Romance and costumes: Why Bay Area nerds' are turning to 19th century ballroom dance

"On that Tuesday night in November, as on most Tuesdays, the room was being used as a classroom for Ruzicka and more than two dozen others to learn the dances and social etiquette of the 19th century English ballroom. Ruzicka had dressed for the part. Donning a Regency-era men's tailcoat, waistcoat and ruffled shirt, the theater actor, writer and director from Livermore was cosplaying Fitzwilliam Darcy, the aloof romantic hero of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice."

"For the next two hours, Ruzicka danced with a swirl of partners. Some also had dressed up, displaying elegant gowns they had sewn themselves, made with glimmering fabrics and featuring shoulder-baring necklines and voluminous skirts, puffed up with petticoats or crinoline. All together, this combination of costumes and period dance with waltz music by Johann Strauss I created a vision of a long-ago time in Europe or America, when balls and village dances provided a key way for people to socialize."

"These Tuesday dance classes are organized by Period Events and Entertainments Recreation Society Inc., an Alameda-based nonprofit founded in the 1990s by the husband-and-wife duo James and Cathleen Myers. During the classes, James plays the traditional role of dance master. And waltz!, he said while teaching the Paganini Waltz. The couples twirled one, two, three, four as James continued, Right, left, right, le"

Residents and enthusiasts meet weekly at the Elks Lodge in Alameda to learn 19th-century English ballroom dances and social etiquette. Participants wear Regency and Victorian attire, including men's tailcoats, waistcoats and ruffled shirts, and sewn gowns with shoulder‑baring necklines, voluminous skirts and petticoats or crinoline. Sessions feature period waltz music by Johann Strauss I and choreographed steps taught by a dance master. The classes are organized by Period Events & Entertainments Re‑Creation Society, a nonprofit founded in the 1990s by James and Cathleen Myers. Instruction emphasizes traditional roles, timing and sequence, producing immersive historical dance recreations.

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