Risky Regencies

Dance Fever

Updated on January 18, 2011 by Amanda McCabe/Laurel McKee

I hope you’re all having a lovely Tuesday! I am about to jump back into writing an “Undone” short story I’ve been buried in all weekend (I sorta forgot it was due soon, but don’t tell!), and my head is full of Renaissance-era Scotland, but right now I get to take a break and hang out at the Riskies.

There’s new book out next month that looks like a lot of fun, Fall in Love Like a Romance Author–and I have an essay in it about dating as a single writer! (If I had to find one word to describe dating–interesting. I may have to post about dating tips for romance authors here soon…). Since I’m incurably nosy about other people’s life stories, I can’t wait to read the other essays. And it’s just in time for Valentine’s Day too!

And since the Golden Globes were this weekend, of course I have opinions! I posted about the red carpet fashion on my own blog–it was one of the most interesting rc’s in a while, and bodes well for the Oscars!

As part of my New Years resolutions, I’ve been going to more dance classes as well as teaching on Saturday, and it’s been very–challenging. Especially since, after several years off, I’ve decided to get the pointe shoes out again since I’ve been strengthening my feet and legs. My toes are not thanking me. But here is a brief look at the history of the pointe shoe:

In the Renaissance era, court masques were all the rage, where courtiers could put on elaborate costumes and act out allegorical stories amid fantastical scenery, and dancing was a huge part of that. When Catherine de Medici married into the French royal family, she brought this ballet de cour (“court ballet”) to Paris and, being French, they took to the spectacle right away. In the 1600s this art form reached a pinnacle under Louis XIV, who danced in them himself as a young man. He founded the Academie Royale de Danse (later the Paris Opera Ballet). At that time, the men did most of the elaborate dancing, while women, in heavy gowns and heeled shoes, were merely set dressing.

But by the 1730s, dancing of this sort was more theatrical than court, and a style known as “danse haute”, involving leaping and twirling, became the rage. Marie Camargo started a trend by taking the heels from her shoes and heavily darning the toes. Skirts got shorter and turns got faster. By 1830, Marie Taglioni took the dance world by storm. In that year, she danced the very Romantic ballet La Sylphide on the tops of her toes, and what had just been a sort of trick before became the norm of artistic expression. (In Russia, her fans even sometimes cooked her used shoes and ate them with sauce–ugh).

The 19th century was when the classical ballets were know so well today (Giselle, Swan Lake, La Bayadere) came into being, and so many of them feature a central heroine who is an ethereal being, a spirit not bound to the earth, and pointe shoes allowed the ballerina to create this illusion by seeming to hover and skim over the stage as if weightless, while the earthbound hero is enraptured. (But it usually ends badly, alas! Though I love the endings of Giselle and Swan Lake, where love can endure even death).

Taglioni’s shoes were soft satin slippers that fit her feet like a second skin, with a leather sole and heavy darning on the sides and underside. I can’t imagine going en pointe on such a shoe. By the end of the 19th century, the new Russian ballets (choreographed by Marius Petipa in the French tradition) demanded more technique, and the Italian school pushed athleticism over all. The Italians also had 2 secret weapons–the technique of spotting for turns and a better shoe. They also had shorter skirts. (When La Zucchi danced in St. Petersburg in a short skirt against the Imperial Ballet’s strict regulations, it caused a scandal!). The Russians adapted all of this, and even strengthened the shoes. Even today, Russian shoes are usually stiffer, better for the Russian technique of pouncing onto pointe rather than rolling through. (The Danish school, on the other hand, demanded a technique that required softer shoes for more bouncy jumps and elaborate footwork but fewer sustained balances and pirouettes en pointe).

The shoes themselves haven’t developed a whole lot from the 19th century, though they are harder and boxier in the toe. They’re still made from leather, paper, burlap, glue and nails with a final layer of satin. They’re held together by 3 soles, or shanks, the outside and middle ones made of leather and the inside of cardboard. Then, with the edges of the satin and canvas between, they’re glues and nailed together. In order to wear them, they have to be broken in (there’s a brief glimpse of this brutal process in the movie Black Swan), and a professional dancer will go through several pairs a performance.

If you’d like to know more about any aspect of ballet, I highly recommend Jennifer Homan’s new history of the art, Apollo’s Angels. It’s a fascinating book.

So there you have it, a brief glimpse of the history of the ballet shoe! I feel like I need to go off and practice some plies now. What is your favorite ballet? And how are your New Years resolutions holding up now that it’s almost February? And what was your favorite gown at the Golden Globes???

Are You Watching Downton Abbey?

Updated on January 17, 2011 by Diane Gaston

I love this new BBC series playing on our PBS stations’ Masterpiece Theatre! Downton Abbey is an original series, that is, not adapted from period fiction, but written for TV. The “inciting incident” is the sinking of the Titantic taking with it 2 heirs in line to inherit, one who the eldest daughter was obligated to marry. The premise of this show is wonderful, because it, like the Regency, takes place at a period of social change. The earl had to marry an American heiress to save the estate. They, alas, did not have a son. Now when the earl dies, the millions the heiress brought to the estate will go to a distant cousin.

We see some familiar faces on the series:

Maggie Smith, of course as the dowager Countess

Hugh Bonneville as the earl, whom we saw in Miss Austen Regrets

Dan Stevens (with the incredible blue eyes) as the new heir who was Edward in BBC’s Sense and Sensibility

My two favorite characters (so far) are:

Daisy, the scullery maid, played by Sophie McShera. Daisy so perfectly knows her place as the lowest of the servants, yet she is lively and happy and optimistic. I believe I must have been a scullery maid in a past life. I mean, why else would I not mind washing dishes? (Just don’t ask me to cook). I like to believe I would have been the same sort of scullery maid as Daisy.

Bates, the earl’s new butler and his former batman from the Boer War. Bates is played by Brenden Coyle, who did such a marvelous job as Nicholas Higgins in North and South (which I finally watched, by the way. Sigh!!!!!!) I fell in love with Bates immediately. He’s such a wonderful character, an obviously strong, proud man made vulnerable by an injury that makes him lame. When he almost has to leave–omigosh, what an emotional scene.

I am hooked!!!!

I’m delighted that BBC has renewed this series. Could it become the new Upstairs, Downstairs?

For an entirely different opinion of the series see Number One London. Kristine and several of her commenters did not like it too much. One comment was that it was like a soap opera, but, frankly, that’s one of the things I like about it!

Have you seen Downton Abbey? Do you like it? Who’s your favorite character?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Downton Abbey, Masterpiece Theater | 24 Replies

Happy Birthday to Amanda and Period Furniture Obsessions

Updated on January 15, 2011 by Elena Greene

First, let’s all lift a glass of pink bubbly and have a slice of virtual cake in honor of Amanda’s birthday. Wishing you a year of health, happiness, and much reading and writing!

Now to my post…

Ever since I started looking at decorating magazines and histories of furniture, I’ve been drawn to certain styles of furniture. I used to think I ought to like Victorian furniture, but although some items are pretty, some get too fussy for me. Later, when I started studying Regency styles, I realized that was what I like best.

One item that appeals to me especially is shield back chairs. Here is an illustration of late 18th century shield back chairs designed by Sheraton or Hepplewhite. I love the shape, though I’m not sure why. At a conference, I met a psychic who said historical romance authors were trying to relive past lives. If so, perhaps I was once very happy in a house with shield back chairs. I know that once I’d seen one, I wanted a set.

Of course, I cannot afford the Real Thing, nor would I feel comfortable sitting on anything so valuable! But my husband and I saw these early 20th century reproduction chairs at an antique show. We discovered that they were both less expensive and better made than the new dining room furniture we had been looking at. So we snapped them up and have been happy with them ever since.

Another period furniture obsession is the chaise longue. I’ve just written my second scene with characters misbehaving on one. There is something I find sexy about all those elegant curves. Here is an example dating from 1810. Sadly, I do not own one even a reproduction. Maybe someday…

What are your favorite furniture periods? Do you have favorite items or styles?

Elena

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged chaise longue, Furniture, Hepplewhite, Sheraton, shield back chairs | 12 Replies

An Education

Updated on January 14, 2011 by megan

First off: I have not yet found time to write, but I have found time to open my work-in-progress and look at it to remind myself of my characters and where I last left them. Hopefully that writing time will come soon.

Second, commuting into and out of a job means I have time to read (as though I didn’t find time on my own anyway!). Reading on the subway is its own special pleasure, since there is, literally, nothing else you can possibly do besides be on the subway. No dishes, no laundry, no clamoring spouse/child/etc.–nothing but being on the subway going to your destination.

So while I wouldn’t hope for a subway slow-down, it’s not the worst thing ever if it happens.

This week, I began reading the first book in Tasha Alexander‘s historical mystery series, And Only To Deceive (recommended to me by Cara Elliott), featuring Emily, Lady Ashton. Emily is an inquisitive woman, but has not been accorded an education in anything beyond needlework, languages and indifferent piano playing.

Within the first few pages, Emily is told the story of Paris and that damn golden apple and the three goddesses he has to choose to give it to. That startled me, since that story–and myths in general–were part of my upbringing, as integral to my knowledge base as the math tables and that there were fifty United States.

I pride myself on not taking anything for granted, but in terms of what I’ve been exposed to, I definitely have. What if I hadn’t been allowed access to books and knowledge? What if I were Lady Emily, bred to be a pretty ornament to a man’s home? No wonder our heroines are regarded as so unusual within their own society–they think and speak for themselves, chafe at their restrictions, and devour knowledge as greedily as Venus took that apple.

So while I have not found time to write (see how I brought that back around? I am all about the callback), I have found time to be grateful to be given the tools to enable me to write. And, eventually, I will utilize those tools.

Meanwhile, pity poor Paris, who had to make the hardest decision ever: Which vain, gorgeous goddess was the most gorgeous (and therefore would be the most vain)? Poor guy.

Megan

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Megan | 6 Replies

Adventures in Contemporaryland

Updated on January 13, 2011 by Janet Mullany

First, a bit of blatant self-promotion that is actually relevant to what I’m talking about today: I’m making a debut as a Harlequin Spice author in the summer (Tell Me More), under my own name since at my advanced age I have no innocence/innocents to protect (and before that, kicking and screaming, drag it out of me, then, Mr. Bishop and the Actress is being released next month. More on that later. Of course).

So I’m writing contemporaries for Spice which means I have to write in American, which is tricky. But what I found even worse was not having the gorgeous array of props and costumes you have at hand when writing historicals. Take this lousy passage:

The Duke leaned against the marble mantelpiece and raised his quizzing glass while taking a sip from the glass of brandy. [Internal Ed: careful, you know where this is heading] The sunlight from the open shutters turned his hair, carefully arranged in the latest windswept to burnished gold. He brushed at a tiny speck of dust on his skintight pantaloons [Internal Ed: oh crap, he does have three hands]. “My dear,” he drawled, “I assure you marriage was the last thing on my mind.” [Internal Ed: what!? Who’s he talking to, anyway?]

Now, translate this into a contemporary:

The [Internal Ed: the what? Cop? I don’t do cops. OK. The mayor? Nah. Come back to it later] leaned against his car [Internal Ed: we’re outside, then? OK] and pushed his dark glasses further up his nose [Internal Ed: I can live with it but it doesn’t imply anything to do with his status, only that he can’t buy dark glasses that fit] while taking a sip [Internal Ed: sip? Are you sure? Gulp?] from his beer [Internal Ed: remember your responsibility to your readers! Is he going to drink and drive?]. The sunlight turned his mussed hair to burnished gold. [Internal Ed: zzzzz] He brushed at a tiny speck of dust on his skintight jeans [Internal Ed: see three hands, above, also sounds a bit gay and not in a good way, but then so does the Duke]. “Honey,” he drawled, “I ain’t talkin’ about a weddin’.” [What? Has this guy ever been inside a library in his life?]

And so it goes.

On the other hand, instead of this:

Heart pounding, she sat at her writing desk and sharpened a knife. On a clean sheet of paper she hastily wrote a note, scattered sand over it, and folded and sealed it. Reaching for the bell pull, she summoned the footman to deliver it to the Duke’s house, warning him that he must return with his grace’s answer immediately.

You have this:

She texted him.

And instead of this:

For three long days and nights the carriage lurched across rutted roads, stopping only for brief pauses to change the horses while the weary passengers took what refreshment they could, and several times alighting to help push the vehicle out of the filthy mud in the torrential rain [Internal ed: enough already]

You have this:

One hour and one packet of roasted nuts later, the plane landed. [Internal ed: long enough for her to join the mile-high club, surely? Call yourself a writer?]

What do you miss when you read contemporaries? What sort of details and how much do you like in historicals?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Mr Bishop and the Actress, Tell Me More | 9 Replies