Planning a Regency Ball

by Maria Grace

Most of us have, at some time or another been called upon to host an event. The frenzy, stress and excitement are familiar to us all, as is the way they all increase with the size and importance of the event--which helps explain the modern bridezilla phenomenon, but I digress.

An event like the Netherfield Ball of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice would have been the biggest, most important event of the social season. Obviously, it would have taken a great deal to pull it off. But what does that really look like?

First, in almost all cases, it was the job of the hostess to plan the event. Modern event planners did not exist, so the hostess, working with her housekeeper, cook and other staff, would have the full weight of the event on her shoulders. Her reputation and standing among her peers could be profoundly affected by the success (or lack there of) of the event.

Time and Place

As in event planning today, hostesses had to decide on a time and place for the event. Typically a ball would begin at 8pm and continue to the wee hours of the morning, sometimes even until sunrise. So that convention made that choice rather easy. Picking a date though involved some considerations irrelevant to modern event planners.

Since guests would have to travel to the event, a hostess needed to make certain that it was scheduled during the week of the full moon. Since roadways were not otherwise lit, sufficient moonlight was necessary to permit travel to the ball. Often torches were placed outside the front doors and perhaps even on the drive up to the house, but beyond that, the roads were entirely dark.

A ball also required an appropriate location. Based on my own experience, a group of twenty couples dancing plus musicians would require at least a 20x60 foot space (roughly 7x20 meters.) In addition to the ballroom, a proper formal event called for a supper room, two retiring (dressing) rooms for ladies and gentlemen to change their shoes and remove their wraps, and ideally a card room.

If guests had long distances to travel, they might require overnight accommodations. Sufficient guest rooms would need to be prepared to accommodate planned guests and the inevitable one or two who, by the end of the evening, managed to get themselves too drunk to send home safely.

Invitations

Once a date and location are set, invitations must be issued. Typically these would be printed by the local printer, with the date and time of the event. Alternately, invitations could be handwritten--remember this would be with a quill and ink, no ball point pens! The host and hostess would then hand deliver the invitations, a task that would require a least a full day to accomplish.

That done, it is time to plan the venue arrangements. First up, lighting.

Lighting

Electricity makes that pretty simple and straightforward today. (Ok, I'm ducking because I know enough sound and lighting engineers to know that it isn't really that simple, but seriously, guys, electricity makes all the difference.) Full moon might help with the outdoor lighting issues, but inside is another matter altogether. For that, we need candles, lots and lots of candles.

And naturally, candles are expensive, especially wax candles. Tallow (rendered animal fat--which is now a source for biodiesel) might be good enough at other times, but the smell rendered it undesirable for a high class event. Beeswax candles would be the prefered lighting method.

Candles were produced in 4, 6, and 8 hour lengths. So a hostess would purchase candles designed to last for the entire event rather than ones which would need to be replaced during the evening. A large scale event could require up to 300 candles, costing upwards of 15 pounds---a year's wages for a maid! 

Decoration

Mirrors usually filled rooms used for formal events. Though attractive, their use was more practical than stylistic. Mirrors multiplied candlelight, so did shiny glass, crystal and polished metals, making them ideal for decorating. The problem with shiny things is, of course, that they don't stay shiny on their own. So lots of polishing and cleaning would have to be done in preparation for an event. That often meant hiring additional maids to help in the process.

Flowers, from the garden or hot house made up the primary decorations for an event. Not only did they bring in lots of color, but their fragrance could help mask some of the less pleasant aromas of a great number of people exerting themselves in dance in a relatively small space.

In addition, an artist would be hired to decorate the dance floor with chalked images. Though the dancers would destroy the images dancing over them, their purpose was more significant than mere decoration. The chalk helped provide the dancers with much needed traction on the slippery dance floors.

Musicians

Since recorded music and a DJ was definitely not an option, a ball required musicians. How many would largely depend on the depth of a hostess' pockets.

In some houses and assembly rooms, musicians might be situated in balconies, stair landings or niches, out of the path of the dancers. In less noble settings, they might share a crowded floor with the dancers.

Unlike dance music today which might last as long as maybe 10 minutes (maybe), dance sets at a regency era ball would last up to an hour each. Not surprisingly, both dancers and musicians took much needed breaks between the sets.

Food

Between the dances, servants would circulate among the dancers with trays of ices and iced punch to help them cool down and fortify themselves for the next dance of the evening. Keep in mind though, punch was no child's drink in the era, it was heavily fortified with rum, brandy and wine. A hostess would have to lay in a stout supply of both ice and alcohol to make it through the evening.

In the middle of the ball, dancers would break for supper. Typically this was served sometime between 11 pm and 1 am. Soup, especially white soup (made from veal or chicken stock, egg yolks, ground almonds and cream) served with negus (sugar mixed with water and wine, served hot) were staples and ball suppers. But that was far from the complete menu.

Today we think of meals as an entree and a couple of side dishes, maybe with a starter salad or soup, and a dessert. Maybe five dishes and we call it done. A couple more than that and we would feel like it was a pretty high class meal. That would never fly in the regency era.

Meals, particularly formal meals were enormous affairs with many, many dishes required for each course. A ball could easily require sixty--no that's no mistake, I really did mean 60--different dishes, both sweet and savory.

If that's not enough to wrap your head around, think about this. How difficult is it to manage getting a big holiday meal out to the family, with all the dishes ready (and hot) at the same time? I love to cook holiday meals, and typically for Thanksgiving I will make three meats, three starches, six vegetables and a couple of deserts. Call it fourteen dishes.

You can ask my family, every year, everything is done and on the table at the same time. They will also tell you that the entire thing is planned out with the precision of a military exercise, down to what appliances and serving dishes will be used, a detailed time table, broken down in fifteen minute increments specifying exactly what should be done--and by whom--during that time, and, yes, back-up plans in case something goes sideways. The family laughs at me--after they enjoy their dinner.

Insane as all that is, now imagine doing that without refrigeration, gas or electric stoves and ovens, and electric appliances. Let that sink in just a moment. What kind of planning would have to go into the menu to manage not to overtax one kitchen resource or another, and get it all out in time. The mind simply boggles. Just consider what it took to make White Soup.

White Soup

Put a knuckle of veal into six quarts of water, with a large fowl, and a pound of lean bacon; half a pound of rice, two anchovies, a few peppercorns,a bundle of sweet herbs, two or three onion, and three or four heads of celery cut in slices.

Stew them all together, till the soup be as strong as you would have it, and strain it through a hair sieve into a clean earthen pot.

Having let it stand all night, the next day take off the scum, and pour it clear off into a tossing-pan.

Put in half a pound of Jordan almonds beat fine, boil it a little, and run it through a lawn sieve. Then put in a pint of cream, and the yolk of an egg, and send it up hot.

John Farley, The London Art of Cookery, 1783.


No wonder private balls like these were considered the highlight of the social season and so much preferable to public events. As much as they were anticipated, though, I have to imagine hostesses were also very relieved when they were over.

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Though Maria Grace has been writing fiction since she was ten years old, those early efforts happily reside in a file drawer and are unlikely to see the light of day again, for which many are grateful.

After penning five file-drawer novels in high school, she took a break from writing to pursue college and earn her doctorate. After 16 years of university teaching, she returned to her first love, fiction writing.

Click here to find her books on Amazon. For more on her writing and other Random Bits of Fascination, visit her website. You can also like her on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.

First Hand from the Ballroom

by Maria Grace

Balls and assemblies form a regular feature of Georgian and Regency era historical novels. Often heroes and heroines meet, flirt, fight, and even fall in love on the ball room floor. But when watching videos of actual period dance, the first question on viewers’ minds is with such active and complicated dances, how did any communication take place?

My husband and I joined an English Country Dance group a couple of months before their big spring ball event. We attended two balls in the course of just a month. The experience offered a wealth of perspective on the myriad ways that period heroes and heroines might interact on a ball room floor.

Though these dances require a partner, dances are generally not done by individual couples, but by couples in lines, groups of three or four couples, or circles. So, individual dancers interact not only with their partners, but with at least one other couple, and possibly every dancer in their set.

What do those interactions look like? To start the dance, the Master of Ceremonies (today the position is known as the caller) announces the dance and what formation is required. The modern caller guides the dancers through the steps, not unlike a square dance caller, however, in the era this was not done. Dancers were expected to know the steps to the dances. How was it possible for dancers to know the steps to all the dances that might have been called? It sounds like a daunting and overwhelming task.

During the period, yearly dance books like Preston's 24 Country Dances for the Year 1803 were published containing the music and dance steps for that year. Dance masters would use those books to teach their students the year’s dances. This helped insure common and well-known dances would be performed at public assemblies.

Most dances were built from a known array of standard steps. These steps included simple maneuvers like: partners turn by the right hand and two couples all join right hands and turn once around. Complex movements like figure eights, ‘hays’ and dancing down the set also had a place in the lexicon. (See the 'Hunt the Squiril' video later in this post.)

In many of the line-based dances, couples would ‘take hands four from the top’, that is they would form groups of two couples who would dance together for one repetition of the music. In simple dances, both couples would perform the same steps throughout the dance. More complicated dances might have the first and second couples executing completely different steps with one more complex than the other. Mr. Beveridges Maggot (featured in recent movie adaptations of both Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Emma) is one such dance. At the end of that repetition, the final steps ‘progress’ couples into new groups of four, first couples moving down the set to be first couple in the group one down from their previous position, and second couples moving up.



In order for progression to work, couples at the top and bottom of the set would wait out a repetition of the music and not dance. This waiting out period offered a prime opportunity for couples to interact relatively privately on the dance floor. 

In the span of a several minutes long repetition, dancers might exchange pleasantries, flirtations, or even cross words. Whatever their conversation, though, they still had to pay attention to the music and other dancers so as not to miss their entry back into the set. At the next repetition they would rejoin the set, switching their role in the dance from first to second or second to first couple. Less experienced dancers might use the opportunity to refresh themselves on the new steps that may be required of them as they came into the set.

Not all dances offered these ‘time out’ periods. Circle dances and those done in sets of two or three couples required dancers to participate constantly, so little or no conversation might take place. Even so, a great deal of dance floor communication was possible without dialogue.

These exchanges would begin with being asked to dance. In the era, a gentleman could not ask a lady to dance unless they had been formally introduced. A chaperone, other acquaintance, or Master of Ceremonies could introduce potential dance partners during the ball to enable them to dance together. Couples, unless engaged or married, did not dance more than two dances together, so many partners might be required for an entire evening of dance.

Since dancers would engage with not only their partner, but other couples, it was possible to connect with many people while dancing a single dance. Mixer dances, like the Indian Princess, capitalized on this effect, with dancers switching partners frequently, oftentimes enabling dancers to ‘sample’ every partner on the floor. These could provide an excellent opportunity to scope out partners for future sets, particular if a one was looking for someone of a particular skill level or personality to pair with.



Although seemingly simple, the way one might be asked to dance spoke volumes. The offer might be made with eye contact and a quick gesture toward the dance floor; a smile, a bow and flowery words; a sweaty palmed, stammered request; or even a shrug and an eye roll of ‘well, I suppose you will do.’ All these offers set and color the stage for a series of silent communications on the dance floor. In cases where women drastically outnumbered the men, a Master of Ceremonies might allow women to dance with other women. Clearly not a desirable situation, but one that Jane Austen references when Mr. Bennet upbraids Kitty that she might not attend another assembly unless she ‘stands up with her sisters’. In other words, she would be restricted to dancing with her sisters only, a sad fate for the poor girl.

Eye contact plays a huge role in dance floor tete-a-tetes . Some partners engage in constant eye contact, holding their partners with their gaze in an almost physical grip. From a practical standpoint, the eye contact is a useful way to stave off dizziness in a dance that requires many rapid turns. At the same time though, such interchanges can become demanding and intimate, isolating the couple in a room full of people. Other partners offer little in the way of eye contact, even to the point of avoiding any direct gaze with their partner. An avoidant partner can communicate a variety of things from their own insecurity with the dance steps to distain for their partner, all without uttering a single word.

Subtle physical contact, usually restricted to taking hands or joining arms at the elbow for a turn, also speaks volumes when words are not possible. Hands might be taken, barely touching and only as long as necessary, or held reverently, lingering as long as possible in the connection.

The way partners dance together creates a conversation of facial expression and body language as eloquent as the finest speeches. A more experienced dancer can subtly and patiently assist a less certain dancer through complex steps with glances and subtle gestures, encouraging and praising with eyes and smiles. Conversely, experienced dancers can declare distain and even judgment on a struggling dancer even to the point of rough pushing or pulling that dancer into their correct position. Depending on the distraction created, the experience can be entirely humiliating.

Partners who are equally anxious about getting the steps right, and good humored in their anxiety, can assist one another, laugh at missteps, and celebrate their victorious achievements as they progress through a series of complicated steps. The experience has the potential to be very revealing of characters and offers a time for bonding over a shared challenge. A gentleman might even kiss a lady’s hand after surviving such a trial—a most romantic gesture indeed.

When two proficient dancers partner, the flow of their coordinated movements creates a connection between the dancers, bonding them in purpose and action. The communication and energy flowing between them can be visceral and compelling, poignant as the deepest conversation. No wonder young men often called upon their primary dance partner the next day.

Each dance itself possesses its own character, some being staid and elegant and others playful and flirtatious. Mr. Belvridge’s Maggot is dignified and elegant, befitting a somber, formal occasion. Lord Byron’s Maggot—by the way, a maggot referred to a catchy tune, what we would today call an ‘ear worm’—suits its name sake. One set of steps involved the woman from the first couple approaching the man from the second couple with a flirtatious ‘come hither’ beckon to follow her. The second couple’s woman did the same with the first couple’s man. These suggestive moves could be made as token gestures or with sincere energy. Similarly, the playful ‘pat-a-cake’ moves later in the dance offered an ideal opportunity for more flirtation.



The complicated, three couple dance, Hunt the Squiril required the first couple to chase each other, weaving through the other dancers. The chase could provide a playful opportunity for couples to express their interest (or lack thereof) in one another as they pursued one another.



In an era in which conversation was restricted to ‘polite’ topics and interactions between unmarried individuals were strictly chaperoned, the dance floor offered the one place where such open expression was considered acceptable. There individuals could be dramatic, funny and flirtatious without censure from society at large—provided of course that they did not take their self-expression too far. Therein lays the power and allure of the dancefloor for the Regency era hero and heroine, for there alone might they expression what they could not say directly.

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 Maria Grace is the author of Darcy's Decision,  The Future Mrs. Darcy, All the Appearance of Goodness, and Twelfth Night at Longbourn and Remember the Past.  Click here to find her books on Amazon. For more on her writing and other Random Bits of Fascination, visit her website. You can also like her on Facebook, follow on Twitter or email her.

A Private Regency Ball

by Maria Grace

“The characteristic of an English country dance is that of gay simplicity. The steps should be few and easy, and the corresponding motion of the arms and body unaffected, modest, and graceful.” – The Mirror of Graces, 1811 
 
In a society governed by strict rules regulating the interaction of the sexes, the dance floor provided one of the only places marriage partners could meet and courtships might blossom. The ballroom guaranteed respectability and proper conduct for all parties since they were carefully regulated and chaperoned. Even so, under cover of the music and in the guise of the dance, young people could talk and even touch in ways not permitted elsewhere.

As far as the opportunity to meet people went, private balls had the very great advantage over public ones in that the hosts controlled who attended. One could be assured of the quality of guests at a grand house, so chaperons could rest a little easier that their charge was not interacting with someone below her station.

Hosting a ball was no small matter. Musicians had to be hired and supper for all the guests provided. Cards or invitations were sent out no less than two to three weeks prior to the event and a reply was imperative with a day or two. After the ball, thank you notes were expected of all the guests in appreciation for the hospitality.



Balls were, of course, formal occasions which allowed one to show off their finery. But even here, there were degrees of formality. The dress ball which usually began with minuets was the most formal, a cotillion ball somewhat less so. ‘Undress’ or ‘fancy’ balls invited the guests to appear all manner of historical or fanciful costumes. Whatever the form of dress, gloves were essential lest the dancers touch one another directly.

Opening the ball

Early in the Regency era, balls were opened with a minuet. By the early 1800’s the practice fell from favor as it took far too long for all the couples to have a turn to display in the slow, elegant dance.

Later in the period, the ball would be opened by the hostess, the lady of highest rank or the person in whose honor the ball was given (like a debutant or new bride) who took the top position of the first dance. The top lady would ‘call the dance’, determining the figures, steps and music to be danced. Polite young ladies were cautioned that if they should lead a dance they should not make the figures too difficult for the other dancers, especially if there were younger dancers present.

Dance Partners



Every dance required a partner. At a private ball, unlike a public assembly, everyone was considered introduced, so any young man could ask any young woman to dance. A young lady signaled she was interested in dancing by pinning up the train of her gown. If asked to dance, she could not refuse unless she did not intend to dance for the rest of the night.

Gentlemen, unless they retired to the card room, were expected to engage a variety of partners throughout the evening. Failing to do so was an affront to all the guests. A gentleman might request a dance in advance, but saving more than two dances for a particular partner was detrimental to a young lady’s reputation.

Even two dances signaled to observers that the gentleman in question had a particular interest in her. The day after a ball, a gentleman would typically call upon his principle partner, so a young lady who danced two sets with same gentleman might rightfully expect continued acquaintance with him.

Oftentimes women outnumbered men at these affairs. As a result, it was not uncommon for women to dance with other women rather than sit out the entire evening.

Food



Halfway through the evening, dancers would pause to refresh themselves with a meal. Depending on the hostess, the ladies might proceed to the dining room together, parading in rank order, or might be escorted in on the arm of a gentleman who rank matched their own.

One’s dance partner for the ‘supper dance’ usually would be one’s dining partner for the meal as well.

Each gentleman would serve himself and his neighbors from the dishes within his reach. He also poured wine for the ladies near them. Soup, especially white soup made from veal or chicken stock, egg yolks, ground almonds and cream) served with negus(sugar mixed with water and wine, served hot) were staples. If a dish was required from another part of the table, a manservant would be sent to fetch it. It was not good form to ask a neighbor to pass a dish. It was equally bad manners for the ladies to help themselves or to ask for wine.



During dinner, a gentleman would be expected to entertain the ladies nearest him with engaging conversation. The list of unacceptable topics far outnumbered the acceptable ones. A polite individual did not ask direct personal questions of someone they had just met.

To question or even compliment anyone else on the details of their dress might also be regarded as impertinent. Scandal and gossip should be omitted from public conversation. Any references to pregnancy, childbirth, or other natural bodily functions were considered coarse and carefully sidestepped. A man could sometimes discuss his hunters or driving horses in the presence of ladies though it was generally discouraged.

Dances

Supper was quite necessary as most of the ball dances were lively and bouncy. Country dances, the scotch reel, cotillion, quadrille made up most of the dancing.

One dance not likely to be found in balls held in the first decade of the 19th century was the waltz. When it was first introduced, the waltz was regarded as shocking because of the physical contact involved. However by 1812, it was a regular feature of private London balls, according to Lady Caroline Lamb--although Lord Byron was scandalized by the prospect of people "embracing" on the dance floor. It was unlikely to have been seen often in public assemblies until the latter part of the Regency era, and even then, not often.

An example of the Quadrille

A Lady of Distinction. Regency Etiquette, the Mirror of Graces (1811). R.L. Shep Publications (1997)

Britain Express: Regency Dances http://www.britainexpress.com/History/regency-dances.htm

Day, Malcom   -   Voices from the World of Jane Austen. David & Charles (2006)

Lane, Maggie   -   Jane Austen's World. Carlton Books (2005)

Laudermilk, Sharon & Hamlin, Teresa L.  The Regency Companion . Garland Publishing (1989)

Ross, Josephine   -   Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners. Bloomsbury USA (2006)

Selwyn, David   -   Jane Austen & Leisure. The Hambledon Press (1999)

Sullivan, Margaret C.   -   The Jane Austen Handbook. Quirk Books (2007)

Period References

 The Gentleman & Lady’s Companion: Containing the Newest Cotillions and Country Dances; to which is added Instances of Ill Manners to be carefully avoided by Youth of Both Sexes. 1798.

The Complete System of English Country Dancing – 1815 (click to download pdf) ~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Maria Grace is the author of Darcy's Decision and The Future Mrs. Darcy. Click here to find her books on Amazon. For more on her writing and other Random Bits of Fascination, visit her website. You can also like her on Facebook, follow on Twitter or email her.

Regency Social Life: The Public Assembly

By Maria Grace
  

In the Regency era, an active social season was not limited to London. Most country towns had a formal social season during the autumn and winter months, often beginning in early to mid-October. Extra events might also take place in the spring. Public assemblies or balls were usually scheduled to coincide with the full moon to ease travel. Traveling at night, especially for those with a considerably journey to an assembly, was not considered safe without the light of a full moon. 

 Assemblies were held at local inns or assembly rooms, typically between the hours of 8pm and 11:30 pm. Subscriptions funded the events. A season's subscription might cost anywhere between £1 in the country to 10 guineas in London. Attendance was only limited by the ability to pay for the subscription and to dress appropriately for the event. Consequently, the company would be mixed, those of rank mingling with the lower orders.  

Assembly Rooms 

Assembly rooms followed a very distinct pattern. Each of three separate spaces accommodated a different activity: a ball room that included a musicians' gallery for dancing, a card room for various card game, and a supper room for refreshments. The layout might vary somewhat, but the essentials remained consistent. For example, in Bath, the assembly rooms were on the first floor, while in York, the assembly rooms were on the ground floor. Billiard rooms were also provided in some places. At grand assemblies, orchestras would be engaged while for smaller occasions, a few local musicians, perhaps only a fiddler, would be enough.  

Master of Ceremonies

A Master of Ceremonies supervised every aspect of the ball including room arrangements, the musicians, even the ordering of the dances. His duties also included insuring that too many undesirables did not gain entrance. He enforced dress codes: ladies were forbidden to dance in colored gloves (at Weymouth); men could not appear in ‘trowsers or coloured pantaloons’, boots or half-boots(Bath). And of course, he would insist that gentlemen leave their swords at the door. The Master of Ceremonies also performed the service of introducing dancing partners so that young people could interact respectably. 

 Dancers generally arranged themselves in order of precedence. To help manage issues of precedence in places where the lesser gentry, the professions and the genteel trades were the bulk of the attendance, ladies were usually presented with numbers as they entered the assembly rooms. These numbers indicated their place in the dance. Before each dance, the Master of Ceremonies would call out a number and the lady with that number and her partner would be the couple to lead that particular dance.  

For those who did not care to dance 

While some attended assemblies to dance, flirt and look for potential marriage partners, others attended simply to meet their acquaintances, talk and play card and possibly billiards. Chairs and benches were provided at the sides of the dance floor and in the card room. Private gossip might be facilitated by a stroll about the room with one’s conversational partner. 

While supper might be served at a private ball, public balls did not provide meals. Light refreshments might be provided with the tea served halfway through the night. Negus, a drink made from sugar mixed with water and wine (sherry and port) was also sometimes among the offerings.  

Dancing 

Unmarried girls were accompanied by a chaperon, typically a married relative, or an older woman friend, and closely supervised. A young woman did not dance more than two pairs of dances with the same man or her reputation would be at risk. Even two dances signaled to observers that the gentleman in question had a particular interest in her. Pairs of dances usually lasted half an hour, so an undesirable dance partner could have been quite a burden, especially considering dancing in a large set involved a lot of standing around waiting one’s turn to dance. However, if one’s partner were pleasing company, it was possible to have private conversations under cover of the crowd. 

Dances of this era were lively and bouncy. Ladies pinned up the trains of their ball gowns for ease in performing the steps. This also signaled potential partners that they meant to dance that night. 

Steps ranged from simple skipping to elaborate ballet-style movements. Country dances, the cotillion, quadrille and the scotch reel made up most of the dancing. Many versions of these dances existed and often the lady of the leading couple would get to select the specific one that was to be danced. 

 In the country dance, a line of couples performed steps and figures with each other, progressing up and down the line. As they reached the top, each couple in turn would dance down until the entire set had returned to its original positions. 

The scotch reel consisted of alternate interlacing and fancy steps danced in place by a line of three or four dancers. 

The cotillion was a French import, with elaborate footwork. It was performed in a square or long ways, like the country dance. It consisted of a "chorus" figure unique to each dance which alternated with a standard series of up to ten "changes" (simple figures such as a right hand star common to cotillions in general). 

The quadrille consisted of five distinct parts or figures assembled from individual cotillions without the changes, making it a much shorter dance. 

For a wonderful animated tour of the figures danced check out this site: http://rivkinetic.org/flash/ecdflash.html. 

 One dance not likely to be found in a Regency era ball was the waltz. When it was first introduced, the waltz was regarded as shocking because of the physical contact involved. Even Lord Byron was scandalized by the prospect of people "embracing" on the dance floor. It was unlikely to have been seen often in public assemblies until the latter part of the Regency era, and even then, not often.

References

Britain Express: Regency Dances

Rendell, Jane. The Pursuit of Pleasure: Gender, Space and Architecture in Regency London. Rutgers University Press (2002) 

Selwyn, David. Jane Austen & Leisure. The Hambledon Press (1999)

Sullivan, Margaret C. The Jane Austen Handbook. Quirk Books (2007) 

 Todd, Janet & Bree, Linda (editors). The Cambridge Edition of Later Manuscripts. Cambridge University Press (2008) 

 Period References  
The Gentleman & Lady’s Companion: Containing the Newest Cotillions and Country Dances; to which is added Instances of Ill Manners to be carefully avoided by Youth of Both Sexes. 1798.  

The Complete System of English Country Dancing – 1815 (click to download pdf)  

Pierce Egan - "Walks through Bath..." 1819 

 Maria Grace is the author of Darcy's Decision and The Future Mrs. Darcy. Click here to find her books on Amazon. For more on her writing and other Random Bits of Fascination, visit her website. You can also like her on Facebook, follow on Twitter or email her.