I've written several articles on Austen as she intersects with popular culture as well as articles on aspects of late eighteenth-century dance and culture. | |
NEW! Dances from Jane Austen's Assembly Rooms A Collection of 40 Dance Tunes from Jane Austen’s Music Books as well as 46 Popular Dance Tunes of the Day, with the Choicest Selection of Figures set to them as Danced at Court, Bath, & all Publick Assemblies, together with Poems, Sermons, S0ngs, Elegant Extracts, Exhortations, & Descriptive Essays, &c., All Selected & Written in a Style Guaranteed to Elevate, Instruct, & Amuse. Visit my Store page for ordering information. | ![]() |
The Rules of the Assembly: Dancing at Bath and Other Spas in the Eighteenth Century The eighteenth century was the age of the public assembly, of social amiability, of the pleasure in seeing and being seen. This spirit was evinced in the popularity of promenades and pleasure gardens, the rise of lending libraries and clubs, and the building of elegant assembly rooms in which crowds of well-dressed ladies and gentleman danced and enjoyed each other’s company. But even pleasure-seekers must . . .Read more. . . | ![]() |
The Felicities of Rapid Motion: Jane Austen in the Ballroom Jane Austen was an enthusiastic dancer in her youth, and dancing forms an important part of all of her fictional heroine’s lives. From her use of dance in the novels, we can obtain a better glimpse of how dances in middle class life in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were conducted, so that the six novels become a useful source document for the dance historian. In addition, when general readers learn more about the common dances of the period and the social conventions around them, they will. . . Read more | ![]() |
Dancing at St. James's Mr. Darcy scornfully says that he never dances at St. James's, the official palace of the King. Contemporary readers would have known exactly what was involved in “dancing at St. James’s” and would thus have gleaned nuances of character and perhaps even a hint of Austen’s own political preference from this conversation. Modern readers, however, may need to have some of these subtleties revealed. This essay discusses the etiquette and details of dancing at the court housed in the Palace of St. James, the special attire required to dance at court, and the dances performed, both by type and Read more | ![]() |
Trinkets and Treasures: Consuming Jane Austen Enthusiasts (whether of Jane Austen, Keira Knightley or Colin Firth) continue to churn out a relentless deluge of sequels and fan-fiction, but the Jane Austen franchise has expanded beyond mere words: there’s the stuff. We’re not just talking coffee mugs and key chains, “I ♥ Fitzwilliam” tee-shirts or “Jane is my Home Girl” bumper-stickers . Read more. . . | ![]() |
Crafting Jane Austen: Handmade Homages and their Makers in Fan Phenomena: Jane Austen, edited by Gabrielle Malcom | ![]() |