Our vision
We are the 80th board of court dance association Les Précieuses Ridicules, called La Variété Bariolée. This is French for ‘the colourful variety’. Each of us has our own interests and qualities, but as a board we share our love for court dancing and for this association. Our main goal is to offer court dance enthusiasts, and in particular our own members, a pleasant and fun place to court dance. We think it is important that this remains possible for future generations and that is why we are focusing on making the association future-proof this year. This means that we aim to increase our name recognition and to maintain external contacts. In addition, we are committed to improving internal structures, such as the committees and the lessons. We hope that our association can continue to grow and develop in this way.
The board members
Praeses Alex
Chairman
Hellohello, I am Alex, the praeses (chairman) of the association this year. Those who have been with us for a while know me already: I was praeses last year as well. I am an art historian and I love everything related to history. This is why I feel so at home in this association! I have been a member for three years now and I still cannot get enough of the dancing, the costumes and the people.
In my spare time I love doing anything creative, I have a whole cabinet filled with unfinished projects that I’ll get to eventually (I swear!). I also love all horror and Halloween adjacent things. Making a plant hanger while watching a horror movie sounds like the perfect relaxing evening to me ;)
I hope that we’ll make this year a good one. See you in class and/or at our activities!
Vice-praeses Daan
Vice-chairman
Hey everyone! My name is Daan, but if you are reading this in English, you can call me George (long story). I am the vice-praeses of LPR this year. I'm 21 years young and in my fourth year of studying Greek and Latin.
After practicing many dance styles but never finding "the one", I eventually stumbled upon Précieuses. I like it so much here, that I wanted to help out some more!
When I'm not studying, dancing, or making music myself, I enjoy cooking, crafting, sewing, and most importantly: being active! I'm not that good at sitting still... Luckily that has its benefits, like surviving the kreutzpolka ;)
Let’s have a nice year together!
Quaestor Tim
Treasurer
Helleu! My name is Tim, the quaestor of LPR. At the moment I’m in my fourth year of studying mathematics, which I’m hoping to finish by the end of this year. In September of 2023, I ended up at LPR quite by accident. This came as a surprise to pretty much anyone who knew me, because combining me with dancing never even came close to being any kind of success. Despite that, I immediately enjoyed court dancing and quite soon I also joined two committees. Another year later, a sigillum was hung around my neck.
In the time I have left besides mathematics and LPR, I enjoy playing Pokémon, cycling and learning languages, currently mostly Italian and Finnish. This last hobby is also visible (or audible) when looking at what music I listen to. In my playlist there are at any point at least seven different languages, which I speak at (very) different levels.
Abactis Emma
Secretary
Hey everyone! My name is Emma and I am the abactis of LPR. Although this is only my second year with the association, I feel completely at home here. I intensely enjoy the dancing and the fun both in the lessons and at other activities. As a board member I hope to contribute to our beautiful association and its members this year.
Furthermore, I am currently in the final year of my masters’ degree in Roman archaeology, where my greatest passion is Roman pottery - after all, shards bring luck, right? Therefore, I prefer to spend my summer on an excavation with a trowel in my hand. In my spare time I like to do photography and theater and since my agenda is apparently not yet full enough, I also do horse riding at least once a week.
I am really looking forward to this year full of court dancing, beautiful music and above all: fun!
Assessor Thirsa
ack-of-all-trades and supervisor of committees all
Aloha! My name is Thirsa, and a little over a year and a half ago, a friend of mine told me about court dancing. It was love at first sight! As a child, I was already completely captivated by the Sissi movies, and I would watch them again every time I was sick. So when I heard about court dancing, I thought, "I have to try this!" From the very first lesson, it felt like coming home. Why didn’t I know about this sooner?! Not only do I have a wonderful hobby new now but also a warm court dancing family. This year, I even get to be part of the board as the assessor!
Over the past year, I've contributed to the association in many different ways, including working in various committees. I've learned so much from these experiences, which I will definitely carry into my role as assessor. Besides court dancing, I also have a passion for gaming. If I'm not involved with the association or dancing, you can usually find me online!
At home, I enjoy married life with my husband and our lovely cats. I look forward to contributing even more to the association this year and especially helping others feel at home here as much as I do!