Victorian Day Ball set for Saturday in Nahant

NAHANT – Nahant was a fashionable summer resort community for members of Boston society during the Victorian Era and now you can step back in time to when high society was in its heyday and dancing was a favorite pastime at the 19th annual Victorian Day Ball.The Ball will be held Saturday from 7-10:30 p.m. in the Nahant Town Hall and will benefit the Nahant Historical Society. The event is organized by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers. “Spare Parts” will be providing live music for the ball and Ben Bishop will provide prompting for the dancers.Troupe member Katy Bishop, who also serves as the costume specialist for the Nahant Historical Society, said the event offers a welcome respite.”The pleasure of stepping into the ballroom, filled with ladies and gentlemen in their finest clothes, transports us to the past and allows us to escape our everyday lives for a short while,” Bishop said. “It brings back some of the elegance of the days when Nahant was a summer resort community and its heyday.”Bishop said period dress and formal or semi-formal dress is requested.”People shouldn’t feel obligated to wear a Victorian outfit,” she said. “For the ladies a modern gown, as long and full as possible is appropriate and a dress suit for gentlemen is fine. Ladies’ evening dress of the period consisted of a gown with a fitted bodice with a scooped or square cut neckline. It usually had extravagantly large puffed sleeves and a full length gored or A-line skirt.”Bishop added period gowns from the mid-1800s were frequently decorated with elaborate lace, contrasting trim, colored ribbon bows or fancy bead work. She said low heeled shoes, dangle earrings, short beaded necklaces and full-length white gloves would complete the outfit.Bishop said period attire for men was similar to the modern black tail and recommended a white formal shirt and white gloves for the men.Since 1983, the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers have been reconstructing, performing and teaching social dances of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The group will offer a free Victorian Dance workshop in Town Hall from 3-5 p.m. the day of the ball for those who would like to brush up on their ballroom dancing skills.The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers formed in the early 1980s. In 1990, the New England Chapter of the Victorian Society in America presented its preservation award to the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers. The troupe, which rehearses weekly in Medford, has close to 20 active members and has performed at Boston’s First Night, the Statue of Liberty Summer Festival, Cambridge River Festival, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the New England Conservatory of Music and the Museum of Our National Heritage.Admission is $30 for adults and $15 for students. Bishop said spectators would be allowed to watch the ball from the Town Hall balcony at no charge. Additional information is available by contacting Katy or Ben Bishop at 781-593-3038.