| Main Performers | Student performers from:
Battersea School of Art,
Hampstead School of Art,
Camberwell School of Art,
Central School of Art,
St. Martins School of Art |
| Orchestra or Band | Ivy Benson and Her Orchestra,
Bill Ternent and His Orchestra,
Ben Oakley and His Orchestra,
Edmundo Ros and His Band,
The Dagenham Girl Pipers |
| Set List | Pageant consisting of floats:
The Naval Tradition (Battersea School of Art),
The Last Tram (Hampstead School of Art),
Alice and the Pilgrims (Camberwell School of Art),
Gloriana (Central School of Art),
The Joker's Pack (St. Martins School of Art),
Turn of the Century (AA),
'Auld Lang Syne' |
| Performance Notes | "5,000 AT CHELSEA ARTS BALL.
FLOATS DISMANTLED.
With the usual exuberance, more than 5,000 revellers greeted 1953 in the Albert Hall last night at the Chelsea Arts Ball. The Coronation year theame was "happy and glorious."
Dominating the specially laid dance floor, covering 16,000 square feet, was a backcloth 65ft high and 44ft wide, of the "Lion and Unicorn." based on the nursery rhyme "The Lion and Unicorn were fighting for the Crown." It was designed by Mr A R Thomson RA, the deaf and dumb artist.
Ninety members of the Old Blues Rugby Football Club acted as stewards. When the tableaux appeared 20 stewards, all over 6ft tall, were detailed to prevent the floats being torn to piecesm, at least until they had circled the hall.
But piece by piece they came apart and fragments were taken by the revellers to their boxes. Hammersmith School of Art's "The last tram" was perhaps the most durable piece. It lasted almost eight minutes.
Other floats were: "The naval tradition," by the Bartlett School of Architecture: "Turn of the century," Architectural Association: "Gloriana." Croydon School of Arts: "The Joker's Pack." St Martin's School of Art: and "Alice and the Pilgrims." Chelsea School of Art.
During the melee one of the stewards, David Rendall, of Christ's Hospital Old Blues, was knocked out and was taken to hospital with concussion. A number of people were treated for cuts and bruises."
(The Daily Telegraph, 1 Januaty 1953)
Film footage of this event is available from British Pathe (Film ID 1.23, Film ID 1.30) running time 1min 23secs.
Associated Press Archive holds B&W British Movietone footage of the balloon drop at the event (Story No.BM58344).
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/1/1952/215),
Photographs (RAHE/3/1952/1),
Illustration (RAHE/9/1953/1) |