Old-time fun at Brother Brigham's Family Ball

Just several hundred yards from where Brigham Young first gazed upon the Salt Lake Valley and pronounced it "the right place," a 19th century Utah territorial tradition is being revived.

Brother Brigham's Family Ball, expected to become an annual event, was staged Saturday evening at This Is the Place Heritage Park in the mouth of Emigration Canyon.

Scores of celebrants, many of them in pioneer-period dress, engaged in line and square dancing to the fiddle and banjo music of the Mike Iverson Blue Sage Trio, taking a break every now and then to enjoy doughnuts made from a traditional recipe researched by the Lion House cook staff.

"Though he was raised in a strict family where music was considered sinful, Brigham Young loved music and dancing," park spokesman Rod Clifford said.

"Both as territorial governor and president of the LDS Church, Young hosted numerous dances and grand balls in the city and at his farm home in the Sugar House area (which is now located in the park). The balls were more than just dances. They included a Grande March, poetry readings, vocalists and a 'repast' of some variety between dance segments."

Saturday's event endeavored to re-create all of these elements.

Portraying Brigham Young, Michael Barnard welcomed the ballgoers and, just after a waltz, chided them about it being "not saintly" to dance so close.

In keeping with historical precedent, the Grande March was staged three times during the three-hour event.

That was fairly authentic, said Mary Ellen Elggren, president of the Brigham Young Family Association, whose group helped organize the ball.

In doing research, she consulted a book that had copies of two invitations to balls that were sent out early in the Utah territorial period. "It listed the grande marches, who was sponsoring, who were the people in charge. "There was Gov. Young's Grande March, President (Willard) Richards' Grande March, President (Heber C.) Kimball's Grande March, and then Gov. Young's Grande Two-Step, which I found just delightful," she said.

Elggren said the revival of the tradition is "absolutely wonderful."

"One of our goals is to kind of raise Brigham's specter again in a positive way, particularly in the area of cultural imprint on Utah and the territory, really all of the Intermountain West," she said. "And that's something that everyone who lives here can identify with, outside of religion, because his cultural imprint is so vast."

Clifford said the turnout for this first ball, reflecting a fairly wide range of ages, is pleasing. It was publicized among the park's patrons and members of the sponsoring organizations, but many of the attendees were walk-ins.

e-mail: rscott@desnews.com