The Cloudland Dance Hall, originally called Luna Park, was a famous entertainment venue located in
Bowen Hills
Bowen Hills is an inner north-eastern suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the Bowen Hills had a population of 3,226 people.
Geography
Bowen Hills is by road from the Brisbane CBD.
Mayne is a neighbourhood within the s ...
,
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...
,
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, establishe ...
, Australia. It was demolished in 1982 and the site was subsequently developed into an apartment complex.
On its hilltop site above Brisbane, Cloudland's distinctive parabolic laminated roof arch, nearly high, was highly visible. A
funicular
A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite e ...
railway ran from the main road straight up the steep part of the hill and provided easy access to the
ballroom site. The funicular was dismantled in 1967 and the area was turned into a car park. Cloudland was the venue for numerous formal balls, concerts, weekend dances, civic events, school and university examinations and, later, a marketplace.
History
![StateLibQld 1 116744 Entrance to the Cloudland Ballroom, Bowen Hills, Brisbane, 1946](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/StateLibQld_1_116744_Entrance_to_the_Cloudland_Ballroom%2C_Bowen_Hills%2C_Brisbane%2C_1946.jpg)
Purchased in June 1938 for £50,000 on the crest of Montpelier Heights at , the site was to be Brisbane's Luna Park.
[ ] The area was constructed in 1939–40, by
T. S. Eslick and opened on 2 August 1940.
Eslick paid particular attention to the dance floor. He wanted to create the "best
ballroom in the
Southern Hemisphere".
Queensland timbers were used throughout.
[ ] The ballroom was modelled on the
La Monica ballroom in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...
, designed and built by Eslick in 1924.
[
A ]funicular
A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite e ...
railway ran up the side of the hill from the tram stop on Breakfast Creek
The Breakfast Creek ( Aboriginal: ''Barrambin'') is a small urban stream that is a tributary of the Brisbane River, located in suburban Brisbane in the South East region of Queensland, Australia.
Course and features
Rising as the Enoggera Cre ...
Road carrying passengers to the rear of the ballroom. The dual-track railway, powered by 50-horsepower electric motors, were for those not seeking to climb the winding 'rural' track; met by a large Poinciana tree preserved at the hilltop car entrance.[ The site was originally intended to have a fun park like ]Luna Park
Luna Park is a name shared by dozens of currently operating and defunct amusement parks. They are named after, and partly based on, the first Luna Park, which opened in 1903 during the heyday of large Coney Island parks. Luna parks are small-s ...
in Melbourne, which Eslick had built in 1912. The fun park was not built by the time World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
began. It was the largest building of its type in Brisbane, and the largest dance hall in Australia; with capable of accommodating 1,000 couples dancing, 1,000 in the loges around the floor, and 2,000 in the galleries above.[ The Breakfast Creek Road main entrance had two trees at the foot of the hill, and a blaze of light sweeping back onto the hill, based on the Elephant Tower entrance to the San Francisco World's Fair.][
A fortnight from its opening had seen 19,000 dancers on the floor, with old-style, new-vogue and modern dancing, with music provided by Billy Romaine and his Luna Park Orchestra; as well as a champion dance team, and entertainers Billy Williams and Ted Fitzsimmons. The amusement park was also in operation.
Eslick disappeared soon after Cloudland was opened so the building was left abandoned until 1942 when it was used by the American military.] They arrived shortly after Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...
was bombed in December 1941. When Cloudland was re-opened after the war, the name Luna Park was dropped and the building was thenceforth known as Cloudland Ballroom. As a gift to the people of Brisbane, the dance floor was rebuilt by the US military.[ ] The smooth hard floor was constructed of tongue and groove
Tongue and groove is a method of fitting similar objects together, edge to edge, used mainly with wood, in flooring, parquetry, panelling, and similar constructions. Tongue and groove joints allow two flat pieces to be joined strongly together ...
boards that ran the length of the ballroom. The close-fitting narrow boards were not nailed. The floor area reserved for dancing sat on huge, metal coil springs placed uniformly underneath the bearers so that dancers could feel and see the movement of the boards beneath their feet.
Other features of the interior were huge decorative columns, sweeping curtains, domed sky lights and chandeliers
A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...
. The dance floor was framed by private alcoves, decorative curtains, a domed skylights and chandeliers. Cloudland also had an upper circle of tiered seating which overlooked the floor and stage. An impressive tall domed entrance which features a wide, white, arch was also visible from surrounding suburbs.
Cloudland was purchased by sisters Mya Winters & Francis Rouch for £16,000 and re-opened on 24 April 1947.
Performances
As a pop/rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
/ old time music venue Cloudland hosted thousands of dances and concerts in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, including a number of notable events. It hosted three of the six concerts performed by rock 'n' roll legend Buddy Holly on his only Australian tour in February 1958. Cloudland also hosted fledgling bands who went on to establish careers in the music industry. One example is the concert of 28 July 1979 featuring three talented up-and-coming bands: XTC
XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in ...
, Flowers (later known as Icehouse), and The Numbers. Early 1960s saw Saturday afternoon rock and roll dances sponsored by Coca Cola and was known as 'the hi fi club' the resident band were 'the hucklebucks', with 'the planets' and 'the dominos' alternating saturdays. A talent quest held most Saturdays produced some future famous faces including the 'bee gees' among others.
Music for Cloudland functions was provided by Brisbane musicians and Australian bands from the 1950s to the early 1980s, and for much of the 1960s it was the central venue for the Sunshine group. Sunshine was headed by Brisbane businessman Ivan Dayman
Ivan Howard Dayman (20 July 19201 October 1989) was an Australian music promoter, record producer, label owner and talent manager of the 1960s and 1970s, based first in Adelaide, then Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. Although his career was brief †...
(originally from Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
), who leased Cloudland from Apel around 1963. Dayman's entrepreneurial style had a formula that had proved successful in Adelaide and he applied this to his Cloudland enterprise. He commissioned arrangements of the latest pop tunes (hit parade
A hit parade is a ranked list of the most popular recordings at a given point in time, usually determined either by sales or airplay. The term originated in the 1930s; ''Billboard'' magazine published its first music hit parade on January 4, 1936 ...
s/top forty
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...
) adapted to the dances of the day, headhunted the best of Brisbane's musicians and performing artists and paid for rehearsals and dances were run during the week as well as on weekends. On public holidays and significant dates or long weekends during the year, midnight-to-dawn dances were run, usually with featured guest artists of national fame, for example, the Bee Gees, Little Pattie
Patricia "Little Pattie" Thelma Thompson (née Amphlett) OAM (born 17 March 1949) is an Australian singer who started her career as a teenager in the early 1960s, recording surf pop, with her backing group The Statesmen, she subsequently went on ...
and Midnight Oil. Dayman also installed a huge mirror ball over the centre of the ballroom's floor.
The dance steps comprised 40% old time and 60% modern music. Music for the dancers was provided by resident bands and vocal performers from the time of Cloudland's reopening after the war until its closure. Resident bands included The Billo Smith Orchestra,[ The Cloudland Big Band, The Rick Farbach Sextet, Jim Diamond & The Lancers, The Hi-Marks, The Sounds of Seven, and The Seasons of the Witch. The dance programs in those times covered old time ( barn dance, gypsy tap, Canadian 3-step, Pride of Erin, old time waltz; and in a roped off area at one end of the ballroom, jive), 'Modern' (jazz waltz, quickstep, foxtrot), and later the ]twist
Twist may refer to:
In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage
* ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist''
* ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...
and other popular dance crazes. Cloudland Ballroom was said to be the finest ballroom in Australia.
Other functions
On 2 September 1948 Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh visited after doing the play ''School for Scandal'' for a débutants ball for the "Royal Society of Saint George".
The venue was also used for many balls including the Engineers' Ball (1947), Masonic Ball (1949), Pharmacy Ball (1949), Combined Grammar Schools' Ball (1950), Cinderella Ball organised by the Incapacitated Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen's Association (1951), United Service Club Ball (1951), Grand Scottish debutantes ball (1951), combined Church of England/Saint Margaret's Ball (1953), and the Royal Society of Saint George ball (1954).
Cloudland was later a Sunday markets and an exam venue by the University of Queensland
, mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work
, established =
, endowment = A$224.3 million
, budget = A$2.1 billion
, type = Public research university
, chancellor = Peter Varghese
, vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry
, city = B ...
.
Demolition
Despite strenuous public calls for its preservation, the building was demolished overnight on 7 November 1982 to make way for an apartment complex. The demolition was done by the Deen Brothers, a demolition company often used by the state government, the Brisbane City Council
Brisbane City Council (BCC) is the democratic executive local government authority for the City of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland, Australia. The largest City Council in Australia by population and area, BCC's jurisd ...
and the " white shoe brigade" for controversial demolition projects. The demolition took place despite there being no permit and in spite of its National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
listing.
Legacy
Midnight Oil, who had played at Cloudland many times, immortalised the demolition in their song " Dreamworld" (from the '' Diesel and Dust'' LP) which attacked the greed of the pro-development forces. In 2004, a ballet ''Cloudland'' choreographed by Francois Klaus was premiered at the Brisbane Festival, and has since been performed in a number of Australian and European cities. A sculpture in Cowlishaw Street, Bowen Hills, is called Cloudland Memorial Arch and was created by Jamie Maclean.
In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, the demolition of Cloudland was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for its role as a 'defining moment'.
Namesake
The name of this venue was used in 2009 by a new Brisbane nightclub located approximately away, in Fortitude Valley
Fortitude Valley (often called "The Valley" by local residents) is an inner suburb of the City of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. In the , Fortitude Valley had a population of 9,708 people. The suburb features two pedestr ...
.
See also
*History of Brisbane
Brisbane's recorded history dates from 1799, when Matthew Flinders explored Moreton Bay on an expedition from Port Jackson, although the region had long been occupied by the Yugara and Turrbal aboriginal tribes. The town was conceived initia ...
* List of destroyed heritage
* Billo Smith, a main act during the 1950s
References
Further reading
*
External links
Cloudland Bar
- Modern namesake.
Remembering Cloudland: 40 years since the demolition of a Brisbane performing arts icon
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History of Brisbane
Former buildings and structures in Brisbane
1940 establishments in Australia
1982 disestablishments in Australia
Ballrooms
Bowen Hills, Queensland
Demolished buildings and structures in Brisbane
Buildings and structures demolished in 1982