| Main Performers | Davy Burnaby,
Anton Dolin - performers
Granville Hayes - vocal |
| Secondary Performers | Charles Renard - saxophone |
| Orchestra or Band | Corelli Windeatt's Band (50 musicians) |
| Set List | 1. Fox-Trot: 'Hong Kong Dream Girl',
2. Fox-Trot: 'I'll See You In My Dreams',
3. Valse: 'I Love The Moon',
4. Fox-Trot: 'Seminola',
5. Fox-Trot: 'If you knew Susie',
6. Tango: 'Desenchantee',
7. Fox-Trot: 'Sunny Havana',
8. Fox-Trot: 'Tie a String Round Your Finger',
9. One-Step: 'Me and My Boy Friend',
10. Fox-Trot: 'Yearning',
11. Valse: 'Love's Dream',
12. Fox-Trot: 'Alabamy Bound',
13. Tango: 'Por-Ti',
14. Fox-Trot: 'Normandy',
15. Fox-Trot: 'Mephisto', Charles Renard (Granville Hayes),
16. Fox-Trot: 'Paddlin Madelin' Home',
17. Valse: 'You Forgot To Remember',
18. Fox-Trot: 'My Sugar',
19. Tango: 'Viva el Principe',
20. Fox-Trot: 'Toy Drum-Major',
21. Fox-Trot: 'Tell Me More',
22. Valse: 'Sometime',
23. One-Step: 'Oh Katherina',
24. Fox-Trot: 'Ukulele Lady',
25. Tango: 'La Mantilla',
26. Fox-Trot: 'High Street,Africa',
27. Fox-Trot: 'Collegiate',
28. Valse: 'When You and I Were Seventeen',
29. Fox-Trot: 'I Want To Be Happy',
30. 'Pot-Pourri'
24:00 Auction (Davy Burnaby)
01:00 Speciality Dance: Richard Addinsel (Anton Dolin),
01:30 Fancy Dress Parade |
| Royal Presence | HRH The Prince of Wales,
HRH Queen of Spain, Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg,
HIH Yasuhito, Prince Chichibu of Japan,
Begum of Bhopal, Hajjah Nawab Begum Dame Sultan Jahan,
The Aga Khan |
| Performance Notes | The coming of peace coincided with the Jazz Age, with its new styles, rhythms and sense of fun. The early anniversaries of the Armistice were often marked up by riotous 'booze ups' and 'knees up' like this ball. But in the late 1920s celebrations were seen as inappropriate and were quitely dropped in favour of more sedate commemorations such as the Festival of Remembrance.
A poster held by the Imperial War Museum for this event, shows that it was originally planned for Armistic Day (11 November 1925) rather than the 12 November. This was because of a campaign led by
Christian pacifist Dick Sheppard who wrote to The Times newspaper in protest against this Victory Ball.
"Dancing is frequently the obvious and fitting form of gratefully commemorating a glad event, but a fancy dress ball on a vast scale as a tribute to the Great Deliverance which followed on the unspeakable agony of 1914-1918 seems to me not so much irreligious as indecent". Sheppard, who had been chaplain to a military hospital in France during the war, argued that balls and similar "thoughtless and ill-conceived" celebrations in hotels and restaurants "should not be encouraged, at least while this generation retains the heartache of a tender and thankful remembrance".
Afterwards The Times newspaper was inundated with letters agreeing or denouncing Sheppard as a killjoy. One contributor, described as "Company Commander", argued that, as the sole survivor of four brothers, "the last thing that they would wish is that they should stand in the way of our enjoying ourselves". But another contributor, Roger Lawrence, agreed with Sheppard, saying a fancy dress ball was "grotesque" and a "piece of vulgarity".
The popular press, sensing the value of the controversy, took it further. The Daily Mail campaigned for the balls to end for fear of offending the bereaved. It claimed upper-class socialites, some of whom had not served, were enjoying themselves at the expense of the fallen. However, the Daily Express, engaged in a sales war with its rival, championed the rights of veterans to have a good time and relive their camaraderie, having risked their lives in war. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York took the same position as the Mail.
Such a stir was created that the Ball's organiser, Lord Northampton, gave in to the appeals and the Ball was postponed to 12 November. For the 11 November a service of remembrance 'In Memory' was held conducted by Sheppard and existing ticket holders could attend in the presence of the King, the Prime Minister and other national figures.
"NORTHERN HOSPITAL BALL
THE PRINCE OF WALES AT THE ALBERT HALL
There was a brilliant scene at the Albert Hall last night when the carnival ball, the object of which was to raise funds to reduce the debt of the Royal Northern Hospital, Holloway-road, took place. It was originally intended that the ball should take place on Armistice Night, and it is highly satisfactory to be able to record that the postponement could not have affected the attendance, for the great floor was crowded with dancers, and many hundreds were unable to obtain tickets.
The engagements of the Prince of Wales made it impossible that he could attend the ball on the date originally arranged, and a happy result of the postponement was that last night his Royal Highness was able to be present. He arived at the Albert Hall at 11 o'clock and was received in the entrance hall by a committee consisting of the Duchess of Sutherland, Viscountess Ednam, Sir Philip Sassoon, the Marquess and Marchioness of Northampton, Lady Sargant, Mr G B Mower White, Mr C P Merriam, and Mr Gilbert Panter.
The Prince occupied the Royal Box, which was decorated with apricot-shaded carnations and smilax, the side pillars being covered with smilax and copper-coloured chrysanthemums. The Prince of Wales's Box, which was decorated with mauve chrysanthemums, was occupied by the Begum of Bhopal [Hajjah Nawab Begum Dame Sultan Jahan], and in front of the box occupied by [Yasuhito] Prince Chichibu was draped the Japanese flag. The hall was dressed with many-shaded chrysanthemums, and the organ was concealed behind a picture of the Aurora Borealis. The main feature of the ballroom was a big toy drum in charge of six 'Beefeaters' and 12 'toy drum-majors,' and it was from this that novelties and favours were sold. The rendezvous were indicated by plaques bearing the names of various branches of the Royal Northen Hospital.
The Queen of Spain arrived shortly after the Prince of Wales, and among others who took boxes were:-
Lady Glentoran, Lady Dunedin, Lady Walpole, Sir John Latta, the Aga Khan [Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah, Aga Khan III], Lady White-Todd, Mr R McAlpine, Countess Beatty, Lady Congleton, Marquess Camden, the Hon. Mrs Kenneth MacKay, Lady Beaverbrook, Evelyn Lady Alington, Lady Tritton, and Lady Cory.
[List of attendees]"
(The Times, 13 November 1925, page 15)
Attendees were mostly comprised of the peerage and gentry but also included:
The Belgian ambassador; officers, patients and nurses of the Ministry of Pensions Hospitals and Air Ministry, the Disabled Officers' Club (as Lady Cory's guests); James McNeill the High Commissioner for the Irish Free State; the Maharajah of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh; the Polish Minister; and the Matron of the Royal Northern Hospital.
According to the Daily Telegraph (5 November 1925) items for auction included a Shetland pny, a Pekinese puppy dog, an ivory minature of the Prince of Wales, and a signed mezzotint picture by Sir John Lavery RA of the Royal Family.
The costume worn by dancer Anton Dolin was designed by Sir John Lavery RA.
Prizes for the best costumes included a Trojan motor-car and over sixty other rewards. |