Music and Dancing
In 1853, Belle Vue staged the first British open brass band championships. Attended by a crowd of over 16,000, it was the first of what became an annual event until 1981. A revival occurred in the popularity of brass band contests during the 1970s; competitions between local bands could attracted crowds of up to 5,000.
Belle Vue contained several ballrooms, the first of which was constructed in 1851, above a hotel at the Longsight entrance to the gardens. A larger structure, the Music Hall, was built in 1856, underneath the firework viewing stand, capable of accommodating 10,000 people on its 27,000 square feet (2,500 m2) of dance floor. A wooden open-air dancing platform was opened in 1852, and by 1855 had been extended to cover an area of 0.5 acres (0.20 ha). Throughout the summer, music was provided by bands such as the Belle Vue Military, the Belle Vue Quadrille and the Cheetham Hill Brass Band. Open-air dancing continued until the 1940s, but by then the attraction had lost its appeal, and the platform was converted to a roller skating rink. It was destroyed by fire in 1958. The same fire destroyed the Coronation Ballroom, which was replaced by a "huge ballroom complex" known as the New Elizabethan Ballroom in 1959. With room for 4,000 dancers on its two floors, and the largest Wurlitzer organ in Europe (installed in 1967), it was described as being "unsurpassed in Great Britain for size, comfort and elegance". Many well-known bands of the time regularly played for the dancers, including Geraldo and his Orchestra and the Joe Loss Orchestra. During the 1960s and '70s, the ballroom also hosted discothèques such as Jimmy Savile's Top Ten Club.
Read more about this topic: Belle Vue Zoological Gardens
Famous quotes containing the words music and/or dancing:
“Good-by, my book! Like mortal eyes, imagined ones must close some day. Onegin from his knees will rise—but his creator strolls away. And yet the ear cannot right now part with the music and allow the tale to fade; the chords of fate itself continue to vibrate; and no obstruction for the sage exists where I have put The End: the shadows of my world extend beyond the skyline of the page, blue as tomorrow’s morning haze—nor does this terminate the phrase.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
““Do you like being a parent—you know, being a father, having children and all?” Linnet once asked me. “Yes,” I said, after a moment. “It’s like dancing with a partner. It takes a lot of effort to do it well. But when it’s done well it’s a beautiful thing to see.””
—Gerald Early (20th century)