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Featuring a timeless sampling of rich, historical materials from the archives of London's renowned Royal Albert Hall, the accompanying images span the years 1926 to 1967 and showcase the legacy of an institution whose enormous importance to British cultural life has continued for more than a century.
Dedicated to Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, and designed by Captain Francis Fowke and Colonel H.Y. Darracott Scott of the Royal Engineers, Royal Albert Hall was officially opened on March 29, 1871, commemorated in a welcoming speech by Edward, Prince of Wales. Since that time, and affectionately referred to as "The Nation's Village Hall," it has played host to countless, legendary figures from the worlds of classical music, rock, and jazz, as well as served as an unparalleled venue for events spanning such diverse fields as education, sports, literature, visual arts, and even circus (Cirque du Soleil).
Embodied in the design of each of the Royal Albert Hall programme pages selected for this unique exhibition, the incorporated photos, illustrations, and text not only serve to provide the viewer with numerous, important insights into the experience of the featured events themselves, but also make possible a remarkable window into the much wider and endlessly enthusiastic embrace of American jazz culture throughout the lifestyle of twentieth-century London.
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The December 15th, 1926 dance competition documented in the accompanying programme materials was organized by British impresario Sir Charles B. Cochran, and involved an extraordinary number of both amateur and professional dancers competing for prizes in categories such as Troupe Dancing, Ballroom Amateur (Ladies), Ballroom Amateur (Gentlemen), Ballroom Professional (Ladies), Ballroom Professional (Gentlemen), Stage Amateur (Ladies), Stage Amateur (Gentlemen), Stage Professional (Ladies), and Stage Professional (Gentlemen). The music accompanying the evening's events, beginning promptly at 9:00 pm and lasting until 5:00 am the next morning, was provided by such leading, British and American bands as "Jack Hylton's Kit Cat Band," "Jack Hylton's Piccadilly Band," and "Johnny Hudgins' Plantation Orchestra," as well as the aptly named "Charleston Band."
Rotating their featured appearances throughout the evening,
each of the selected bands would perform three-to-four
times each, with precisely arranged musical sections lasting
from between twenty-minutes to two-hours in duration,
including during a massive "Grand Combined Cabaret and
Troupe Competition" beginning at 2:20 am and continuing
for more than an hour. As just a few examples of the interesting
prizes given to the winners, in the awards presented for
the Gentlemen's Stage Amateur Competition, first prize
was a "Trip to Paris (and back), on Imperial Airways;"
second prize was "One case of John Jameson's 'Three Star'
Whiskey, and One case of Black and White Liqueur Whiskey;"
third prize was a "Set of six Official Mustard Club Pots,
including Official Membership to Club;" and the fourth
prize winner received a "Gillette Razor."
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Throughout the "Grand Combined
Competition," the performances were divided into
eight, separate sections, including the "Charleston
Troupe Competition," and the competing groups were
referred to by such endearing names as the Plaza
Tiller Girls, the Princess Charming Girls, the Lido
Lady Girls, the Tip-Toes Girls, the Sunny Tiller
Girls, the Winter Garden Girls, the Piccadilly Revels
(No. 1), the Princess Girls, the Piccadilly Revels
(No. 2), and the Merry-Go-Round Girls.
The list of sixteen, distinguished celebrities who would be judging the evening's performances included the American icon of stage and screen, Fred Astaire; British stage director, Percy Athos; British choreographer, Max Rivers; the "Queen of Ballroom Dancing," Josephine Bradley; dancing champion and London club owner Santos Casani (who reportedly created a sensation in London by dancing a Charleston, with his partner, on top of a moving taxi); as well as legendary British bandleader Jack Hylton (whose enormous popularity throughout Europe brought him the award of "Officer de L'Instruction Publique" from the French Government).
In addition to the renowned panel of competition judges in attendance, the evening's featured guests were the full cast of promoter Lew Leslie's all-black, musical revue "Blackbirds," led by the hugely popular, American entertainer Florence Mills. Previously moving from the Alhambra Theatre in Harlem to an incredible run of more than two-hundred performances at London's Pavilion Theatre, the wildly successful attraction of the Blackbirds revue had elevated Mills' popularity in England to a level once described as "being to London what Josephine Baker's was to Paris."
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