Vintage Dance

Vintage dance is the authentic recreation of historical dance styles. The term is also used specifically to denote re-creation of the dances of the English Regency (1795–1820), American Civil War (1860s), Victorian, and Ragtime eras.

Several Vintage Dance Societies hold balls and events to promote and teach Vintage dances.

In Massachusetts:

• Commonwealth Vintage Dancers This group has been active for more than 26 years and sponsors monthly vintage Victorian dance classes and balls throughout the Greater Boston area. Every summer the group gathers in Newport, RI for week long dance training, seaside teas, and evenings enjoying the splendors of the Gilded Age.

In California:

• Gaskell Ball - a long-running bi-monthly Victorian Ball held in Oakland, California
• PEERS - Period Events and Entertainments Reenactment Society - a group that holds themed vintage dance events of various eras on the first Saturday of each month
• BACDS - The Bay Area Country Dance Society - promotes, preserves, and teaches traditional English and American music and dance in the San Francisco Bay area.
• BAERS - The Bay Area English Regency Society - another group in the San Francisco Bay area, which specializes in the dances of the English Regency.

In Colorado:

• AVD - American Vernacular Dance hosts ragtime-era vintage dance events with live music, principally at the Avalon Ballroom in Boulder, Colorado. This organization hosted its first event "The Columbine Ball and Tango Trot", in June 1989. AVD has hosted Ragtime-Era Tea Dances monthly since 1991 with the Mont Alto Ragtime and Tango Orchestra. AVD co-hosts annual dance weekends with vintage dance historian and dancing master Richard Powers.
• Watch Your Step! is a Boulder, Colorado-based group available for presentations, costumed performances and instruction in vintage dance of the ragtime-era through the 1930s.

In New Jersey:

• Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities (MAC) - a non-profit organization committed to preservation, interpretation and cultural enrichment for Cape May's residents and visitors has been sponsoring vintage dance weekends in Cape May for more than 20 years. Held each April and October, these weekends provide instruction and costume dance opportunities with live music. Cape May is a National Historic landmark city at the Southernmost tip of New Jersey with an unparalleled collection of Victorian era homes.

In North Carolina:

• Since 2001, Triangle Vintage Dance has offered classes focusing on dances from the Victorian and Ragtime Eras for the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. In addition to classes and a monthly dance mixer, the group also holds an annual Victorian Ball. For information, visit the Triangle Vintage Dance Website .