Question

Dance Hall

After James Brown's death his wife was left with nine children (plus one on the way!) and started up a dance hall, which featured a band led by one of her sons, and a daughter as mascot and occasional singer and dancer.

I believe it was in Picardy Place. Do you know of anyone who could tell me the names of dance halls in that area during the 1920's please?

Angela Miles, Colchester, Essex, England,  25 July 2005

Comments

I have checked some of the Edinburgh trade directories for the 1920s and found no reference to a dance hall in Picardy Place,

However a series of articles on the history of Dance Halls in one of the Edinburgh newspapers included the following: comments:

Unfortunately, I have not been able to discover  which paper published this report or when it was published

"The casual visitor would perhaps be most inclined to visit the hall from which the band has been broadcasted.  In this case, he or she would go to the Dunedin Palais de Danse in Picardy Place.

At this dance hall novelty and originality attract large audiences, which remain undiminished even in the height of summer ...

It is enchanting to enter the ballrooms when a foxtrot is in progress;  the swift-moving white forms give a suggestion of the delightful coolness of a tennis club dance.

If, on the other hand, one enters during a twilight waltz the scene is like one from Fairyland, the multi-coloured ever-changing lights gleaming in fantastic splendour."

The article above also spoke of:

-   The dance hall's 2 balconies and mirrors round the walls

-   Recent novelties, the 'Snow Dance' and the 'Storm Dance'.

-   'The Romany Revellers' band of ten or twelve  musicians.

-    Mark Griver, the singing banjoist.

-    'The Midnight Revels' cabaret show.

-   The well-equipped instructional staff of 25 ladies and gentlemen who made a point of obtaining the latest dances from London:  the newest one appears to be the three-step waltz.

Peter Stubbs,  26 July 2005