大象传媒

Introduction

This article has been written with the assistance of And茅 Tyrer (n茅e Ashcroft). And茅 became a professional ballroom dancer during World War Two, under the name of And茅 Lyons. And茅's professional dancing partner during the war and the years that followed was Walter Laird. And茅 has kindly loaned me a photograph of her dancing with Walter to music being played by the Victor Silvester Dance Orchestra. This photograph is submitted to the website with And茅's permission.

Music and dance was very much a part of the everyday lives of so many people during World War Two and the post-war years. With so many service men and women away from home, during World War Two the 大象传媒 began broadcasting dancing lessons and dance music on the radio in a show called the '大象传媒 Dancing Club'. The lessons were given by Victor Silvester, a former World Ballroom Dancing Champion, with the music played by the Victor Silvester Dance Orchestra.

After the war, the 'Dancing Club' broadcasts continued, eventually transferring to 大象传媒 television. And茅 and Walter were one of the professional dancing partnerships who used to demonstrate for Victor Silvester during his 'Dancing Club' broadcasts.

On Sunday 18 December 2005 I had the great pleasure of being able to talk to And茅 about ballroom dancing and the 大象传媒 鈥淧eople鈥檚 War鈥� project. This article is in addition to a more detailed account of And茅's wartime dancing memories I submitted to the "People's War" website on her behalf in June 2005 (Edited Article Reference ID: A4165166). Before speaking to And茅 on this occasion, I referred to some of the notes, books and music I have about dancing to cross check some details about Victor Silvester. Both And茅 and myself have read and understood the terms of the "People's War" website.

大象传媒 Dancing Club

As a dancing partnership, And茅 and Walter first danced to the music of Victor Silvester and his Dance Orchestra during the war years. They became good friends with Victor, his wife Dorothy, Victor Silvester (Junior), Patti Morgan, Frank and Peggy Spencer and many other professional ballroom dancers and dance band leaders of the 1940s and 1950s.

When World War Two broke out in 1939 a skeleton staff of the 大象传媒 Variety Department moved to Bristol. After a short period when dance band broadcasts were stopped, Victor Silvester and other dance bands recommenced broadcasting from Bristol.

The 鈥槾笙蟠� Dancing Club鈥� began in the spring of 1941, with the intention of bringing some glamour into the lives of wartime listeners to the radio, or the 鈥榳ireless鈥� as it was often known at that time. These programmes were broadcast from the Paris Cinema, Lower Regent Street, London in front of a studio audience.

From the beginning one of the features of these broadcasts was a short dancing lesson, with the steps dictated slowly by Victor Silvester, followed by a pause so people at home could write the lesson down. It was then discovered that 鈥楲ord Haw Haw鈥� (William Joyce) was using these pauses to broadcast German propaganda! The way round this was for Victor to repeat the phrase rather than pause.

With the reintroduction of television broadcasts after the end of World War Two, the 鈥槾笙蟠� Dancing Club鈥� was one of the shows that transferred from radio to television. The television broadcasts began in 1948, creating a boom in dancing schools throughout the country. In 1953, the show began to be shown from the Carlton Rooms, Maida Vale, London. Patti Morgan was brought in to act as hostess, with whom And茅 used to share a changing room.

As well as the professional dancing couples, such as And茅 Lyons and Walter Laird, and Frank and Peggy Spencer, some of the top amateur dancers were also invited to take part as general dancers. Through the 鈥槾笙蟠� Dancing Club鈥�, Victor Silvester and his Dance Orchestra played a large part in getting Britain on its dancing feet!

Conclusion

Victor Marlborough Silvester was born on 25 February 1900. This was the date that Mafeking was relieved during the Boer War, and hence why he was given the name 鈥榁ictor鈥�! In the First World War Victor Silvester served in the army between 1914 and 1918, signing up at the age of 14 years and 9 months.

After coming out of the army in 1918, Victor Silvester became a professional dancer. He won the World Ballroom Dancing Championship in 1922 with his then dancing partner Phyllis Clarke, only a few days after getting married to Dorothy Newton. Victor Silvester Junior was born in February 1924.

Between the World Wars, Victor and Dorothy opened a dancing school and Victor wrote one of the most successful ballroom dancing books of all time in 1927: 鈥楳odern Ballroom Dancing鈥�. In 1935, Victor Silvester and his Ballroom Orchestra was formed and released its first record: 鈥榊ou鈥檙e Dancing on My Heart鈥�, which became the orchestra鈥檚 signature tune. The Victor Silvester Ballroom Orchestra continued performing until the 1990s, with Victor (Junior) taking over from his father in 1971.

In 1958, Victor M. Silvester published his autobiography 鈥楧ancing is My Life鈥� (see reference below). I first read this book at the age of about 7, although only a small part deals with events that took place during World War Two. I have recently re-read this biography to cross check some dates and details about Victor Silvester.

After a successful career as a professional ballroom dancer, And茅 retired at the age of 35. And茅 is now happily retired in Spain with her dear husband Franklin. I would like to thank And茅 for assisting me with information about dancing, and especially the photograph that goes with this article.

Walter Laird, Frank Spencer and Peggy Spencer continued their involvement in dancing. Frank and Walter passed away some years ago. Peggy Spencer was awarded an MBE for her services to dancing and was elected President of the ISTD (Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing) in 2004. This is a post that was previously held by Victor Silvester.

This is the title of Victor Silvester鈥檚 excellent autobiography:
鈥楧ancing is My Life鈥� by Victor Silvester (1958), Wm Heinemann Ltd (London).

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