Friday, 29 March 2024

Muse Academy May Ball, 2011

Victorian garden folly

The foremost event of the Muse Academy academic year is underway.

As discussed on the planning thread, the theme in the ballroom is “Victorian ruins” — aptly enough, as wealthy Victorians were fond of ancient ruins, had plenty of them on their own island, loved to travel to see others in Greece and Rome, and often built fake ruins (known as “follies”) to enjoy. The ballroom is festooned with simulacra of ivy-twined crumbling Corinthian columns, collapsed Norman chapels, and, in the center, a bubbling fountain flanked by two Grecian urns.

Dress is formal. (If you don’t know what that means, look it up.) This being Muse Academy, all the clothes fit perfectly and look wonderful. Hats resembling those recently seen at the Royal Wedding are much in evidence.

Music, at least to begin with, consists of ballroom and/or classical works composed before or during the reign of Queen Victoria, with emphasis on lush romanticism.

For fresh air and a break from the dancing and mingling, there is, as always, a rooftop garden.

The rest is up to you.


Comments RSS TrackBack 134 comments

Leave a comment