The Virginia Academy of Historic Dance (VAHD) is a troupe of Williamsburg dancers who research, choreograph and perform the social dances which are a part of Virginia's European cultural heritage, beginning with dances from the first edition of John Playford's English Dancing Master in 1651 to the dances of the Roaring 20s such as the Charleston.
Virginia's Primary Diversion
The goal of the Virginia Academy is to educate the public on the active role that dancing played in the social lives of the people who lived in Virginia by performing the dances in period clothing, with live music, and with the proper social context. Through the years, dancing was considered the "chief or primary diversion" of many Virginians who by necessity had to make their own entertainment. The presentation format is usually a combination of lecture, performance, and audience participation.
All Around Town
Since its inception in 1992 VAHD, under the direction of Merry Feyock, has performed at Williamsburg's First Night, Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest, Scotchtown, Sherwood Forest, the Yorktown Victory Center, the Valentine Museum, the Adam Thorogood House, Kilmarnock Scottish Days, and for Williamsburg's and Gloucester's 350th anniversary celebrations in 1999 and 2001 respectively.
Community Outreach
VAHD has also been active in the Williamsburg area by teaching dancing to elementary school students, teaching a course in historic dance for the Christopher Wren Association, presenting educational programs for William & Mary's Elderhostel, training interpreters in 17th century dancing at Jamestown Settlement and providing lecture/demonstrations for French classes at the College of William & Mary on 17th century court and theater dances.
The Quadrille Ball
2001 marked VAHD's first ball: the Quadrille Ball, with dances from dance manuals of 1859 and 1863. Held at Norge Hall just outside of Williamsburg, this Ball featured a trio of musicians and a fine collation of 19th century desserts. Dances included waltzes, quadrilles, gallopedes, schottisches, the Virginia Reel and other country dances and reels, and cotillions.
Merry Feyock-Guernsey has been the director and choreographer for the Virginia Academy of Historic Dance since she began it in 1992. She became interested in historic dance during the Bicentennial Year of 1976, serving from 1980 to 1990 as one of the organizers of the highly successful 18th century dance program at Colonial Williamsburg.
First as Program Assistant and then as Supervisor of Dance, she was responsible for all aspects of the 18th century dance program, including research, teaching, choreography, and the creation of numerous programs including or featuring dance as well as supervising a staff of 50 juvenile and adult dancers. While in this position, she created and organized many different dance programs, including "Dance, Our Dearest Diversion" which has enjoyed continuing popularity at Colonial Williamsburg up to the present day. In 1988 she also created and developed a special program entitled "Three Centuries of Dance in Virginia" which spanned the years 1650-1815.
A published author in the field of historic dance research and reconstruction, she was also instrumental in organizing and bringing to Colonial Williamsburg a national conference on dance. Her activities as a choreographer have included Italian dances for Capriole, a world-class early music group formerly based in Williamsburg. Ongoing research includes the dances themselves (as found in period dance manuals), music, manners, attire, and choreography.
Ann Marie Weissert is the Associate Director. She has been a part of the Virginia Academy of Historic Dance since its inception in 1991, bringing to the troupe her knowledge of 18th century dance, performing with Colonial Williamsburg's dance troupe since 1988. She also has museum experience, working at Ash-Lawn-Highland as the Special Events Coordinator and at the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation as Media Relations Officer.
