Experience Level: Beginner

Give the beloved PBS series Downton Abbey a proper sendoff at Historical Dancing: A Downton Abbey Ball on Monday, Sept. 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion Library.

This evening soiree — led by instructor Jeanette Watts — will feature fun and easy-to-learn dances covering the era of 1912 to 1930, from the time of the Titanic sinking to the birth of the bias-cut dress and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Students are encouraged to wear costumers appropriate to the time period. Partners are not needed, but the urge to find out what it was like to dance like a Crawley in Downton Abbey is recommended!

A bar will be provided.

The evening is also a primer for the multi-week Historical Dancing: Titanic to the Talkies series being offered on Sept. 23 through Oct. 28. Get more information here.

$30/person. Registration will close Sept. 11 or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

Learn more about the space where your course will take place here. If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn about the high-energy dances that dominated the early 20th century at Historical Dancing: Titanic to the Talkies on Tuesdays, Sept. 23 through Oct. 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion Library.

In this era, the music was so infectious it required new kinds of dancing to go with it. Ragtime took over ballrooms with dances that shocked as well as delighted, while syncopated rhythms turned into the jazz of the Roaring Twenties. Meanwhile, Rudolph Valentino’s movie tango kept ballroom dancers like Vernon and Irene Castle popular.

Instructor Jeanette Watts will help students explore the one step, castle walk, tango, foxtrot, Charleston, black bottom and other delights of early jazz.

$110/person for the entire series or $25/class. Registration will close Sept. 11 or one week prior to each class, or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

— Sept. 23
— Sept. 30
— Oct. 7
— Oct. 14
— Oct. 21
— Oct. 28

Learn more about the space where your course will take place here. If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Jeanette Watts has been teaching historical dances for more than 20 years. She is the founder of the Terpsichorean Delights Dance Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Queen City Vintage Dance in Charlotte, North Carolina, and spent covid writing an 8-volume series of instructional dance manuals for historical museums.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn about the high-energy dances that dominated the early 20th century at Historical Dancing: Titanic to the Talkies on Tuesdays, Sept. 23 through Oct. 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion Library.

Instructor Jeanette Watts will help students explore the one step, castle walk, tango, foxtrot, Charleston, black bottom and other delights of early jazz.

In this era, the music was so infectious it required new kinds of dancing to go with it! Ragtime took over ballrooms with dances that shocked as well as delighted, while syncopated rhythms turned into the jazz of the Roaring Twenties. Meanwhile, Rudolph Valentino’s movie tango kept ballroom dancers like Irene and Vernon Castle popular.

$25/class (or $110/person for the entire series). Registration will close Sept. 11 or one week prior to each class, or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Jeanette Watts has been teaching historical dances for more than 20 years. She is the founder of the Terpsichorean Delights Dance Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Queen City Vintage Dance in Charlotte, North Carolina, and spent covid writing an 8-volume series of instructional dance manuals for historical museums.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn about the high-energy dances that dominated the early 20th century at Historical Dancing: Titanic to the Talkies on Tuesdays, Sept. 23 through Oct. 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion Library.

Instructor Jeanette Watts will help students explore the one step, castle walk, tango, foxtrot, Charleston, black bottom and other delights of early jazz.

In this era, the music was so infectious it required new kinds of dancing to go with it! Ragtime took over ballrooms with dances that shocked as well as delighted, while syncopated rhythms turned into the jazz of the Roaring Twenties. Meanwhile, Rudolph Valentino’s movie tango kept ballroom dancers like Irene and Vernon Castle popular.

$25/class (or $110/person for the entire series). Registration will close Sept. 11 or one week prior to each class, or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Jeanette Watts has been teaching historical dances for more than 20 years. She is the founder of the Terpsichorean Delights Dance Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Queen City Vintage Dance in Charlotte, North Carolina, and spent covid writing an 8-volume series of instructional dance manuals for historical museums.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn about the high-energy dances that dominated the early 20th century at Historical Dancing: Titanic to the Talkies on Tuesdays, Sept. 23 through Oct. 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion Library.

Instructor Jeanette Watts will help students explore the one step, castle walk, tango, foxtrot, Charleston, black bottom and other delights of early jazz.

In this era, the music was so infectious it required new kinds of dancing to go with it! Ragtime took over ballrooms with dances that shocked as well as delighted, while syncopated rhythms turned into the jazz of the Roaring Twenties. Meanwhile, Rudolph Valentino’s movie tango kept ballroom dancers like Irene and Vernon Castle popular.

$25/class (or $110/person for the entire series). Registration will close Sept. 11 or one week prior to each class, or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Jeanette Watts has been teaching historical dances for more than 20 years. She is the founder of the Terpsichorean Delights Dance Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Queen City Vintage Dance in Charlotte, North Carolina, and spent covid writing an 8-volume series of instructional dance manuals for historical museums.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn about the high-energy dances that dominated the early 20th century at Historical Dancing: Titanic to the Talkies on Tuesdays, Sept. 23 through Oct. 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion Library.

Instructor Jeanette Watts will help students explore the one step, castle walk, tango, foxtrot, Charleston, black bottom and other delights of early jazz.

In this era, the music was so infectious it required new kinds of dancing to go with it! Ragtime took over ballrooms with dances that shocked as well as delighted, while syncopated rhythms turned into the jazz of the Roaring Twenties. Meanwhile, Rudolph Valentino’s movie tango kept ballroom dancers like Irene and Vernon Castle popular.

$25/class (or $110/person for the entire series). Registration will close Sept. 11 or one week prior to each class, or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Jeanette Watts has been teaching historical dances for more than 20 years. She is the founder of the Terpsichorean Delights Dance Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Queen City Vintage Dance in Charlotte, North Carolina, and spent covid writing an 8-volume series of instructional dance manuals for historical museums.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn about the high-energy dances that dominated the early 20th century at Historical Dancing: Titanic to the Talkies on Tuesdays, Sept. 23 through Oct. 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion Library.

Instructor Jeanette Watts will help students explore the one step, castle walk, tango, foxtrot, Charleston, black bottom and other delights of early jazz.

In this era, the music was so infectious it required new kinds of dancing to go with it! Ragtime took over ballrooms with dances that shocked as well as delighted, while syncopated rhythms turned into the jazz of the Roaring Twenties. Meanwhile, Rudolph Valentino’s movie tango kept ballroom dancers like Irene and Vernon Castle popular.

$25/class (or $110/person for the entire series). Registration will close Sept. 11 or one week prior to each class, or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Jeanette Watts has been teaching historical dances for more than 20 years. She is the founder of the Terpsichorean Delights Dance Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Queen City Vintage Dance in Charlotte, North Carolina, and spent covid writing an 8-volume series of instructional dance manuals for historical museums.

Experience Level: Beginner

Learn about the high-energy dances that dominated the early 20th century at Historical Dancing: Titanic to the Talkies on Tuesdays, Sept. 23 through Oct. 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Mansion Library.

Instructor Jeanette Watts will help students explore the one step, castle walk, tango, foxtrot, Charleston, black bottom and other delights of early jazz.

In this era, the music was so infectious it required new kinds of dancing to go with it! Ragtime took over ballrooms with dances that shocked as well as delighted, while syncopated rhythms turned into the jazz of the Roaring Twenties. Meanwhile, Rudolph Valentino’s movie tango kept ballroom dancers like Irene and Vernon Castle popular.

$25/class (or $110/person for the entire series). Registration will close Sept. 11 or one week prior to each class, or when capacity is reached. All sales are final.

If you will need disability-related accommodations to participate, please email Olivia Bunting at owarren@illinois.edu.

By attending, you consent to your image being used in Allerton marketing, social media and publications. Please alert the photographer or videographer if you do not want your image taken.

About the instructor

Jeanette Watts has been teaching historical dances for more than 20 years. She is the founder of the Terpsichorean Delights Dance Assembly in Dayton, Ohio, Queen City Vintage Dance in Charlotte, North Carolina, and spent covid writing an 8-volume series of instructional dance manuals for historical museums.