).
 
All housing payments are made to CVD. Pricing for all options can be found on the Registration Form; please choose carefully as there are many options.
 
This year, we are able to offer pre-conference accommodations for Sunday, July 26, for an additional fee. Those wanting to spend Monday sightseeing in Newport may want to consider this option.
 
Meals
RWU’s dining facility offers a variety of selections including a wide range of fresh, healthy, locally grown foods, and numerous vegetarian options. For Bayside apartment residents, meals from Monday dinner through Sunday breakfast are included in the registration fee. For Baypoint Inn residents, a continental breakfast will be provided at the hotel, with lunches and dinners served on campus.
 
Travel
Participants should plan to arrive on Monday afternoon. Registration will open at 4 pm. For those flying to the conference, T.F. Green Airport in Providence is the closest airport; Boston’s Logan Airport is also an option. Registrants will receive more detailed information about the week’s schedule and travel suggestions.

CLASSES AND TEACHING STAFF
 
Whether you are a seasoned dancer or have never danced before, you are sure to learn something new at the Newport Vintage Dance Week.
 
Enjoy the popular ballroom dances of the mid and late 19th century and ragtime eras including: waltz, polka, mazurka, galop, schottische, quadrille, tango, one-step, and more. Instruction is offered at beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels, with special emphasis placed on dances that will be featured during the week’s balls. You will experience the delight and satisfaction of applying what you have studied at exquisite social events, while building upon your skills throughout the week.

2009 Teaching Staff
 
Newport Vintage Dance Week offers you the rare opportunity to learn from some of the finest vintage dance instructors in the world. This year, we have gathered together a diverse staff whose specialties cover a wide range of vintage dance styles.
 
Hannah Roberts Artuso, Conference Coordinator, is co-director of The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers.
 
Marc Casslar, founder of the Vintage Dance Society (CT) and the performing troupe, Polite Society, has been involved in historic dance since 1977. He has taught locally in Connecticut, as well as at dance weeks and workshops throughout the U.S. and Japan. He researches period dances, performs, and choreographs for stage and screen. Marc will teach a ragtime class and a specialty class.
 
Susan de Guardiola is the director of the Elegant Arts Society (CT), a group recreating social dances of the early 19th century and other historical periods. She teaches regularly in New York City as well as at workshops and balls across the U.S. At Newport, she will teach a 19th century dance class.
 
Barbara M. Pugliese has researched 19th & 20th century dances and assisted her late husband, Patri, at workshops and dance weeks throughout the U.S. and Europe. Barbara lectures on a variety of topics including clothing and etiquette of the 19th century. She is co-director of The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers. She will teach a 19th century dance class and the quadrille class.
 
Joan Walton is a dance teacher and choreographer in the San Francisco area. She has taught classes in 19th century, ragtime, 1920s, and 1930s dance across the US, Australia and the Czech Republic. Joan was Assistant Director and dancer with the Flying Cloud Vintage Dance Troupe (OH) for ten years. She has held several visiting professorships of dance. She will teach a ragtime class and a specialty class.