Would it've been appropriate for masked balls to've been held for birthday celebrations in Elizabethan times?

Question

Any other facts about the elizabethan era or masked balls would also be helpful, thanks :)

Answer 1

Yes, the Elizabethans would have considered a masquerade a totally appropriate birthday celebration.  Costumed balls began in 15th-century Italy and were first associated with the Venetian Carnival.  From Italy, they spread to the rest of Europe.  

Masques, an elaborate form of entertaining featuring music, dancing, singing, dancing and above all staging with scenery and elaborate costumes, developed from these celebrations.  

Edgar Allen Poe wrote about a macabre masked ball in the short story "The Masque of the Red Death", and a masked ball figured prominently in the plot of Hermann Hesse's "Steppenwolf".  Finally, one of the major scenes in the musical "The Phantom of the Opera" features a masked ball.

Answer 2

I don't know what your definition of masked ball is, but at the court of Henry VIII, he and his mates would get dressed up as pirates or Indians and "invade" the ladies' rooms, to the unexpected(yeah, right)horror of the ladies.

As well, masked people danced in a cross between ballet and theatre, called a masque, and took off disguises at midnight, to everyone's unexpected(yeah, right)surprise. This was common right through the 15th and 16th centuries in England.

Birthday celebrations were quite low-key, the big day of the year was your saint's day, until Edward VI abolished the saints when he became a puritan king.(he was only 10 at the time).

In Europe, especially France and Italy, masking was much moire common, but I'm no expert on those customs.

Hope this was of some help.