An Evening of Dancing

Last night, Mrs. Charlotte Cunningham, Mr. and Mrs. Demlow and I, Mrs. Nora Azevedo made our appearance at the Friday night dance held weekly by the Portland Country Dancing Community.

Mrs. Demlow is a already a member of the PCDC and this time she came in costume, and looked LOVELY. Mrs. Cunningham also looked lovely, having converted a dress she was not 100% happy with into a lovely new ensemble that was excellent!

We met two new members, Chad and Caley, and I have to say that makes me exceedingly happy to see new faces at events, even if technically it wasn't "our" event.

We danced more than just Regency dance, and there were equal men to women. In fact, we had partners for all the dances, learned some new dance sequences and felt the exertion of a full ballroom.

All the ladies and gentlemen that we met were accommodating and genteel. The Gentlemen properly asked for a dance and the ladies were wonderful and helpful when we didn't know the dance steps.

This was so sucessful, that while we may not always go in costume, we will definitively continue to attend Friday night dances.

We hope to see more of the membership there.

Thank you

Mrs. Nora Azevedo

The Oregon Regency Society's First Regency Retreat

Yes, you heard it, we're having our retreat! It's SO exciting to watch it come together and to start finalizing workshops and the registration packet. I put a preliminary notice on Facebook the day before yesterday and we already have a bit of interest. Stephanie Robertson has been the primary driving force behind this event, and has helped us acquire a venue to hold it for a price that makes it affordable for everyone. For less than $200, participants get nine meals, three nights lodging, a compendium of workshops and they get to play dress-up all the while! How can you beat that?

We are happy to welcome not only Oregonians and local folks, but also people from out of state as well. We are willing to help with airport transportation and assisting in making sure you have the stuff you need for a comfortable stay. All you have to do is contact us.

For a preview of what's in store for the retreat, click here. We will be adding more details as we finish wrapping up the odds and ends. Some things may be subject to change; to minor menu changes to some workshop modifications. In spite of that, we foresee a wonderful event with lots of great workshops to hone your skills in sewing, dancing, millinery, even baking!

Click through and check it out. There are *ONLY* 30 available spots, so if you want to participate, you should contact the ORS for a registration packet.

http://orregency.org/events.htm#retreat

The Feast of the Twelfth Night, McLean House, West Linn 1-9-10

Starting from left corner going clockwise; Stacy,
Bill Armstrong (ORS Cascades East Leader), Aaron Marks and Heidi at whist.

Lady Lauren (the Lady of Portland House) compliments us with a song.
You may view more of her songs and more pictures at her blog.

We partake of a tremendous meal cooked by Chef de Cuisine Lady Stephanie Robertson.
Three courses of multiple dishes (a detailed menu will be posted for all to see very soon).

Some dancing at the venue.

Some dancing at Lady Connie's Beautiful Home afterwards. :)

The Menu and full collection of movies and photos are available here: http://www.oregonregencysociety.com/pastevents/feast/Feast.htm

The First Annual Sherwood Ball

The Lavender Tea Room hosted the first annual Sherwood Regency Ball. It's a lovely little venue in the quaint town of Sherwood. Attendees enjoyed delicious food, dancing, visiting with a horse (carriage rides were canceled due to rain), and whist. It was a lovely, genteel evening much enjoyed by all.

A host of new ORS Events!

Hurrah! At last we have some events for you! It's been rough-going for a month or two, but we're starting to get some of our ducks in a row and have some lovely things for you to do for the following months:

March 28, 2009
A Free ECD Workshop
Sunnyside Grange, Happy Valley, Oregon

Brush up on your English Country Dance skills, or learn the basics in this free workshop in the Portland area.
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March 29, 2009
A Jane Austen Afternoon
Albany, Oregon; Sponsored by Elysian Designs

Join the ladies of Elysian Designs in a special cinema viewing of Sense and Sensibility followed by tea.

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April 4, 2009
A Spring Debut Ball
Veterans Memorial Ballroom, Eugene, Oregon

ORS Eugene kicks off the season with the year's first dance. Join us for an evening of dinner, dancing and diversions in the Emerald City.

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May 9, 2009
Un peu de thé et des Beaux-arts.

Heathman Hotel and the Portland Museum, Portland Oregon

Join us for a gourmet tea at the luxurious Heathman Hotel at noon, followed by an exploration of the Portland Museum's Madame de Pompadour Exhibit.

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There is definitely more to come; including a June Dance event, and a picnic at Pittock Mansion again. And we are already working on the details of this year's Winter Ball. :)

Go to http://www.orregency.org/ for details and ticket information for any of the above events. Click 'Events'.

A new movie of the ORS Winter Ball 2008

Barbara Wright of BrightJoy Productions has provided this movie for us. How kind of her! It really gives a nice picture of the whole evening, from the beginning, through dinner ot the end. And lots of special moments showing the lovely venue are also included.

A Most Elegant Ball

The Oregon Regency Society enjoyed its second annual Regency Costume Winter Ball this past Saturday at the David Cole Queen Anne Victorian Mansion in Portland. It was extremely well attended and received a small measure of publicity from a couple of Portland newspapers.

Full Collection of Photos here (will continue to be updated).

Also go to the ORS Past Events page for more sets and collections from other members.

The ORS Winter Ball ~ Only One Month Away!

Dinner, Dancing and Diversions.

Live music.

Silent Auction for Costume Items and Photograph Portraits

Pre-Ball English Country Dance Workshop (location TBA)

Event Sponsored by the

David Cole Queen Anne Victorian Mansion

Current schedule subject to change

Details on tickets, menu, dances and more can be found here:

http://www.oregonregencysociety.com/events.htm

A Midsummer Night's Dream Masquerade

http://www.oregonregencysociety.com/pastevents/msnd.htm

Amethyst Photography
Lauren's Collection
Stephanie's Collection

What a magical night it was. Click the links above to see for yourself. :)

The Emerald City Regency Party ~ May 24

The Eugene "Emerald City Regency Party" was a wonderful success. Thea had decked the whole venue out in a riot of flowers and art; the buffet was a colourful array of fruits and cheeses and other delicious tidbits; and there was much dancing.

The full set of photos can be viewed here.

A Stellar Evening

The "Bring in the Spring" Regency Party was a resounding success! You can find photos of this event here. Short movies of the dancing will be posted soon. There was a beautiful array of costumes and company to enjoy and we all had a wonderful time.

Pictured above is the Demlow Party of Lavender's Green; a historic costuming compay. Kay (in green) made nearly all of the costumes pictured here. There were over 40 people in attendance, all of them in some form of costume. A slideshow of pictures is also available below.

A Regency Party in Lake Oswego; Feb 9, 2008

Tickets:

$20 adults ~ Children under 14 $10.00

ORS Premium Members: 25% off all tickets fees.

English Country Dance and Whist lessons.

Regency Costume Recommended;
see the ORS Resources page for costume sources and references.

The ORS Winter Ball was a great success!

We were thrilled with the way the ball turned out. There were about 40 people in attendance; and they filled up the floor to dance the better part of the night. The ball began with the tea on Friday; which was well attended by 16 people; almost all of whom were in costume (ironically, the only people who weren't were myself, my husband and my aunt, who'd arrived in town too late to find a place to change clothes).

The group of organizers spent a good part of Friday evening preparing the venue, the food and in my case and that of Lisa, our husbands' costumes; which were significantly more work than our own. To top it off, I had made an extra tailcoat (and handed down the green trouble-waiscoat to the 'livery'), and a second waistcoat for my husband. I hadn't sewn on a single button on any of these items. So I sat down Friday midnight, and sewed and sewed and sewed. I had prepared two costumes for some people we had hired to be 'servants' (neither of whom bothered to show up, what a surprise). I'd also finished the drop-front breeches for my husband; and I dare say the pattern, although not for beginners, was very easy to modify to my needs, and made a fine pair of breeches. I recommend that pattern very much. Portraits will be posted as soon as they are available.

On Saturday morning, we had breakfast together, and we all charged down to the temple to finish things up. We brought our sewing, of course, and finished up details, like folding the napkins into lotus flowers, adding last minute touches, and Robert made sure the food was ready to go. We rushed up to the hotel to change, and were back in time to see that none of our 'servant staff' had shown. But we made do... and we greeted arrivals, and ferried them into the portrait room, where we captured them in their Regency Finery.

The musicians had already arrived and were practicing during the meal. Everyone had a lovely dinner, and a dessert and then onto the dance-floor they went; and there was dancing right up until Midnight.

Click here to see images and more.

It was lovely.

A Stylish Inauguration for the ORS

August 24th marked the first ORS Event, and it kicked off with a resounding success. The Oregon Regency Society's sponsor, the Ainsworth House & Gardens in Oregon City opened up their beautiful facility to our membership for our first Regency Party.

Although planning for 25 attendees, we had over 40. It began with a period of general socializing, some games of whist, and members took advantage of the lovely late afternoon to stroll about the immaculate English Gardens in their lovely costumes. Then everyone came in to dine. The buffet featured spring greens salad, pork pie, quiche, red-bliss potatoes, a tray of cheeses and meats, a honey-ham, two fruit tarts, cake, and a bowl of punch.

The dancing began soon after dinner, and kept on until ten in the evening. Miss Laura Plett called the dances, and the sets filled the room.

All in all it was a wonderful, civilized and diverting evening of good fun and excellent society. We are looking foward to more such events. Pictures of the event can be found here. A big thank you to Rev. Kevin Yell of the Ainsworth House & Gardens for such a lovely venue.