Dance Venues.

A Memory of Kingsbury.

There were several modern dance venues which we regularly frequented, including The Ritz Ballroom which once stood at the junction of the Kingsbury Road and the western end of the Old Kenton Lane, and the Churchill Club which stood in Elmwood Avenue at the junction of the Kenton Road. However I also enjoyed Traditional Jazz which could be heard and danced to at the South Harrow Jazz Club near Stanley Road, and also at Glebe First and Middle School at the end of Darcy Gardens off the Kingsbury Road.

The Ritz Ballroom was the most popular dance venue to attend, as it boasted a full 18 piece professional band with a leader, and both a male and female singer. The Churchill Club was a little more downmarket, but still boasted a 7 piece band, and the two others mentioned above, were ‘Trad Band’ dances, which entailed jiving, which meant using a different technique of dancing to that of the ‘normal’ waltz or quick step.

None of these venues allowed alcohol on the premises, so during a short interval, soft drinks would be on sale, or if there was a public house in the vicinity, a few of the people attending the dance would walk there. As the interval was so short, it would have been very difficult to consume more than two drinks before returning to the dance, and the dance was far more important than the drink.