| Main Performers | Students from London's Art Schools |
| Orchestra or Band | Clabon-West Orchestra
London Scottish Pipers and Drummers |
| Conductors | P S Clabon-Glover,
Nathaniel D Ayer |
| Set List | 22:00 Dancing,
23:00 Carnival Processions:
A Venetian Carnival,
A Birthday in Ancient Persia,
The Key of the Door: A Modern Coming of Age Celebration (Royal Academy School),
The Birth of the Phoenix,
'Tally-Ho': A John Peel Hunting Scene,
St Martin Captures the Bolshie Bug (St Martin's School of Art),
The Octopus (Architectual Association)
24:00 Count Down, Balloon Drop and Chocolate Distribution
One Step: 'I'm Just Wild Over Dancing',
Foxtrot: 'The Song of My Dreams',
Foxtrot: 'Glad',
Waltz: 'Golden West',
Foxtrot: 'Spain',
Foxtrot: 'Two Blue Eyes',
Foxtrot: 'Patsy',
Waltz: 'Memory Lane',
Foxtrot: 'From One Till Two',
Foxtrot: 'Virginia',
Foxtrot: 'After the Storm',
One Step: 'The Christmas Melody',
Foxtrot: 'When You and I Were Twenty-One',
Foxtrot: 'California',
Waltz: 'Just a Little Twilight Song',
Foxtrot 'Sahara',
Foxtrot: 'Georgie-Porgie',
Foxtrot: 'Wait a Bit, Susie',
Waltz: 'The British Legion',
Foxtrot: 'Somebody Loves Me',
Foxtrot: 'What Do You Do, Sunday, Mary?',
Waltz: 'Just to Hold You in My Arms',
One Step: 'The All-Night Cafe',
Foxtrot: 'Driftwood',
Foxtrot: 'Love is Just a Gamble',
Waltz: 'All Alone',
Foxtrot: 'June Night',
Foxtrot: 'Cleopatra',
Waltz: 'Rock-a-Bye, My Baby Blues',
Foxtrot: 'Charleston Cabin',
Foxtrot: 'Put Away A Little Ray of Sunshine',
One Step: 'Savoy Scottish Melody',
'God Save the King' (The National Anthem) |
| Performance Notes | Guests who attended included Noel Coward, Ivor Novello, Frank Verner Leveson, Gladys Cooper, Lorenzo Chabloz, Sholto Bailey and Eric Allden.
Decorations were designed by Mr Philip Connard ARA and Mr Henry Poole ARA. The Hall was decorated as a Venetian carnival and included a full-size gondola and massive carnival figures. The greatest attraction was a gigantic 30 foot high birthday cake in the centre of the ballroom, with 21 painted candles. At midnight figures on top came to life and distributed from inside the cake 2,000 halg-guinea boxes of chocolate donated by The Bystander to celebrate its 'Coming of Age'. The cake was designed and made by sculptor Henry Poole, and the candles painted by Australian artist Fred Leist. Fancy dress was essential for men, but Venetian cloaks were acceptable.
(The Daily Telegraph, 5 December 1924)
'White marble, silver, and gold are to be the dominant notes in the decoration of the hall. The great organ will be hidden by a back-cloth designed by Philip Connard ARA...
The boxes, wehich are, of course, in harmony with the Ventian scheme, will this year be curtained in red and white. Cone-shaped containers, full of balloons, will be hung from the roof, and every now and again they will empty their gay contents, like multi-coloured bubbles, over the dancers."
(The Daily Telegraph, 10 December 1924)
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/1/1924/55) |
| Ticket Prices | £25 (box) - £2 2s (6s gallery viewing only) |