Brighton Dome Shares Wartime Memories with Free Event
We are opening our doors for a day of free activities exploring wartime memories of Brighton Dome on Sat 6 Nov.
Brighton Dome played a pivotal role in the city’s war effort - from keeping Indian soldiers in good health during the First World War, to providing a place for young men and women to socialise in the troubling times of the Second World War - the venue offered a place for shelter and solace in very different ways.
During the 1940s, Brighton & Hove residents and soldiers on leave would have let off steam at regular Dome Dancing events. To recreate the popular routines of the times, Sussex Swing will bring wartime dancing back to the Concert Hall, with lessons in the Allies’ Waltz, an early sequence dance from 1917 and the energetic Lindy Hop, which originated in America and became a favourite dance in the UK. For fans of vintage style, Gladrags Costume Hire will display the fashionable outfits that would have been worn during the era of ‘make do and mend’ and a workshop will demonstrate how the glamorous Victory Rolls hairstyle can be achieved.
The personal stories of people who were connected to the venue are brought to life in an exhibition of photographs, letters and ephemera researched by Brighton Dome’s heritage volunteers. From the moving accounts of Indian soldiers recuperating at the Royal Pavilion Estate’s military hospital, to the fascinating mystery of how a young Brighton woman’s handbag revealed a wartime love story.
Brighton Dome in WW1 and WW2
10am-4pm, Sat 6 Nov 2021
Doors 10am
Allies’ Waltz dance lesson 10.30am - book your free ticket
Lindy Hop dance lesson 12pm - book your free ticket
How to do the 'Victory Roll' or 'Marcel Wave' hairdo 1.30-2.30pm
All day (10am-4pm)
Exhibition in the Foyer - Gladrags Costumes have provided examples of 1940s ‘Dome Dancing’ outfits
‘Letters from the Wars’ including Joan Nash artefacts and letters from WW1 soldiers recuperating at Brighton Dome
Café open all day with sounds of the '40s playing in the Foyer
Learn more about our heritage
