| Main Performers | Student performers from:
Central School of Arts and Crafts,
Chelsea Polytechnic School of Art,
Goldsmiths' College,
Hammersmith School of Art,
Heatherley's School of Art,
Kingston School of Art,
Royal College of Art |
| Orchestra or Band | Blue Rockets Dance Orchestra,
Felix Mendelssohn and His Hawaiian Serenaders,
Leslie Douglas and His Dance Orchestra,
Pipers and Drummers of The Irish Guards Regiment |
| Conductors | Eric Robinson,
Leslie Douglas,
Felix Mendelssohn |
| Set List | 'Auld Lang Syne',
'Signature Tune',
'Two O'Clock',
'Opus 1',
'Skyliner',
'Come To Baby Do',
'Blue Skies',
'Sweet Sue',
'All Through The Day',
'Love Walked In',
'Day By Day',
'Margie',
'Blue Horizon',
'Hallelujah',
'Rose of Tralee',
'I Love The Moon',
'Skyliner',
'I've Found a New Baby',
'Anything Goes',
'Money is The Root of All Evil',
'Oranges and Lemons',
'My Baby Said Yes',
'Suzie',
'Sweet Lorraine',
'See You in My Dreams',
'Sunny Side of The Street',
'Swannie River',
'Patience and Fortitude',
'Laughing On The Outside',
'Prisoner of Love',
'Blue Heaven',
'Woodchoppers Ball',
'Some of These Days',
'Deed I Do',
'Doubloon',
'I Never Knew',
'You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You',
'Russian Patrol',
'Bless You',
'So Would I',
'I Wish',
'I Don't Mind Being All Alone',
'American Patrol',
'Marie',
'Speak To Me of Love',
'Sleepy Lagoon',
'Johnny Fedora',
'Louise',
'Johnny Comes Marching Home Again',
'Those Were The Days',
'Early One Morning',
'Shine',
'Three Little Words',
'Song of The Islands',
'Aloma',
'Hano Hano Hano Lei',
'Aloha Beloved',
'To You Sweetheart Aloha',
'King Kamehameha',
'Malikini Mele',
'Hilo Hattie',
'Hawaiian War Chant',
'Island Serenade',
'In Waikiki',
'Moano Chimes',
'Flower Lei',
'Flowered Isles',
'Pagan Love Song',
'Moon of Manakoora',
'It Happened In Kalua',
'South Sea Island Magic',
'Aloha Oe',
'Honolulu',
'Sweet Leilani',
'Apple Honey',
'Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief',
'Too Tired',
'On The Sunny Side of The Street',
'Medley of Irving Berlin Waltzes',
'Artistry Jumps',
'Old Man River,
'Let's Have A Party',
'Carribean Clipper',
'Trumpet Blues',
'Tales From The Vienna Woods',
'Donkey's Serenade',
'Let It Be Soon',
'Tango Bolero',
'There's a Fairy in My Garden' |
| Performance Notes | "4,000 AT CHELSEA ARTS BALL.
PRE-WAR GAIETY.
With all the fun and gaiety of pre-war days, the Chelsea Arts Ball was held last night in the Royal Albert Hall, Kensington.
Although the price of tickets was much higher than before 1938, when the last ball was held, every ticket had been sold, and the floor and balconies were filled with over 4,000 people. Prices for tickets began at three guineas, but the last few brought five guineas.
The Renaissance period was the chief costume theme, and there were some magnificent dresses. A set-piece, a symbolic phoenix, modelled by Frank Dobson, occupied a prominent place on the dance floord.
The ball, which started at 10 p.m., lasted until 5 a.m., to-day. As midnight sounded a band of bagpipes and fifes played "Auld Lad Syne" and everybody joined in singing."
(The Daily Telegraph, 1 January 1947)
Associated Press Archive holds B&W British Movietone footage of the event (BM47963).
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/1/1946/315) |