Jane Austen and The Abbey: Mystery, Mayhem, and Muslin in Portland

Fripperies

Wild Rose Garland Dancers
Performing at the AGM General Reception in the Portland Art Museum
Ticketed event: $25 (300 maxiumum)

Friday, October 29

Garland Dancers Wild Rose Garland Dancers

The Wild Rose Garland Dancers are a women’s traditional English dance team from Portland, Oregon.  The dances are all variations on English Garland dancing, a form of dance that uses arches, decorated with ribbons and flowers, formed into patterns by the motions of dance.  The garland dances are part of a living tradition based on the Northwest Morris style that began in the cotton mills of northwest England in the 18th century.  The live music accompaniment uses an eclectic blend of concertina, recorder or flute, and bodhran, the traditional Celtic drum.

“Milsom Street” Regency Emporium
Open Thursday through Saturday

Emporium

Make sure to visit Milsom Street and check out the wares for sale.  Browse through the book stalls for the latest publications about our favourite author.  The AGM heartily welcomes Jane Austen Books, Austen Adornments, Travels’s Tales Books, Vintage Art, Lavenders Green, and many other vendors.  Margaret Phillips and Rebecca Morrison-Peck will bring a host of Regency-style clothing and accessories.  Stop by and say hello to the Regional participants, they may have just the item you've been looking for!

High Tea at Heathman Hotel
1001 SW Broadway (across the street from the Hilton, 2 min. walk)

Heathman Heathman Hotel

The historic Tea Court Lounge is an original feature of the luxury Heathman Hotel.  The Tea Court blends eucalyptus-paneled walls with a marble fireplace, art work from the Vanderbilt Estate and an Austrian hand-cut crystal chandelier. The firelight and warm colors provide an intimate atmosphere for afternoon tea.  The tea menu offers traditional Afternoon Tea and Peter Rabbit Tea for Little Sippers.  While not a conference activity, we think many of you will find this your cup of tea.

Costume & Fashion Display
Milsom Street Emporium
Exhibit open during Emporium hours

Fashion

Step back in time in Milsom Street Emporium, and experience the ambiance of fashions worn in Jane Austen’s lifetime.  On display will be costumes designed and executed by Susan Pasco, designer extraordinaire.  The time period of 1775 through 1820 will be represented.  There will be hats, shawls, and other accessories.  A display of fabric samples from the years 1810 through 1814 will also be on display.

“‘I saw the prettiest hat you can imagine, in a shop window in Milsom Street—just now—very like yours, only with coquelicot ribbons instead of green.’”  (Northanger Abbey)

Young Writers’ Workshop

Austen Writing Table

One of the highlights of the JASNA conference is the J. David Grey “Young Writers’ Workshop.”  Local high school students are invited to participate in a writing workshop, often conducted by local authors and Austen scholars.  Any high school student interested in writing or Jane Austen is eligible to participate.  Jane Austen, determined to become a published author one day, wrote her comical History of England when she was barely 16.

Participants must be high school students enrolled by September 2009 at the latest in order to participate.  A panel of judges will select the three top papers and invite the three students to attend and be recognized at the AGM’s brunch and closing ceremonies on Sunday, October 31, 2010.

Pride and Prejudice at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, OR
October 21 through October 23

Emporium

If you are you coming to see Oregon before the AGM, you might consider spending some time 4 hours south of Portland at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland which is 14 miles north of the California boarder on Interstate 5.  OSF will be showing 5 plays the weekend of Oct 21-23:

Pride and Prejudice – Adapted for the Stage by Joseph Hanreddy and J.R. Sullivan
Hamlet
She Loves Me – Book by Joe Masteroff; Music by Jerry Bock
Throne of Blood – Adaptation by Ping Chong based on the film
Ruined – By Lynn Nottage

Founded in 1935, the Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is among the oldest and largest professional non-profit theatres in the nation.  Each year OSF presents an eight-and-a-half-month season of eleven plays in three theatres plus numerous ancillary activities, and undertakes an extensive theatre education program.  Operating on a budget exceeding $26 million, OSF presents more than 780 performances annually with attendance of approximately 400,000.