Historical Dance Workshop

Come and learn the type of dancing Jane Austen would have done at this Regency dance workshop. Participants will learn some simple dance steps and dances from the Regency period, as they appeared in the 1995 Pride and Prejudice.

Open to all; no dance experience required. Please wear clothes which are comfortable to move around in, and trainers, ballet or jazz shoes for dancing in.

As a classically trained dancer, Dr Helen Davidge is an experienced historical dance teacher, having taught Contra Dance and Baroque dance in both Europe and East and Southeast Asia, as well as performing Baroque dance with the Academy of Ancient Music and Wicked Music People. She is the first person to have performed and taught Baroque dance in Malaysia in modern times, and was the dance mistress for the first professional theatrical production of Death Comes to Pemberley.

As the artistic director of Georgettes of Oxford she now teaches their historical dance classes. Last year, being Jane Austen's 250th birthday year, Helen called the dances for celebration balls and oversaw dance displays at a number of locations, including Jane Austen's House Museum, Windsor Castle, Wembley Stadium, the Bank of England and The Bodleian.