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When and Where was the dance created? The "Balboa" got its name from the Balboa Peninsula at Newport Beach, situated on the coast about 40 miles south of Los Angeles in California. The dance was first done at the beach Pavilion and then latterly at the famous Rendezvous Ballroom.
Willie Desatof said; "Pure Balboa was done strictly in Orange County" (includes Newport Beach) whereas Bal Swing was done mainly in Los Angeles County. Very few people travelled and therefore did both dances". The Balboa Pavilion The Balboa Pavilion was built on the bay side of the sandy Balboa Peninsula as a Victorian bath house in 1905. It was the first significant building on the Peninsula and has survived to this day. It paved the way for the subsequent development of Balboa as a fashionable beach resort for day trippers from the Greater Los Angeles area. In 1923 the Pavilion underwent remodelling making it more suitable for dancing. The popularity of dancing at the Pavilion lead to the building of the much larger Rendezvous Ballroom a few blocks away. The Rendezvous Ballroom The Rendezvous Ballroom was built in 1928 on a grand scale. It was a two story dance hall covering half a block with a capacity probably in excess of 4000 at its peak. Its hard to imagine so many people at a dance but the fact that it had a parking lot with 1000 spaces helps to give an idea of the sheer size of the place! The dance floor was 12,000 square feet and could easily accommodate over 1,500 couples. There was a 64 foot soda fountain on the ground floor along with dozens of couches. The upper mezzanine and balcony surrounding the dance floor had 50 more couches and another smaller soda fountain. A fire destroyed the building in 1935 but incredibly they managed to re-build the Ballroom in less than 3 months. Most of the famous big bands of the time played there including Bob Crosby, Harry James, Gene Krupa, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Woody Herman, Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman, Charlie Barnet, Les Brown, Guy Lombardo, Ted Lewis, Artie Shaw, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, the Andrews Sisters and many others. By 1938 the ballroom was dubbed the "Queen of Swing" by Look Magazine. Later in the 40s more progressive jazz took over and Stan Kenton even owned the Ballroom for a short time. The venue then faded from glory a little before a brief 'Surf Sound' inspired resurgence in the late 50's and early 60's. Sadly the Rendezvous was completely destroyed by fire in 1966.
The Ray Rand Swingers Ray Rand was the manager of the Dianna Ballroom in Culver City (close to Los Angeles). He was a keen dancer himself and his ballroom was one of the favourite haunts for the better dancers of the time. He got to know many of the best dancers and in 1935 decided to put together a dance troupe. The troupe was named 'The Ray Rand Swingers' although Ray's real name was actually Ray Randazzle. Special dance events, competitions, marathons, and such like were very popular at the time and he hired out his troupe for these events. The troupe became well known throughout the Greater LA area and were nicknamed 'The Big Four' by their local admirers. The four couples were: Maxie Dorf & Mary McCaslinThese were the most flamboyant dancers of the time and made an impact with their high energy performances. They had a busy schedule of performances all over southern California and were the west coast's undisputed premiere dance troupe. Many high profile gigs followed including the 1936 California State Fair in Pomona and the 1939 Worlds Fair in New York. These trips around the country brought them into contact with other great dancers such as Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. They danced in the dedicated 'Dance Pavilion' at the Worlds Fair, which also featured daily performances from Whitey's Lindy Hoppers. This particular Worlds Fair is still acclaimed as one of the best ever so they were definitely getting some top notch gigs. Unfortunately, the war brought an end to Ray's enterprises. Presumably, the work began to dry up and Ray stopped taking bookings around late 1939 or early 1940. Some of the dancers continued to work though, making occasional film appearances throughout the war years. Maxie Dorf joined the US Navy and served in the war. However, it doesn't appear that many of the other big names were directly involved in the war effort.
Next: Balboa Today
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