Event Details

The Merchants' Ball was held on:

Saturday, May 28th, 2005
Richmond Methodist Church Hall
Stanmore Road
Site opens for guests at 7:00pm
Dancing scheduled from 7:15 until 10:00pm

Tickets were $8.50 (members) or $10.50 (non-members),
and were available for purchase from the event steward until May 20th.

Pictures taken during the event can be seen here.

Dance Practice

For those who wished to learn, or refresh, the dances scheduled for the Ball, a practice was held on:

Sunday, May 22nd, 2005
Richmond Primary School Hall
Entrance off Perth Street, or Pavitt Street
From 12 noon (directly after Fighters' Practice) until 2:00 pm

A number of decisions were made regarding the manner in which some dances would be performed.
Dances have been noted in the Cheat Sheets with those choices.

The Merchants' Ball is a limited focus event

The theme behind the event was a dance being thrown by the local merchants in the town hall of a small but
prosperous French town. It was just before Christmas during the winter of 1589.

A variety of information relevant to the theme of the ball was gathered on this website, such as:
- the dance choreographies,
- individual steps and music,
- format of the ball,
- housekeeping details,
- contemporary fashions,
- recent events and
- basic customs & etiquette,
with the hope that everyone who attended the ball would be able to participate in as much of the event as possible.

This type of ball was not just about running through the dances to the music, but actually dancing them.
It was also an opportunity to explore the effect period clothes have on dances and dancers, not to forget the
interactions between people both on and off the dance floor.

At this ball there were a number of dances that did lend themselves, quite well, to conversation (and flirting),
for those who wished to test their abilities.

To read more about limited focus events, Mistress Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester has an article called
'Narrowing the Focus: a Different Kind of Event' posted on Stefan's Florilegium.

Should you require tickets or any further information, please contact the event steward:
Helois de Mont St. Michel (contact details in FTT)