The Rivoli Ballroom is the only intact 1950s ballroom remaining in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. It is famed for its original decor and interior fittings, including red velvet,
flock wallpaper
Flocking is the process of depositing many small fiber particles (called flock) onto a surface. It can also refer to the texture produced by the process, or to any material used primarily for its flocked surface. Flocking of an article can be per ...
, chandeliers, glitter balls and oversized Chinese lanterns. The venue is often used as a film location and plays host to many dance and musical events.
History
The current building was originally the ''Crofton Park Picture Palace'' which opened in July 1913. It was designed by Henley Attwater with a simple barrel-vaulted auditorium. It became The Rivoli Cinema in 1929.
The last film there was shown on 2 March 1957 after which the building was converted to a dance hall by local businessman Leonard Tomlin. It reopened as The Rivoli on Boxing Day, 1959 with a large Canadian sprung maple dance floor. Further improvements were made with the addition of a Member's Bar in 1960. It is currently owned by Bill Mannix.
Style
Exterior
The Brockley Road frontage is based on an
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
elevation which dates from 1931. A broad flight of steps passes into a deep-recessed central foyer.
Pilasters
In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...
, topped with plasterwork urns, terminate the elevation and the frontage currently features two signs reading 'Dancing' and 'Tonight'.
Interior
The ballroom comprises an eclectic mix of neo-classical, Deco and oriental motifs set within an exotic and luxuriant decorative scheme mainly dating from the 1950s. The main auditorium ceiling survives from the earlier cinema. From the off-street entrance steps a small foyer is reached featuring a raked floor and Deco-style marquetry panelling. The main motif is a geometric composition of intersecting curves in a shape with broad segmental top, tapering centre and curved base. The design is accentuated through the use of dark wood inlay and a diamond shape in the centre is picked out in glass or mirror. Although 1920s in inspiration, it is characteristic of the 1950s fashion for reviving the Deco aesthetic that had been unwillingly abandoned with the onset of WWII.
The foyer leads directly into the ballroom, a large auditorium with a shallow barrel-vaulted ceiling, complete with raised viewing dais, stage, proscenium, fixed banquettes and a sprung maple dance floor. The decorative scheme is kitsch and flamboyant, the effect created through red velour padded walls with gilt picture-frame style panels and decorated pilasters, scallop-shaped lights, a red velour pelmet, French chandeliers and Chinese lanterns.
Either side of the ballroom are two bars, running the length of the hall, one dating 1958 and the other of 1960. The right hand bar of 1958 features booths and tables with leather upholstery arranged similar to a railway-carriage. The bar at the end of the room has a tiled front of Arabesque interlaced patterns. Lighting is provided by exotic saucer-shaped lamps decorated with a mixture of Georgian and oriental patterns. The panelling motif established in the foyer is continued on various doors, to the ladies powder room and the gentleman's cloakroom for example, and there is also signage throughout the building some of which, to the 'Buffet' for example, appears to be contemporary with the late 1950s refurbishment.
There is a second function room, dating from the late twentieth century, with a neo-classical decorative scheme with gilded Corinthian capitals, a
modillion
A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...
cornice and Adam-esque garlands along the beams which support a ceiling adorned with photographs of Old Master paintings; this room is not of special interest.
Venue usage
It has found favour with pop video producers and style shoots – Tina Turner's " Private Dancer" video was shot there and rock band
Kate Moss
Katherine Ann Moss (born 16 January 1974) is an English model. Arriving towards the end of the "supermodel era", Moss rose to fame in the early 1990s as part of the heroin chic fashion trend. Her collaborations with Calvin Klein brought her t ...
are some glitterati to make use of the venue for shoots. It is probably most famously remembered for its use in the 1983
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...
The White Stripes
The White Stripes were an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (guitar, keyboards, piano, vocals) and Meg White (drums, percussion, vocals). They were a leading group of 2000s indi ...
played a gig there on 12 June 2007. Florence + the Machine played a live show there on 7 July 2009, which appears on the DVD packaged with the special edition box set of ''
Lungs
The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syste ...
'', and returned there on 8 November 2012 for a Radio 2 Live In Concert broadcast. On 30 April 2014,
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...
performed with his touring band The Heavy Seas, with a guest appearance by Kano. It is, however, more usual to find jive, rock and roll and swing bands making use of the ballroom.
Television host Justin Lee Collins also filmed his chat-show series ''Good Times'' there in March 2010. On 27 October 2010,
Kings Of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, in 1999. The band includes brothers Caleb, Nathan, and Jared Followill and their cousin Matthew Followill.
The band's early music was a blend of Southern roc ...
performed a set for
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
. The music video released for
Lana Del Rey
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Lana Del Rey discography, Her music is noted for its melancholic exploration of Glamour (presentation), glamor and Romanc ...
's
promotional single
A promotional recording, promo, or plug copy is an audio or video recording distributed free, usually in order to promote a recording that is or soon will be commercially available. Promos are normally sent directly to broadcasters, such as mu ...
, " Burning Desire", was filmed at the Rivoli Ballroom by
Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...
in 2013.
The Rivoli Ballroom has been a location for some films. In 2014, the ballroom was used for a flashback sequence shot in the 1940s for the superhero film '' Avengers: Age of Ultron''. Some scenes of the 2016 film '' The Infiltrator'' were shot here.
In March 2015, Noel Gallagher played a 'secret gig' for Absolute Radio, promoting his second solo album '' Chasing Yesterday''.http://absoluteradio.co.uk/schedule/the-q-radio-show-151/episodes/38592/
In August 2017, Martine McCutcheon filmed her music video for "Any Sign Of Life" from her latest album, ''Lost and Found''.
In November 2019 the venue hosted '' Kylie's Secret Night'', a television show hosted by Alan Carr and starring
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...
.
The Ballroom was used for a dance scene in the season 3 finale of the television drama series '' Killing Eve''.
Parts of music video for "A Love like That", lead single of Katie Melua's ''Album No. 8'', were filmed in Rivoli Ballroom.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s music video of “ Freedom of the Night” which released in 2024 was filmed in the ballroom.
English Heritage
English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...
in response to press concern about a possible sale, which might have led to its closure and demolition.
The venue was listed for the following reasons:
*Special architectural interest: for the highly unusual interior of 1958, the total effect of which is luxuriant, exotic and deeply theatrical.
*Special historic interest: as an eloquent and unusual witness to the era of American jive and swing bands, lindy hop, jitterbug and rock 'n' roll, alongside the continued popularity of traditional strict tempo ballroom.
*A rare surviving example of a once common conversion of an early 20th-century cinema to a ballroom.
In conclusion it was noted: "The Rivoli Ballroom is a highly unusual building which is of special architectural interest for its flamboyant interior and special historic interest for its rarity as a surviving 1950s dance hall in a former cinema."