Saturday, December 21, 2013

Old Courthouse Dance

December 21, 2013 – This afternoon we headed to St. Louis for a civil war dance at the old courthouse.  We’d been invited by some friends for a series of dances called by Deborah Hyland.
Oddly enough, this was the first time that I or even my Mom had been to the Old Courthouse.
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The dance took place in the rotunda
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Our caller was Deborah Hyland, Dance Mistress - [Facebook Page]
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A civil war band from Mt. Vernon, IL, provided live music from one of the upper levels
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After every dance in a quadrille or a longways set they would do a polka or waltz:
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During one of the breaks we headed upstairs to explore the courthouse and get some photos.
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Looking down….
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..looking up.
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I love these enormous doors, would love to have this in my house someday.  When closed, they give a sense of security and solidarity.  When open, they present a very noble welcome to visitors.
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Staircases
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View of the rotunda from the top level
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The entrance to the west wing of the courthouse where the Dread Scott case took place in 1856.

3 comments:

Zoë said...

That looks like a great location for a dance event! That stone floor is so neat...
Out of curiosity, was the Lancer's Quadrille among the dances done? That was always an entertaining one... ;)
We briefly contemplated attending that dance, but there was a scheduling conflict (and we are rather low on Civil War styled clothing at present)... perhaps next time, though!

Unknown said...

No, we didn't do anything too complicated; I know we did the Spanish Circle/Waltz.
The Lancier's Quardrille was one of my favorites back at the Civil War Ball. Can you believe that was almost 3 years ago?

Zoë said...

Wow - time flies! Yes, that first dance lesson series began about... three years and a month and three weeks ago, if I remember correctly! (Or somewhere thereabouts...) It's rather amusing looking back at the high level of nervousness and the practically non-existent skill level I had back then... heh heh!