Regency Ballroom Etiquette
Part of the Articles series.
Written by Liz.
HISTORICAL REGENCY BALLROOM ETIQUETTE
1. A gentleman was only permitted to ask a lady to dance twice (i.e., two pairs of dances) in an evening, even if she was his fiancée. The closest thing you could do "cheat" was to dance with one of your fiancée’s friends and be sure you and her friend stand next to your lady and her new partner in the longways country dance set - or vis-a-vis them in the cotillion or quadrille set, which was a convenient square. That way you had many opportunities to dance with and chat with your lady - even while partnering her friend. Marianne and Willoughby use this strategy in Sense and Sensibility.
2. Country dances were always danced in pairs so an invitation to dance the next set meant you were being asked to dance the next two dances. This rule is a little hard on wallflowers - as it means that the unpartnered ladies get to sit out two dances instead of one. Back then, that often meant an hour of sitting and watching.
3. A Georgian or Regency lady was not permitted to turn down an invitation to dance unless she could claim a previous engagement to dance or unless she planned to sit out the remaining dances of the evening. She could not use the Victorian lady’s excuse that she was "fatigued" and planning to sit out the next dance.
4. As Mr. Tilney observes in Northanger Abbey, men have the power of choice in the Regency ball; ladies have only the power of refusal. This is a very hard rule for the 1990’s. As the Arbiter has often observed, this sexist rule worked pretty well back in the Regency and Victorian period because gentlemen were expected to dance with a variety of ladies during the evening and to dance with anyone their hostess asked them to dance with. When Mr. Elton refuses his hostess’ request that he dance with the unpartnered Miss Smith in Jane Austen’s Emma, he brands himself a cad.
5. Needless to say, waltzing wasn’t even a possibility in the world of Jane Austen’s provincial balls. While the smart set had private waltz parties, this wasn’t an option for young unmarried ladies in Austen’s world of the minor gentry and professional middle classes. Even after the waltz had Almack’s seal of approval, a debutante was not permitted to waltz until the august patronesses had given her official permission.
We're set before the waltz, so this doesn't matter for us!
6. It was considered bad form to save too many dances in advance (dance cards were not even invented until the Victorian period). Nice Regency girls might save the first two dances for a special partner and even the strict and upright Fanny Price saves two dances for her beloved cousin Edmund. But saving any more than that is "fast."
7. One should always join longways country dances at the bottom of the set. And one should not race to the top of the room to form a new set.
8. While ladies could get away with afternoon dress at a ball, gentlemen were expected to enter the ballroom in knee breeches and proper dancing pumps. Boots and trousers were very bad ton and, as any of the BAERS people will tell you, not even the Duke of Wellington - Superhero of the Western World - was permitted to enter Almack’s in trousers.
9. Gloves must be worn in the ballroom and may only be removed at the supper table (or buffet). Gloves were worn, of course, not merely as a fashion accessory but as protection for the lady’s gown. Muslin was washable; silk not nearly as easy to clean!
