Lafayette Bicentennial Ball turns back time

Regency dancing was a lively, graceful style of dancing popular in the time of the Marquis de Lafayette, Fayetteville’s namesake and honoree of the Fayetteville Lafayette Society’s Farewell Tour Bicentennial and Ball.

Guests arrived in full Regency and formal attire and were met with synchronized dancing set to the sounds of Syllabub, a trio of musicians who played live period music, at the March 4 ball held in the Ralph and Linda Huff Orangery at Cape Fear Botanical Garden.

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Dr. Hank Parfitt, a member and past president of the Fayetteville Lafayette Society, said that this type of experience is novel in Fayetteville and was the city spotlight moment during the national bicentennial of Lafayette’s Farewell Tour, which stopped in Fayetteville on March 4-5. The two-day event welcomed over 350 attendees to experience the once-in-a-lifetime celebration.

“A true period costume ball is very uncommon in Fayetteville — the one we had for Lafayette’s birthday celebration in September 2023 was the first in about 20 years,” Parfitt said.

In the last month, those attending the bicentennial event took dance lessons, preparing to fully immerse themselves in the celebration. 

Jeremy Gershman, a professional dance master, served as the Regency Society dance instructor teaching ball attendees how to move with the light feet, upright posture and precise movements reminiscent of the time. 

Gershman, who assumed the identity of Charles Steplively at the ball, provided expert instruction in English country dancing, a type of “social dancing” that was prevalent throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

Gershman resides north of Charlottesville, Virginia and has been a professional dance master for over 15 years. 

He said his persona Charles Steplively was inspired by a special event he was a part of about a dozen years ago, and just adds to the overall experience. 

“As a creative person, as an actor, musician and dancer, it all worked together for me to become an English dance master,” Gershman said. “As a trained musician, I could understand the structure of music, tempo and took a bit of pride as an insider to that language. I could communicate about the music as well as teach dance to students like a dance master would have 200 years ago.”

Gershman said that his training and experience was not formal — he learned more like they did back in that time through social events and watching others.

“Historical dance is a niche form, generally one who is interested does research and attends social functions to learn,” Gershman said. “In my early years, I attended week-long intensives and workshops. I was also interested in history and enjoyed Masterpiece Theatre on PBS along with shows on BBC. From there, I started going to parties and it really took on a life from there.”

Gershman has traveled to different communities teaching the dance steps for Lafayette’s Farewell tour celebration including Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Fredericksburg, Virginia, Cheraw and Camden in South Carolina, but Fayetteville stood out.

“I was quite charmed with Fayetteville,” Gershman said. “There was a core group who came to all of the workshops so we were able to do a special performance at the ball with a more advanced dance. It was a highlight of the night. Actually, the whole night felt special.”

He said that most people wore historical or reproduced costumes so the entire room was full of elegance. 

“It had a different feel and elevated the dance,” Gershman said. 

Parfitt said that the dancers had a great time, laughing while helping each other through the steps.

“At one point, there were 80 people lined up doing the synchronized English country dance that is so fun to watch,” Parfitt said. “Jeremy Gershman aka Charles Steplively is the best in the business.”

Parfitt also said guests traveled from eight states to attend the events.

“Half of the people who participated in some or all of our events were from out of town, and over a third of those were from out of state,” he said. 

Lloyd Kramer, a former history professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, and his wife Gwynne Pomeroy came from Chapel Hill to stay at the MacPherson House in Haymount to attend the Lafayette celebration events and tour Fayetteville.

Although he and his wife traveled to the Bicentennial Ball by car, and not by carriage, he said the dance allowed him to build community connections akin to how it might have been centuries ago.

“It was a learning experience,” Kramer said. “It replicated the social significance of the dance for the community. Two hundred years ago, it was a way that neighbors got to know each other. And here we were, different generations and different social backgrounds, but one community on the dance floor.”

Kramer said he’s taught history for 38 years, and had studied the history of that period through books, artwork and letters, but learning the dance gave him a new perspective as to what it was like to live in that time.

“It was an experiential connection with Fayetteville’s history,” Kramer said. “There are many ways to learn history, but dancing added another layer of historical knowledge and experience. It connected people now like it did back then.”

Laney Rogers came to the event from Cheraw, South Carolina with her husband Timothy and said it was one of her favorite nights of her life.

“It really felt like we had traveled back in time,” Rogers said. “There was a real welcome for Lafayette where we got to wave our gloves and handkerchiefs and shout ‘Vive Lafayette!’ And throughout the dances, Mr. Steplively provided a little instruction and called the dances, but many people had a basic knowledge of the dances, so they went fairly smoothly.”

She likened English country dancing as a precursor to modern line dancing, but dancing in costume added another layer to the experience.

“It provided such verisimilitude that you really could imagine you were back in 1825, but with Germ-X and indoor plumbing,” Rogers said with a laugh. “It was amazing to look out over the room and see so many people dressed in period costumes doing period dances. Dancing with so many people in costume was surreal.”

Rogers said she and her husband would come back again if another opportunity presented itself.

And there might be good news on that front. 

Gershman hopes to come back for A Dickens Holiday, the downtown Victorian event celebrated the day after Thanksgiving, where there have been talks of hosting a Fezziwig’s Ball. The ball would be based on Mr. Fezziwig, the kind and cheerful mentor to Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens,  who generously throws a festive annual Christmas party and dance. 

“I hope that everyone who came to the Bicentennial Ball takes the spark and keeps it going,” Gershman said. “It would be lovely.”

To learn more about the Fayetteville Lafayette Society, visit lafayettesociety.org. Their mission is “to promote awareness of the many contributions to America’s freedom by the Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolutionary War.”

Check out CityView‘s April 2025 “The Faith Issue” magazine to see additional photos by Maura Trice for The Lafayette Society.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect the final attendee number of the two-day celebration.