| Main Performers | Student performers from:
Weatherley School of Art,
Bromley College of Art,
Hammersmith School of Art,
Harrow School of Art,
Croydon School of Art,
Kingston School of Art,
Bartlett School of Architecture
Pearly Kings and Queens,
Mdlle. Ludmilla - vocal |
| Orchestra or Band | Ted Heath and His Music (Paul Carpenter, Jack Parnell, Kenny Baker),
Younkman and His Czardas Orchestra,
Oscar Rabin and His Band With Harry Davis (Bob Dale, Bobbie Benstead, Eric Jupp),
Massed Bands,
Pipers and Drummers of 1st Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders |
| Conductors | Ted Heath,
Nat Younkman,
Oscar Rabin |
| Set List | Theme, 'London River',
'Oh Buoy' (Heatherley School Of Art),
'Life On The Ocean Wave',
'Sailors Hornpipe',
'Embankment Aquarium' (Bromley College of Art),
'Ain't It Grand To Be Bloomin' Well Dead',
'Fiddling Ferry' (Hammersmith School of Art),
'Ferry Boat Serenade',
'Mediaeval Affair' (Harrow School of Art),
'I Am Henry VIII, I Am',
'Greenwich Observatory' (Croydon School of Art),
'Stardust',
'Stormy Weather',
'Night and Day',
'Pterybledaktyl' (Kingston School of Art),
'Snake Charmer',
'London Pool' (Bartlett School of Architecture),
'Open Up Them Pearly Gates',
'Steamboat Bill',
'What Do You Do With The Drunken Sailor?',
'Tugboat Annie',
'Lambeth Walk' (Pearly Kings and Queens),
'Knocked 'Em in The Old Kent Road' (Pearly Kings and Queens),
Theme Tune, 'Old Father Thames',
'Auld Lang Syne',
'God Save the King' (The National Anthem) |
| Performance Notes | Floodlit in the centre of the auditorium floor was a 40 foot high model representation of the river, with a grotesque moving figure of Old Father Thames. There was also a giant transparent buoy containing a mermaid and a backdrop featuring King Henry VIII.
The event was broadcast from 22:45 by BBC Television. Richard Dimbleby and Gillian Webb introduced personalities they think viewers would like to see in close-up. As the chimes of 1948 died away, viewers saw tableaux and floats provided by the various Art Schools.
Associated Press Archive holds B&W British Movietone footage of the event (Story No.BM51267).
Founded in 1891 The Chelsea Arts Club is a members club for artists, which for 50 years from 1908 held an annual costumed New Year's Eve ball, which was an infamous part of London's social calendar. After two years at the Royal Opera House the extravagant ball proved so popular it moved to the Royal Albert Hall where it stayed until 1958. The balls attracted media attention with their lavish theatrical sets, multiple orchestras, raucous midnight carnivals and balloon drops and crowds of up to 10,000 socialites, bohemian artists, actors, and ordinary Londoners in elaborate and often scandalous fancy dress dancing until 5am.
Each year a theme was chosen such as Egyptian, Dazzle, Noah's Ark, Prehistoric and Sun Worship around which guests could create flamboyant costumes. London art schools participated by decorating huge carnival floats, which were driven around the auditorium floor and which, at the stroke of midnight, would be destroyed by revellers. The balls were well-known for reports of public nudity, drunken displays of affection, fighting and unadulterated fun. In the vastness of the Hall with its gas lit corridors, curtained boxes and dark staircases naughtiness was the order of the day.
Similarly to the annual Lady Malcolm's Servant's balls (1930-1938) these events were a safe space for the queer community to meet and express themselves with unbridled creativity and little inhibition. There were no scrutineers denying entry or undercover police. LGBTQ+ party goers could feel (relatively) free to be themselves without the scrutiny and surveillance they underwent in their daily lives. For many men especially they could wear drag, dress outrageously, and socialise unashamedly while never appearing to be anything out of the ordinary.
It was New Year's Eve 1958 that was to be the final Chelsea Arts Ball at the Royal Albert Hall. As well as minor damage to the building fabric, a partygoer dispatched a smoke bomb that exploded on the dance floor and ultimately became the straw that broke the camel's back. The Chelsea Arts Ball was asked to take out insurance indemnity against further damage to the Hall and they didn't return. The Ball has returned three times since - in 1984, 1985 and 1992 - although the elaborate costumes and floats didn't make the return trip. The extravagant, eccentric originals remain part of the history of the Capital's social calendar. |
| Related Archival Material | Programme (RAHE/1/1948/317) |