The Timeless Lessons of Fezziwig’s Ball

Let it not be said that the candlelit glow of Fezziwig’s Ball—resurrected with a gleeful sense of historical pageantry at Cincinnati Classical Academy—merely serves to add festive trim to the educational calendar. No, this tableau of borrowed finery and coordinated reels, this echo of Dickensian revelry, is an intricately designed contraption of pedagogy, nostalgia, and moral edification, wound tight as the spring of a timepiece and aimed at a singular objective: to enfold our seventh and eighth graders in a living anachronism, to let them slip, just briefly, into the benevolent embrace of a world where generosity was a feast and joy the common currency of exchange.

Picture it: the young Ebenezer Scrooge, still untouched by the corrosive logic of ledger books, stepping lightly in the glow of Fezziwig’s warehouse, a magical space transformed by sheer will and a fiddler’s bow into a realm of shared laughter and effortless grace. The generosity of Mr. Fezziwig, who pours not gold but goodwill into the cups of his employees and neighbors, serves as a refutation of everything cold and calculating in the world Scrooge would later inhabit. It is this spirit—joy as praxis, celebration as resistance—that Cincinnati Classical Academy has bottled like a rare vintage (alcohol-free, of course!) and poured into the chalice of Fezziwig’s Ball.

The scene unfolds with precision: the students, wary at first, find themselves drawn into the intricate steps of the Virginia Reel, guided not by rote but by the insistence of live music, its lilting strains threading through the transformed hall. It is, as Dickens himself might have framed it, the kind of music that seems to warm the sinews and melt the stiffened joints of an entire assembly. Under the flickering shadows of candlelight, amid a symphony of laughter and movement, these students are not simply learning to dance; they are learning the art of connection: a social bond that will prove more profound and enduring than they might yet comprehend.

The preparations for this event carry their own quiet drama, a backstage symphony of anticipation and effort. Students emerge dressed to the Victorian nines, their appearances invoking the elegance of a bygone century. Teachers and parents, the secret engines of this grand contraption, toil to recreate the warm, inviting chaos of Fezziwig’s warehouse, complete with the tactile hum of live music and the cheerful clamor of festivity. It is, for an evening, a world apart—a place where the pressures of the present dissolve into the sheer exuberance of shared tradition.

And yet, beneath the gilded surface of Fezziwig’s Ball lies a strata of layered instruction. These are not merely dances but lessons in poise and self-assurance, in the etiquette of respect and the mechanics of joy. To master a reel is not just to move gracefully across a floor but to learn the rhythm of cooperation, the subtle give-and-take that underpins community. And this, of course, is the deeper choreography at play: the molding of character in the guise of celebration.

Fezziwig’s Ball, like Dickens’s story, becomes a vehicle for reflection. Its joy is not frivolous but purposeful, a counterbalance to the grim calculus of the modern world. Just as Scrooge is reminded, through the Ghost of Christmas Past, of the light he once carried, so too are our students reminded that joy, generosity, and community are not relics of history but living truths, ready to be reclaimed.

This year, the pairing of the Ball with our production of A Christmas Carol created a particularly poignant synergy. As the students danced, they embodied the characters they would later portray onstage, blurring the lines between performance and reality. The lessons of the play—about redemption, community, and the enduring power of generosity—became living truths.
Fezziwig’s Ball is more than a one-off event; it is a reflection of our school’s mission to celebrate the good, the true, and the beautiful. It is an inauguration of a tradition that brings history to life, fosters joy and connection, and equips students with skills and confidence that extend far beyond the dance floor.

As Dickens reminds us, “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” Fezziwig’s Ball is a moment when we catch that contagion, reminding us all—students, teachers, and parents alike—of the joy and generosity that make the holiday season, and life itself, so precious.

Torches Up!