Choreographing Queens: Femininity and Performance 1870-1920

About this Event:

Nineteenth-century Mardi Gras organizations, known as old-line krewes, scripted an ideal of elite white womanhood, both onstage at secret Carnival balls and in the private spaces where those performances were prepared. Inside the ballroom, elaborate tableaux depicted female characters, played by men, that presented women as graceful, refined, and symbolically central to krewe traditions. After the tableaux, mock queens dressed in jewels, crowns, and expensive gowns promenaded alongside a kreweman king. With each curtsey and choreographed scepter wave, krewes staged a real-life fairy tale, presenting elegant women in a distinctive New Orleans “courting” style. All these moments were notoriously secret and hidden from the public. Ball preparations—in family parlors, rehearsals, and even conversations over infant bassinets—were equally private. Join us as we move through the social choreographies that created nineteenth-century Carnival queens and how those movements simultaneously revealed and sustained elite social values in the golden age of New Orleans Mardi Gras.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Jen Atkins is a dance historian at Florida State University, where she explores how physical movement creates meaning in U.S. history, popular culture, and everyday life. She was a Fulbright Roving Scholar in American Studies (Norway) and has authored award-winning books, such as New Orleans Carnival Balls: The Secret Side of Mardi Gras, 1870–1920 and Dance in U.S. Popular Culture. She is currently working on a podcast series and companion website, investigating how popular media like Bridgerton, Ted Lasso, and Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale reference the ballet Swan Lake—and why those balletic references are critical in bridging historical classics with contemporary life.

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Host or Publisher Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses (HGGHH)