Carnival is over, as is the Vienna ball season and, indeed, the activities of Mrs McLean’s Waltzing Party until Easter Sunday. I haven’t yet thought of a dancing event specific to Easter Sunday, but perhaps in the spirit of a friend who swigs spirits right after leaving Vigil Mass, I will cut a car park caper or two.
I made the most of carnival this year: doughnuts on Fat Thursday, Jazz Church on Friday, viennoiserie on Saturday, a dance party (with chocolates, chocolate cookies and banana bread) on Sunday, a Morningside housewarming party on Monday, and pancakes on Shrove Tuesday before I went to a party in the New Town. There was a celebrated jazz musician among the guests at this last event, and thus there was also a little dancing as the jazzman, metaphorically speaking, set fire to the piano.
Then it was Ash Wednesday, so that was it for dancing. Chronological Shorty George is even eschewing lessons, a heavy penance indeed. At least we made the most of Friday’s Jazz Church. The band even played a slow waltz–although CSG said he could think of nothing but the cramped space. (I don’t know what everyone else was dancing, but it was not the waltz.) Absolutely I will be instructing experienced waltzers to dance on the outside edges of the Eastertide Dance floor, so that they can twirl around without bumping into the beginners in the middle.
For of course I am already thinking about the Eastertide Dance. The hall and ceilidh band were booked ages ago, I have secured a piper (hooray!), my eldest younger brother is coming to play waltzes with whichever violinist I can recruit, and I am now selling tickets. What I really must do is call a Committee Meeting to sort out who will do what, which ceilidh dances we should do, and which waltzes we want played.
Meanwhile, MMWP ended our dancing season on a high note: we had gender parity for our Quinquagesima party, and that made everything easier. Luis taught an excellent class in his “18 step” choreography, and Krzysztof taught two more moves in 8-count Lindy Hop. Everyone stayed for the “free dance” at the end, and so we got in some practice and danced the Strip The Willow at the end.
As an aside, I have just read Anna Kalinowska’s erudite Clothed With Beauty: A Catholic Philosophy of Dress and highly recommend it. (You can find it here.) Unlike many a writer on What Catholics Should Wear, the author considers not only modesty but alsobeauty. She approaches her controversial topic with real scholarship and profound theology–very refreshing. And as it was obviously written with the Traditional Latin Mass community in mind, it is even endearing. Her thoughts on what not to wear with a lace mantilla certainly gave me pause for reflection.
Miss Kalinowska is also a dance organiser and, as the author’s bio says, “leads workshops in traditional social dance nationwide [USA] and often hosts folk dances and formal balls to celebrate Church feasts.” A kindred spirit, perhaps!