Backstory: I love Jane Austen. Pride & Prejudice is my favorite book ever, hands down. I've been to her cottage in Chawton and seen the tiny writing writing table where she worked. I've been to her burial site. I geeked out in Bath on the gravel walk, where a key scene takes place in Persuasion. I love her.
So a couple of weeks ago, when I saw on Twitter that my alma mater, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, was hosting a four-day conference for the 200th anniversary of Pride & Prejudice, I thought about it for 24 hours -- to just, you know, pretend to be an adult and make rational decisions -- and then signed up.
I was a little worried how scholarly it would be. Indeed some of it was. Two or three professors just about read directly from their papers on things like "the Lockean education" and "the networked novel" that went over my head. And I wondered if I had made a mistake in coming.
(The video here is me dancing the Duke of Kent's Waltz!)
But then there were fabulous discussion groups (even though we had a bit of a Catherine de Bourgh in our group, which appropriately was in the posh octagon room redubbed Rosings for the event) in which we talked about the book in-depth. And other panels on topics such as P&P as a precursor for romance novels, a post-Colonial look at P&P using Sri Lanka as a test case, how costumes help detail character in the 2005 movie. One participant brought some books from her impressive P&P collection, including an edition with the lovely Hugh Thompson illustrations. I have the peacock illustration on my Nook cover, a tote bag and a T-shirt. But to hold the book in my hands? Unbelievable.And the friends I met were super fun, including a teacher from Virginia, and a mother and her 11-year-old daughter who has read more Jane Austen than I have. All so great.
But the best part -- the best part -- was that we learned to dance ... in preparation for the ball. A ball! The steps were hard to remember, but no one cared. Well, the caller might have cared. I felt bad for him, and the patient dance enthusiasts who were there to help us look good.
The ball itself was fab. Historical drinks from a local bartender who loves that kind of stuff, a silent auction, live music, the dancing itself, whist (easy peasy!). The music even stopped when "Mr. Darcy" and "Caroline" showed up. All in all, just so lovely. (Edited to add: Lots of people had period dresses, many didn't. I was lucky in that I was a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding years ago and the dress was PERFECT for the ball.)
Now there's a Jane Austen ball here in Alexandria that I may go to and another workshop and I've joined the Jane Austen Society of North America, so this is now a slippery slope. And UNC is planning on doing a Jane Austen camp every year. Next year is on Sense & Sensibility. I'm on the fence about going -- but mostly just because I don't know the book as well as P&P or Persuasion. But I'm definitely leaning toward going!
You can read more about the camp here and see some of the collector's P&P books here. I'll leave you with a slideshow of more pics from the weekend: the Rosings room, dance lessons, the ball and the lovely dance book they made for us.
This is AWESOME!! It looks like so much fun! You were so brave to dance; I would have been a wallflower from the fear of messing of the steps. :)
ReplyDeleteYou could really see how key it was to know the steps in Jane Austen's time -- things quickly devolve into chaos.
DeleteBut you should totally try it! There were very few people at the ball who knew what they were doing so no one made you feel bad about messing up (which we did -- a lot).