February 8, 2004
Stoughton, MA
Presenter: Various
Summary:
Sandy was kind enough to arrange our location for this workshop. We had a spacious room in the school where Sandy works, which just happens to be attached to an 1804 tavern. The private tour was great! Hallie started off our program with an overall history of deportment based on research she has done on the various courtesy manuals that have been written prior to and through the eighteenth century. Although the colonies did not have the aristocratic social hierarchy that existed in England, different levels of courtesy were observed and practiced by the people of the United States. Hallie spent a good amount of time focusing on New England in particular, and traced many of the eighteenth century customs back from our Puritan roots of the seventeenth century. We took a break for lunch and then went on to practice some of the movements we had been discussing. We started by learning the basic positions, concentrating on first, third and fourth and then practiced walking properly. This entailed walking with one's feet turned out, stepping heel-toe. This causes a slower pace and a more graceful stride, particularly with some practice. We practiced our passing courtesies as we walked about the room - this was a movement that certainly requires some practice in order to be performed easily. Luckily for us, it's a movement that can and should be used in many situations at our events. We're always passing by someone or watching them pass by us! With Hallie's help we worked through the positions of holding a fan, as described in The Polite World. (see bibliography) We concluded the afternoon with learning to sit upon and rise from a chair. All in all - it was a great day for learning some of the intricacies of movement in the 18th century! Thank you to everyone who could attend!
Online Resources:
Examples of Walking Arm-in-Arm
Byam
Family Portrait, Thomas Gainsborough
Mr. & Mrs.
William Hallett, Thomas Gainsborough, 1785
Portrait of Henry, Duke of Cumberland, with the Duchess of Cumberland, Gainsborough, 1783-5
The Mall, Thomas Gainsborough, 1783
Examples of Fan Positions
Madame de Pompadour, Francois Boucher, 1759
The Declaration of Love, Jean-Francois de Troy, 1731
Portrait of a Lady, unknown, 1782
The Greenwood-Lee Family, John Greenwood
Two Ladies, one holding a fan, the other a rose, unknown
Mrs. Samuel Chandler, Winthrop Chandler, 1780
Partial Bibliography:
Wildeblood, Joan. The Polite World; a guide to the deportment of the English in former times. Davis-Poynter, 1973.
Downloads:
No downloads available.
Lingering Questions:
* When two women are walking together, should they join hands or take one another's arm?
