The dance hall's world of luxury and escape was fully in tune with the new consumerism. He opened its first dance hall, Sherry's, in Brighton. and The Builder, 9 September 1960, p. 471. Paste as plain text instead, Funnily enough I did a small piece on the Palais for my SouledOn Soul Facebook page a few days ago A lot of emmotional connections with that place for reasons you'll see below, "Through these doors pass some of the most beautiful girls in the world". Last saw Pete and Chris about 8 years ago coming out from Forest. Each night of the week targeted a different audience. Meanwhile, sitters out and balcony watchers (always a significant proportion of the dance-hall crowd) provided a constant background accompaniment with their gossip, horseplay and chatter.Footnote 95, Movement, another key sensory experience of the dance hall, was vital to the liberty and freedom it symbolised. The dance hall, then, was part of the renegotiation of British life, culture and politics in the early twentieth century. Harry had an amazing drum kit, hand-painted with psychedelic designs. Started in 78/9 I guess. Yet there was a tension between this liberation and constraint. Others updated and altered their atmosphere regularly using such decorative schemes. The upstairs bars were decorated in a glamorous modern members club style, with buttoned leather panels and copper downlighters on the walls. Used to have aquick drink in the Horse & Jockey just across the road back in those days., as did many Palais-De-Dance fans. Dimmed lighting enhanced the power of the imagination, while coloured lights were used to create an ever-changing visual experience. In Liverpool, for example, the Grafton Ballroom (opened in 1924) was designed by Alfred Ernest Shennan (18881959), whose output in the Merseyside area included cinemas, hotels, banks and office blocks in a signature Art Deco style, together with a synagogue distinct in its Swedish-inflected functionalism.Footnote 41 The architect commissioned to design the Palais de Danse in Croydon (also built in 1924) was Hume Victor Kerr (b. Not just because it's quality but because of the crowds thunderous claps at the right times. Here's a few that I'm talking about (I could list loads). Camping, fishing, travel, photography, boating, sailing, motorbikes. I used to walk up from Mansfield Woodhouse. Dayglo socks were all the rage then but my parents did not approve of them. But my relationship with this venerable Nottingham landmark started much earlier in my life and carries much more emotional attachment than simply being a placed where we danced our youth away to great dollops of soulful tunes and partaking of a chicken in a basket meal if we saved enough pennies to purchase grub in the restaurant downstairs. So in 1971 I found myself in this wonderful exotic place called the Bali Hai with strange looking plastic trees, surrounded by sandwiches, cakes and jelly, listening to "Chirpy Cheep Cheep" by Middle Of The Road. Enid Coleman went ape and had the music. Memories from 1959 I met a tall good looking lady at the Palais de Dance in 1959 married her in 1961 and we headed to New Zealand in 1962. We would always aim to get in the queue early and watch it build as worshipers from all over arrived. The line-up of the orchestra had changed, also the name Carmen Sylva (for his orchestra) vanished. 11) was characterised by the eclectic deployment of neoclassical, Art Deco, oriental and even Pre-Raphaelite motifs.Footnote 58 At the centre of the dance floor was an illuminated fountain, which could rise to 12ft, surrounded by plants. In the 1920s, borrowing from US cinema designs, atmospherics was widely used to create escapism in the dance hall.Footnote 87 This design trend was about bringing the outside inside, with interiors made to resemble Spanish patios or Italian villa gardens (as seen in the Spanish Hall at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, and the Italianate lake backdrop on the main stage in the Tower Ballroom). In the 1920s, the class profile of the Nottingham Palais varied from day to day, as private functions closed the hall to the general public and attracted a more specialised, usually middle-class audience. Munro, Malcolm, Dancing Mad: An Autobiographical Dancing Diary (Liverpool, n.d.), p. 181Google Scholar. 28 Allen, Carl, London Gig Venues (Stroud, 2016), pp. The Hammersmith Palais de Danse, in its last years simply named Hammersmith Palais, was a dance hall and entertainment venue in Hammersmith, London, England that operated from 1919 until 2007. The new bandstand at the Ilford Palais in 1959 had a large painted backdrop depicting an Italianate garden, with fountains, cypress trees and urns, and three metal arches placed in front of it.Footnote 90 At the Leeds Locarno in 1964, two giant screens on either side of the bandstand projected similar images in full colour in order to evoke mood.Footnote 91 Ilford Palais even had a Tudor Room, with mock beams and accessories. 16. Originally named the Palais de Danse when it opened as a dance hall in 1925, it later became the popular nightclub Ritzy in the late 1980s. It was designed by Gillinson, Barnett & Partners and developed by Mecca at a cost of 2 million. I used to love the deserted streets. After the war the building was restored to its former glory and together with its famous school of dancing, thrived for most of the next two decades until its eventual closure in 1967. 54 Brodie, Antonia, ed., Directory of British Architects 18341914, 2 vols (2001), II, p. 809Google Scholar, and Nottingham Civic Society, Draft List of Local Heritage Assets of the City of Nottingham, 9 December 2013. Music - Helping Handicapped People and people less fortunate than myself. Contensis.Framework.Web.JavaScriptManager. Can anyone remember Reg Guest Trio and Ian King Trio? In the early Fifties the management and running of the Palais fell to Adele Roscoe and Freddie Fitzgerald (her Husband and Dancing Partner for many years It Virtually became the place to go Dancing Etc The first change they made was to bring in the Hardy Smith Orchestra Which after a Few years were replaced by Art Lester from Nottingham. 7. It was in the underground ballroom at the Welbeck Abbey. In November 1929, the Stage Guild held its annual ball at the palais, with guests including Prince Paul of Greece.Footnote 61 A generation earlier, such events would have been held exclusively in country houses, private clubs, grand assembly rooms or private ballrooms. 2), is a good example from the dance hall's final era.Footnote 27 The tiered stage was decorated with a diamond pattern inlaid in metal against black, while the stage surround was constructed from wooden batons finished with shiny copper banding decorated with stylised stars. 82 TWA, DT.Tur/4/AG1838, Mayfair Ballroom, Newcastle Dance Floor (1961). The designs also included a health centre, squash courts, gym and rooftop gardens. Personally, one of my fave records from the Palais dayers was Toni Basil's "Beakaway". Wendy Northern Soul Cinema Theatre Vaudeville Theatres Auditorium Courtesy Opera House An Article from arthurlloyd.co.uk. The origins of public dancing may be traced to the Victorian era and to the proliferation of new municipal halls, assembly rooms and church halls symbols of the spirit of philanthropy and of civic pride given legislative power by the Local Government Act of 1888. 61 Nottingham Evening Post, 9 November 1929, p. 6. Contact, loveslure @gmail.com, Drinking, snooker, pool, birding, football (NOTTS COUNTY) bringing up my kids, fishing and photography especially Aviation, Motor racing, Karting, My Dogs, Guitar, Photography, Gunsmithing Jetski. Dancing had been enjoyed socially long before the twentieth century, but after the First World War people fell in love with it as never before. In 1984, it was acquired by Barry Noble and adopted its former name Astoria.[6]. Then at quarter to two, a special moment. Postcard view of the interior of the dance hall at Pawtuxet, Rhode Island, 1911 (author's private collection). Sequence dances, where everyone performed the same steps, gave way to dances formulated specifically for couples, which involved much greater physical contact between partners the Bunny Hug and the Grizzly Bear, for example, required dancers to embrace. Henry Holmes Dawson (18771964) seemingly worked with Thraves only on the palais, as he was in a London-based partnership with H.W. Allerdyce from 1920. Fig. 10. Frontage of the Nottingham Palais, showing its illuminated globe, 1925 (Nottingham City Council and picturethepast.org.uk) Required fields are marked *, I consent to my name and e-mail address being stored along with this comment, and to the website editors communicating with me by e-mail about the comment if necessary. Like music halls, public dance facilities for the lower classes often began as spontaneous get-togethers in public houses and other public places, where singing and common instruments provided music to dance to. It was originally designed as a dance hall I have a long and fond relationship with the old Notts Palais. 43956CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Nov 21, 2013 - This Pin was discovered by Keith Lenthall Wells. 7 We should be careful to exclude from this definition dancing schools and other places where the main purpose was to teach dancing, with public dances put on as a secondary attraction. Experiments with multi-purpose entertainment venues had been taking place since the 1920s and 1930s and were particularly common in plans for the redevelopment of seaside resorts; hence proposals for the new Hove Pier and Amusement Centre in 1932 included a dance hall as its centrepiece.Footnote 62 Dance halls in holiday camps were also common by the 1930s, one example being at Gorleston-on-Sea in Norfolk, opened in 1937.Footnote 63 One of the first designs for a modern entertainment centre away from the coast was the Arcadium Amusement Centre proposed for the heart of London's West End, a prototype modern shopping mall and leisure centre.Footnote 64 Designed in 1934 by the architects Elcock and Sutcliffe (subsequently best known for the Daily Telegraph building on Fleet Street), it was to include three dance floors, a pool with surrounding accommodation for 600 bathers, an arcade of shops, restaurants, a quick lunch bar, brasserie and grill capable of catering for 1200 at one time. I dont live in the town. I spent many happy hours at the Palais in my teens, late 1950s early 1960s . Consumerism expanded, with home ownership among manual workers reaching 40 per cent by 1962.Footnote 80 The architecture of the dance hall reflected this further democratisation of pleasure, the new centrality of the working class to national life, and a new version of modernity. Good times. 1) which, designed for mass audiences, reflected the increasing leisure time and money available to large sections of the working class. I love the Palais for giving me some of the best moments in my life. Often went to the Monday night dance at the YMCA on Shakespeare street. Throughout the interwar period, leading dance bands were resident in elite nightspots: for example, Roy Fox at the Monseigneur Restaurant; Ambrose and his Orchestra at the Mayfair Hotel; and both Jack Hylton and the Savoy Orpheans at the Savoy Hotel.Footnote 15 These well-known dance venues (increasingly popularised by live outdoor broadcasts on the new BBC and by newspaper reports) offered inspiration for public dance halls of more diverse working-class origins. One of the first to be installed in Britain was in the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool, in 1899.Footnote 21 Sprung floors made dancing less tiring and wearing, as they bounced gently with the movement of dancers, rather than resisting them. A very popular and lively venue, especially when run (from 1991) by Nottingham blues legend Barry Middleton. A waft of hot air, the rhythmic throb of the band, the hiss of feet on the ballroom floor assail you. Celestial effects were common, with thousands of bulbs creating ceilings full of sparkling stars. See also Harwood, Elain, Space, Hope and Brutalism: English Architecture, 19451975 (London, 2015), p. 317Google Scholar. Want to read more Leicestershire nostalgia? It provides the first overview of dance halls from an architectural and spatial history perspective. I featured on a few backing vocals too until someone actually heard me!. By The dance hall's emergence as a distinct social and architectural space was shaped by its varied roots in both the social world of the elite and the growing leisure industry of late nineteenth-century Britain. Hello Bill, Im not 100% sure but I think it very likely that the Mansfields did play the Palais at some stage or other. She had a dance studio at Bridlesmith Gate Nottm. The club is used as a student night club for both of the universities in Nottingham. London, The National Archives, BT 31/24605/155007, Hammersmith Palais de Danse (191932). This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. 75962. When I was an apprentice in the mid 60's one of my fellow apprentices shocked everyone by resigning to go and work at the Palais, his name was Mick Knight and eventually became the manager ! [2] It was designed by the Nottingham architectural practice of Evans, Clark and Woollatt for W. A. Walker at a cost of 30,000. Happy times at the Palais remembered by Adrian included the regular interval dash across Humberstone Gate to the Pickwick pub (Old Black Lion and Skandals). 99103, and Architectural Review (June 1961), pp. Like you said they where playing at other venues so it really does come down to where you heard them as to where you get the memories, Outsiders, JC Messina, Kelly St Claire , Gerri Thomas, Harry Betts, John Hendley, Barnaby Bye, Frankie Crocker, Three Degrees (Contact), The Apollas , Billy Purcell, Bobby Diamond, KIki Dee, + lots more, all massive records at T'palais .. love em or hate em, they were a part of the scene in those days, still very vivid to this day, Ian. It was soon appreciated that boards should be laid in the direction of travel of the dancers as they progressed around the dance floor in a circular fashion. Hi Bill dont live there myself now but all ways travel down twice a year for the day. By 1935, Heimann had joined forces with Alan Fairley, a Scottish entrepreneur, and by 1939 they owned nearly a dozen dance halls and controlled over 300 dance bands playing in around 2000 establishments.Footnote 32, Fig. For this reason there are many records that for me, are Palais records. We can't bring them day's back, but we won't forget em either. 15 See Godbolt, Jim, A History of Jazz in Britain, 191950 (London, 2005)Google Scholar. 38 Parsonage, Catherine, The Evolution of Jazz in Britain, 18801935 (Aldershot, Hampshire, 2005), p. 130Google Scholar. met my girlfriend of the time Sue Elliott daughter of Gerry Elliott ex sheriff of Nottingham and overman down Gedling pit, nearly crapped myself when I started working there and saw him. Also used to got to Roy & Mary Knight's on Cranbrook St. My wife and I with friends used to go to Enid Colman's. Some dance halls themed their whole decoration, with the aim of creating a specific atmosphere. Under the soft lights and lulled by the sweet music he can sink into a dreamland of wishful desire.Footnote 86, The design of dance halls helped manufacture such dreams. and One of the few times I trod on no one's toes! The aspirational nature of the building was further reflected in the various facilities provided. Any reccomends? Average weekly money wages rose from 1 12s. Further interest was added by the use of modern decorative geometric cornice work on the ceiling, and a series of pink, burgundy and gold downlighters.Footnote 81 Inside the main hall, the large sprung dance floor was surrounded on all sides by a seating area with burgundy carpet and tables laid with crisp white linen.Footnote 82 The room's pastel colour scheme of pinks, pale green and gold detailing was at once feminine and luxurious. Must have enjoyed myself because I remember it so well. As the Nottingham Evening Post remarked on its opening: With the opening of its new Palais de Danse [] Nottingham falls in line with other progressive cities.Footnote 55 Although the building became renowned for its large illuminated globe, the original exterior design was surmounted by a large statue of the Greek muse of dance, Terpsichore, in a typical dancing pose.Footnote 56 Terpsichore did appear on the exterior as built, but in a series of poses across a large frieze of contrasting darker stone (seen just below the globe in Figure 10). 4142Google Scholar, 108. 39 Dancing Times, March 1928, pp. Little did I know at the time that this place would become my second home, the place where I would hone my skills on Space Invaders when Soul Sam took to the decks (I admit I was far too young to really appreciate Mr Barnfather in those days). 89 Dancing Times (October 1931), pp. The liberation of movement offered by the new social dances of the early twentieth century was central to their terrific popularity. Beginning as a practical necessity of separating the musicians from the dancers, the bandstand developed into a distinctive architectural feature. I used the title as my "handle" when CB's were big only to find out that everyone thought I was a copper just not so. The final crucial design and technical challenge of the dance hall was the bandstand. in 1913 to 3 10s. 4. Frank Hanford used to run it but Dorothy Richards I never saw. On Sunday 25th March 2018 I was at a surprise birthday party for my cousin, Keith Woodcock. The old Victoria Hall had been taken over by Mr and Mrs HG Roscoe in September 1929 and re-christened the Palais de Danse. 9298. New dances were formulated to accompany the new music and were deliberately designed for couples (most notably the foxtrot). The power of live music played in a relatively intimate space was such that people could literally feel the sound move through their bodies as it reverberated across the dance hall. As we got a little older we would brave the Crystal Palace pub and buy our pints of bitter shandy, to give us a little more courage to maybe actually chat the young ladies up! I went by the nickname "Bonk" back then if that rings any bells. The entire floor thus rested on steel springs, with no dead point anywhere. know one of paper lace was later working as a joiner. Still doing cabaret. 16 See Walton, John K., The Re-making of a Popular Resort: Blackpool Tower and the Boom of the 1890s, Local Historian, 24 (1994), pp. The Tottenham Palais, which opened in 1925, was converted from a roller-skating rink built in 1910.Footnote 28 Sometimes the two businesses operated side by side, as in the Cricklewood dance hall and skating rink, northwest London, in the 1920s (Fig. And another one on my list! In the early 90s the Palais was briefly used as a rave club. Lovely post Martyn , would Sharon be from Langley Mill by any chance ? It was known as Greyfriars Hall and was opened by the Lord Mayor of Nottingham, Walter Wessen, on 8 October 1929. 55 Nottingham Evening Post, 25 April 1925, p. 5. History. Such spaces increasingly became formalised as publicans and entrepreneurs saw the potential profits to be gained by opening separate dancing rooms and halls in urban areas. Grayman45 7), designed by Clement Stretton and George Nott and opened in 1926, drew particular praise from The Builder for its elegant arcaded faade with neoclassical swag decoration.Footnote 47 The Astoria Palais de Danse in Bolton (Fig. As an employee we were not allowed to go there socially so it was off to Coleman's on our nights off or usually Sunday nights I think. To see what we've already added, just go to google search and type in "Pre Ten Years After" that should get you to the exact page. Mecca's Bali Hai cocktail bars, found in many of its dance halls at this time, were full-scale escapist fantasies. Rob Smith was forever hammering it but it just sounded so good blasting through that sound system. 13754CrossRefGoogle Scholar. During the 1920s and 1930s, advertisements emphasised the luxurious nature of the dance-hall experience. Also, will accept photos of the venues where they played. The constraint of the crowded dance floor, for example, demanded a constant process of negotiation. Nottingham, Family, Exterior and interior of the Hammersmith Palais (illustration from Dancing World, AugustSeptember 1921). 199204Google Scholar. My name may be published alongside the comment on the website, but my e-mail address will not be published. Painting, woodwork, fishing, beer, food, Thinking outside the box, talking, some history, d.i.y., Amateur Dramatics; Writing; Reading; Music, Fishing; Art. If I remember Monday Night was for a younger crowd and we were always trying to get in the Bali Hi downstairs. The Palais de Danse, built by Midland Palais de Danse Limited, opened on the corner of King Edward Street, John Street and Convent Street (now Upper Parliament Street) on 24 April 1925. It was originally designed as a dance hall and billiard saloon. I am friends with Ric Lee my friend and I have a Tribute Website to Ten Years After Ten-Years-After.com and Alvinlee.de I would like to hear stories about pre Ten Years After. My late father Tug organised one event, it was through this that I knew Uncle Fred and Aunt Adela, I heard of this from Adela and others. In the 1970s the main front was rebuilt. For each dance, different coloured lights would be lowered blue for a waltz, red for a foxtrot, and so on. The larger of the two, the Majestic, was decorated to represent a mosque, with prayer mats hanging from the walls and a star-painted ceiling.Footnote 88 The exoticism continued in the names of the lounges the Alcazar Lounge and the Baghdad Lounge. The Palais de Danse is Nottingham's most famous nightclub. Elaborate neon lighting at the Hammersmith Palais, early 1960s, As the dance craze of the 1920s expanded, purpose-built dance halls proliferated. st ives to me, has certain stand out records Eddie Reagan, billy prophet, susan coleman etc all wigan biggies im sure, but when you only ventured 'close go home' I suppose they evoke memories of certain venues ? Only the coming of war halted the project. 67 See Roma Fairley, Come Dancing Miss World (London, 1966), and more generally Esher, Lionel, A Broken Wave: The Rebuilding of England 19401980 (London, 1981)Google Scholar. April 2009 in Zagreb, Kroatien und endete am 9. Luxe-modern, everyday glamour at the Mayfair dance hall, Newcastle, 1961 (Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums), Equally impressive were the elaborate powder rooms, which included free-standing make-up stations decorated with pink candy-stripe wallpaper and topped with swags of white fabric (Fig. The The Palais de Danse is Nottinghams most famous nightclub. had some great nights in the pub, very small, tables to the left, bar to the right just enough room to walk through. Hopefully see you sooner rather than later. Ladies Boudoir, Mayfair dance hall, Newcastle, 1961 (Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums). The so-called dance craze spread rapidly. Horse and Jockey, is it still there? Then of course later as we got a bit older there was "Grab a Granny" on a Wednesday Night (Over 21's), boy I have some wonderful memories of the Palais.

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