The final, and perhaps most unique, event of the day was a Civil War Ball where most participants dressed in period clothing, or pretty close to it.
Traditional music was performed by the Susquehanna Travelers and dancers were instructed by a professional “caller”. Even though many participants had been to such balls before, the complexity of the dances required someone to explain and guide the dancers through.
The most interesting element of the dance was its contrast to dances of today. Partners didn’t dance in couples. In this era, they split into small groups and the entire room danced together, partners splitting and moving on to dance with every other partner in the room, all the dancers working together to make the dance a success as they moved in patterned steps through reels and trots. When everyone finally has the steps it’s amazing to watch the entire room move as one, lovely hoop-skirted dresses swirling, gentlemen stepping lively.
Mouseover the slideshow below to access the controls or scroll down to view the images.
Click on any photo to see an enlarged version.