If you're a fusion or blues dancer and will be in the Pittsburgh, PA area April 28th, come celebrate the 1st anniversary of BFF (Blues & Fusion Forge)! bluesfusionforge.altervista.org

It makes me happy that this event exists. Can't believe it's the 10th Anniversary, though! www.eventbrite.com/e/in-bed-by-...

Heading off tomorrow to Boston for the double bill of #Shax2025 and #RenSA2025!

Lots of dance and dance-adjacent workshops, panels, and roundtables at the upcoming RSA and SAA conference in Boston next week. Here's a running list: earlydance.wixsite.com/resources

Happy Women's History Month! Welllllll....I had promised y'all some dance history, so here you go. First up is the Queen of the Cakewalk, Aida Overton Walker. Born in NYC in 1880, she'd go on to become the first Black choreographer to work on Broadway.

The mechanics of a stomacher more easily discernible in this 1730s survival of cotton embroidered with polychrome silk & silver gilt yarn. The tabs for pinning & linen ties illustrate how it was anchored to the torso, part of an open robe of equal splendour @mfaboston.bsky.social #FashionHistory 🗃️🪡

March dates for blues and fusion dancing in Pittsburgh -- Come dance with us! #bluesdance #fusiondance #partnerdancing #pittsburghsocialdance

Enjoying a fascinating short documentary series, The Legacy of Tower Capsules, highlighting Beat Kümin's research. (Mostly in German with English captions) lisa.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/turmkugeln_e...

12:30pm Eastern Time, Thursday January 23rd, Fabio Ciambella will be giving a talk on dancing at the Inns of Court -- attend virtually or in person.

Food for thought ...

I was stunned to hear of the passing of Dr. Mary Beth Rose. She was a mentor to me at NU, and introduced me to Lady Mary Wroth (the subject of my novel) plus a ton of other remarkable #earlymodern women writers. She was a wonderfully curious, knowledgeable, generous, and supportive person.

End-of-term grading ... #AcademicSky #grading

Guess who's going to be in fair Verona in July 2026? Stay tuned for more details about "Without Words: Dance Adaptations of Shakespeare" -- the session Lynsey McCulloch and I are organizing for the World Shakespeare Congress www.wsc2026.org

Deadline is Dec. 16 for Early Dance Hub roundtable, panel, and workshop proposals for "Indeterminate Boundaries: Rethinking the Binary of Theory vs Practice in Early Dance Studies" -- Dance Studies Association conference in Washington, DC (June 25-29, 2025) dasa.memberclicks.net/assets/2025%...

Grading ...

Despite the building being closed for much of the day due to a gas leak, the last class of the term did indeed happen yesterday. Now it's just grading from here on out...

Saturday 21st December - Explore the magical world of a Tudor Christmas in a talk and tour with curator Hannah Matthews, discovering how the men of the Mary Rose would have celebrated the yuletide season. Find out more and book your tickets -

Even scholars need to take dining and dancing breaks. Happy (American) Thanksgiving, everyone!

Working on website updates at my desk but listening to the Vintage Paris Jazz playlist (open.spotify.com/playlist/4hG...) and pretending I'm working here instead ...

My broken toe is mostly healed, and my hurt back is mostly recovered ... just in time for PittStop Lindy Hop! I should be getting a whole lot of steps this weekend. Happy dancing, everyone!🕺💃 pittstoplindyhop.com

Lots of dance workshops and a Renaissance dance roundtable at the Shakespeare Association of America and Renaissance Society of America combined conference in Boston in March 2025 .... stay tuned! @saaupdates.bsky.social (RSA, you coming over to Bluesky, too?)

Dance studies colleagues, join us in DC in summer 2025! Early Dance has a Hub this year! Proposals due December 16. dasa.memberclicks.net/hubs-2025