Record

Performance TitleCharleston Ball and Competition
Performance Date15 December 1926
Performance DayWednesday
Performance Time21:00
Main PerformersSantos Casani,
P J S Richardson,
Barbara Miles,
Josephine Bradley,
Maxwell Stewart,
Richard Granville,
Phyllis Haylor,
E Scott Atkinson,
Fred Astaire,
Jack Hylton,
Johnny Hudgins,
Florence Mills,
Barrie Oliver,
Edward Dolly,
Max Rivers,
Percy Athos,
Frank Masters - judges,

Pike Davis - cornet,
Johnny Dunn - trumpet

Jass and Jassie,
Austel and Arthur,
Victor Andre,
Jerez Brothers,
Nervo and Knox,
Marjorie Robertson,
Doreen Austin,
Nancy Barnett,
Betty Oliver,
Decilia Mobray,
Noranna Rose,
Florita Fey,
Madeline Gibson,
Jean Perrie,
Harry Webster,
Babette Archer,
Peggy,
Gaby Gilroy,
Sherry Brown,
Helen Hunter,
Betty Barr,
Sonia Alexander,
Kate Strudwick,
Grace Wilson,
George Hamilton,
William Cavanagh,
Fred Sylvester,
Plattier Bros,
Percy Val,
Francis Day,
Danny Dare,
Ben Blue,
Elsa Macfarlane,
Norman Griffin,
Madge Elliott,
Cyril Richard,
William Dewhurst,
Quintin Todd,
Betty Nicholas,
Joan Nurick,
Pat Fraser,
William Parnis,
Dolly King,
Hazel Frazer,
Meg le Monnier,
Shelagh Hunter,
Eileen Seymour,
Dilly Swinburne,
Prudence Wise,
Lena Cleaver,
Maudie Scaife,
Mabel Miller,
Frank Wilson Barrett,
Evie Lynn,
Fay Martin,
Queenie Leonard,
Andree Claire,
Pat Siems,
Rene Lorrimore,
Marjorie Cooper,
Irene Veronica,
Billie Dell,
Marjorie Tarrant,
Kathleen Quest,
Adeline Philson,
Monti Ryan,
Lilian Aylin,
Rene Dawes,
Elsie Moore,
Tim Ray Chic.Horsey,
Chas. Woody,
Lloyd Mitchell,
U. S. Thompson,
Johnny Nit,
Edith Wilson,
Aida Ward,
Lena Wilson,
Mae Fortune,
Zelma Davis,
Gwendolyn Graham,
Louis Howard,
Edith Johnson,
Lucia Moses,
Tillie Meadows,
Ruth Johnston,
Flossy Pearce,
Birsie de Saussaure,
Edward B Atkinson,
Renee Baseden,
Robert Annis,
Phyllis Sellars,
Leslie G Brazier,
Molly A B Brown,
Harry Brown,
E. Wiggins,
Ernest Boardman,
Miss Wardrop,
Leslie H Bedford,
J M Barlow,
Henry William Coleman,
Ivy Lody,
Mac. P Davis,
Fay Holbert,
Albert Edmonds,
Kitty Taperell,
Edward Greenhill,
Winnie Whitmee,
W H Heath,
Ruby Robins,
Mr and Mrs A J C Humphreys,
William Hyde,
Edith Garrad,
Mr Johnson,
Miss Coddington,
Walter Kerner,
Raie Kerner,
David P Kay,
S Bohen,
A Makepeace,
J Sandler,
S A Sash,
Doreen M Howes,
Frank Sisson,
Valerie Dyas,
Leonard Treen,
Eileen Morle,
John Walsman,
Clifford Watson,
Sheila Watson,
Hartley West,
Ruby Payne,
Ike Wilson,
Eva Frater,
Mr and Mrs Wright,
Nigel Sharpe,
Miss Wood,
Paul Adams,
Joan Corfield,
Louis Andrews,
Audrey Staples,
T C Askew,
Olga Schweinart,
J Gibbon Blackett,
Eva Stevenson,
R R Cafferata,
I V Fasken,
Marcel de Haes,
Dorothy Haes,
Arnold C Foster,
Brenda Gay,
Philip Greatrix,
Myrtle Lant,
Ronald W Green,
Winnie Newton,
Amy Greenwood,
W M Ivimey,
Millicent Baines,
H Campbell Jarratt,
Betty Palk,
Maurice T Jadot,
Dulcie Desmond,
H W Maitland,
F M Broomfield,
Peter May,
Eileen Perkes,
John Moore,
Joan I Moore,
Gordon Maitland,
Elsie Christmas,
Mr Motte,
Miss Killip,
Eric Reynard,
Ingrid Gordon,
Leonard Rittle,
Peter Smillie,
Malcolm Sinclair,
Ralphia Moore,
Richard Starr,
Dorothy Lang,
Mr Scrimshaw,
Miss Denham,
Leonard Urry,
Phyllis Hadland,
Denis Walker,
Lois Fisher,
John G Warren,
Nellie Lees,
Major J P White,
Rene White,
Eric Wills,
Mary Walker,
Vera Aldred,
Iris Bentley,
F M Broomfield,
I Buckley,
Budge Deane,
Felicity Deane,
Dolores Gibbons,
Miss M Guiness,
Miss T Guiness,
Ida Pelotto,
Ruby Rubens,
Ruby Short,
Wendy Toye,
Mary Watson,
Edward B Atkinson,
F W Brewer,
Arnold E C Foster,
Louis Grad,
W H Heath,
Teddy Pola,
J Ross,
J Singh,
Russell Taylor,
F W Brewer,
Noel Cortland,
Richard Dolman,
David Fitzgibbon,
Philip Greatrix,
George Guiness,
Joe Gerald,
Kenneth Henry,
Alec H Millar,
Gilbert Marbe,
William Shaw,
Sylvesters (Giant),
Frank Tiernan,
Major J P White,
Harry White,
Josephine Brunul,
Rene Dawes,
Joan D'Arcy,
Edna Deane,
Beryl Evetts,
Freda H Haylor,
Patience James,
Iris Lillie,
Rene Lorrimore,
Alison Maclaren,
Ralphia Moore,
Rita Maitland,
Kathleen Oldham,
Marjorie Oldham,
Dot Rickinson,
Monti Ryan,
Patricia Siems,
Margot St. Leger,
Mary F Walker,
Moreen Leslie,
Rita Maitland,
Cecile Colledge,
Valerie Austin,
Dorothy Passmore,
Rosemary Rock,
Peggy Bedells,
Gladys Falck,
Monti Ryan,
Lilian Aylin,
Renie Dawes,
Billie Dell,
Elsie Moore,
Irene Veronica,
Joy Ashley,
Marjorie Tarrant,
Kathleen Quest,
Andree Claire,
Pat Siems,
Evie Lynn,
Fay Martin,
Renee Lorrimore,
Adeline Philson,
Marjorie Cooper,
Betty Burke,
Dorothy Bright,
Bobbie Dillon,
Jewell Dalmayne,
Ronnie Preston,
Duff Looley,
Betty Newnham,
Evie Parkinson,
Marie Fitzgerald,
Sonia Watson,
Moya Connor,
Kitty Bert,
Madge Martin,
Eileen Stack,
Daphne Reynolds,
Ruth Walker,
Norah Brown,
Ethel Helliwell,
Mabel Helliwell,
Elsie Helliwell,
Joan Morgan,
May Harper,
Agnes Castleton,
Constance Aldis,
Marjorie Tiller,
Master John Stanghorne,
Miss G Holt,
Miss B Birch,
Miss R Darrell,
Miss E Westhead,
Miss R Forse,
Miss D Marlow,
Miss V Baxendale,
Miss E Lamb,
Betty Oliver,
Noranna Rose,
Nancy Barnett,
Madeline Gibson,
Doreen Austin,
Marjorie Robertson,
Decilia Mowbray,
Florita Fey,
Renie Lemoine,
Marjorie Gascoigne,
Myria Bernard,
Anne Thurley,
Thelma Morland,
Marjorie Bell,
Vera Budge,
Ruby Stewart,
Jessie Fredricksen,
Janet Andrews - contestants

'The Piccadilly Revels',
'The Midnight Follies',
'What?',
'Merry-Go-Round',
'Lido Lady' Girls,
'Princess Charming' Girls,
'Tip-Toes' Girls,
'Sunny' Tiller Girls,
'Winter Garden' Girls,
'Plaza' Tiller Girls,
'Princes' Girls,
'Piccadilly Revels' No.2,
'Piccadilly Revels' No.1,
'Vaudeville Vanities' - dance troupe contestants
Orchestra or BandThe Charleston Band,
Jack Hylton's Kit Cat Band,
Jack Hylton's Piccadilly Band,
The Plantation Orchestra (Leader -Shrimp Jones),
Lew Leslie's The Blackbirds (with Johnny Hudgins and Florence Mills),
ConductorsMurray Barley,
Al Starita (Jack Hylton's Kit Cat Band),
Ray Starita (Jack Hylton's Piccadilly Band)
Set List'Me,Too!',
'Lonely Without You',
'In My Gondola',
'When It's June Down There',
'Just a Rose of Old Killarney',,
'Out In The New Mown Hay'
'Scatter Your Smile',
'Za-Za'
Performance Notes'The Charleston Ball' of 15 December 1926 was a spectacular dancing competition with revels starting at 21:00 and going on until 05:00 the following morning. There were extraordinary prizes for the large number of categories - a trip to Paris (and back), on Imperial Airways, a case of John Jameson's 'Three Star' Whiskey, and a set of six Official Mustard Club Pots. Amongst the Troupe Competition entrants were 'The Princess Charming Girls', 'The Lido Lady Girls', 'The Tip-Toes Girls' and 'The Sunny Tiller Girls'. Fred Astaire was one of the judges, while London's answer to Josephine Baker - the cabaret dancer and singer Florence Mills - performed her exuberant dancing and impresario Lew Grade became the World Charleston Champion. The auditorium was decorated with thousands of coloured balloons and special lights.

The evenings dance competition included the categories:
Troupe Dancing; Ballroom Amateur (Ladies); Ballroom Amateur (Gentlemen); Ballroom Professional (Ladies); Ballroom Professional (Gentlemen); Stage Amateur (Ladies); Stage Amateur (Gentlemen); Stage Professional (Ladies); and Stage Professional (Gentlemen).

Music was was provided by such leading, British and American bands as "Jack Hylton's Kit Cat Band," "Jack Hylton's Piccadilly Band," and "Johnny Hudgins' Plantation Orchestra," as well as the aptly named "Charleston Band." Rotating their featured appearances throughout the evening, each of the selected bands would perform three-to-four times each, with precisely arranged musical sections lasting from between twenty-minutes to two-hours in duration, including during a massive "Grand Combined Cabaret and Troupe Competition" beginning at 02:20 and continuing for more than an hour.

When once recounting the "Grand Finale" of the Blackbirds' Royal Albert Hall performance, Charles Cochran stated "It was the unexpected and final entrance from the organ, down the steps, into the arena of Florence Mills, Johnny Hudgins, and the Blackbirds which sent the house wild with enthusiasm. Johnny Hudgins was encored and encored until it seemed as if his marvelously unattached limbs would fall off. One would have thought nobody could follow him. But the thunder increased as the slim body of Florence Mills went through more amusing contortions than you could imagine in a nightmare."
Related Archival MaterialProgramme (RAHE/1/1926/95),
Handbill (RAHE/6/1926/32)
URLhttps://thirdlight.royalalberthall.com/pf.tlx/MRMKURMNZKl
https://thirdlight.royalalberthall.com/pf.tlx/YKYESGYtmEvR
https://thirdlight.royalalberthall.com/pf.tlx/xbjxTwYxB2uKy
Catalogue
Reference NumberTitleDate
RAHE/1/1926/94Royal Albert Hall - Charleston Ball And Competition15 December 1926
RAHE/6/1926/32Charleston Ball And Competition15 December 1926
Work
Ref NoTitleNo of Performances
Csamez_VipookCharleston Ball and Competition1
Performers
CodeName of Performer(s)
DS/UK/3223Kit Cat Club; Kit Cat Club Band; 1925-c1927; British jazz band
DS/UK/3440Astaire; Fred (10 May 1899-22 June 1987); American dancer, singer, actor, choreographer and television presenter
DS/UK/3224Hylton; Jack (1892-1965); English band leader, impresario
DS/UK/3225The Jack Hylton Band; 1923-1940; British band
DS/UK/3441Casani; Santos (fl 1926-1940); British dancer, London club owner, ballroom dancing teacher
DS/UK/3442Richardson; Philip J.S (1875-1963); British co-founder of The Royal Academy of Dance
DS/UK/3444Miles; Barbara (fl 1924-1927); British professional dancer, winner of World's Dancing Championship of 1924-1925
DS/UK/3445Bradley; Josephine (1893-1985); Irish ballroom dancer, dance teacher
DS/UK/3446Stewart; Maxwell (fl 1924-1938); British professional dancer, winner of World's Dancing Championship of 1924-1925
DS/UK/3448Granville; Richard (fl 1926); British dancer
DS/UK/3449Haylor; Phyllis (fl 1920s-1938); British dancer
DS/UK/3450The Plantation Orchestra:; fl 1920s-1930s; British black jazz orchestra
DS/UK/3451Dunn; Johnny (1897-?); American jazz trumpeter
DS/UK/3457Starita; Armand 'Al' (fl 1920s-1960s); British jazz musician, conductor
DS/UK/3458The Piccadilly Hotel; Piccadilly Revels Band; fl 1920s; English jazz band
DS/UK/3461Starita; Ray (fl 1920s-1930s); British jazz musician, conductor, band leader
DS/UK/3463Blackbirds of 1926 (fl.1920s)
DS/UK/3502Austel and Arthur (fl.1920s)
DS/UK/3643Silvester; Victor Marlborough (1900-1978); English dancer, author, musician, bandleader
DS/UK/3644Silvester; Dorothy (fl 1922-1927); British wife and dance partner of Victor Silvester
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