Richmond German Christmas Dance

The Richmond German Christmas Dance is an annual ball held during the Christmas season at The Commonwealth Club in Richmond, Virginia. Founded in 1866, shortly after the end of the American Civil War, it is the oldest debutante ball in Virginia.

Ricmond German Christmas Dance
Genredebutante ball
Date(s)December
Frequencyannually
Location(s)The Commonwealth Club
Richmond, Virginia
United States
Inaugurated1866
Patron(s)Richmond German Society

About

The Richmond German Christmas Dance was founded in 1866, shortly after the end of the American Civil War by the city's civil leaders.[1] It was named after a popular Prussian dance. The ball served as a way for prominent families of the Antebellum period to maintain their status in the new era.[2]

The dance is one of two premier debutante balls in Richmond, the other being the Bal du Bois.[3][4] The dance is held annually at The Commonwealth Club, a private gentlemen's club.[5][6] It is hosted by the Richmond German, a gentlemen's secret dance society. Debutantes are typically relatives of members of the society.[7][8]

References
  1. "Richmond Times-Dispatch 16 November 1919 — Virginia Chronicle: Digital Newspaper Archive". virginiachronicle.com.
  2. Tifft, Susan; Jones, Alex S. (February 22, 1993). The Patriarch: The Rise and Fall of the Bingham Dynasty. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780671797072 – via Google Books.
  3. Wilson, Charles Reagan (February 1, 2014). The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 4: Myth, Manners, and Memory. UNC Press Books. ISBN 9781469616704 – via Google Books.
  4. Flora, Joseph M.; MacKethan, Lucinda Hardwick (November 1, 2001). The Companion to Southern Literature: Themes, Genres, Places, People, Movements, and Motifs. LSU Press. ISBN 9780807126929 – via Google Books.
  5. "Richmond German presents debutantes". Richmond Times-Dispatch. January 21, 2017. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  6. "New York Girls at Richmond Ball – First Monday German at the Virginia Capital Attended by Many Debutantes – Dinner Precedes Dance – Misses Cecil, Grosvenor, Oates and Kelsey Make Up This City's Contingent". December 13, 1938. p. 29. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  7. "Richmond German presents debutantes". Richmond Times-Dispatch. January 10, 2015. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  8. "Debutante Society". www.wfae.org.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.