About The Avalon Ball
Days Gone By: Once a year we travel the 26 miles from Long Beach to Avalon for an afternoon and evening of fun with friends. We leave Long Beach in the afternoon, tour the island, and dine at one of the fine restaurants. We change into our "formal wear" and off we go to the Catalina Ballroom. We dance for several hours and then head to the Catalina Express boat at 11:00 PM for a quick and restful ride home. In bed by 12:30 and ready for the next day.
The Last Several Years We Stayed Overnight: We leave Long Beach in the afternoon and go to Catalina staying at the Villa Portofino Hotel. We dine with friends Friday and then go to the movies. Saturday we play golf, shop, and sightsee then prepare for the gala evening at the Casino... Formal or vintage wear encouraged . Sunday we return to reality.
Please join us for the Avalon Ball of
2005,
2006,
2007,
2008,
2009,
2010,
2011,
2012,
2013,
2014,
2015,
2016,
2017,
2018,
2019,
2020,
2021,
2022
2023
COVID-19 did in the 2020 and 2021 events but we are on for 2022!
In 2023 Bob and I decided we had gone for many years and the dance was the same, two steps most of the night and the hotel reservations were skyrocketing. Command decision, stay home.
One of these days we will get out the old photo albums and digitize 2002-2004 completing the 17 years we have been going to the ball.
We dance on the top floor of this huge building.
What Happened In 2011 Stays In 2011..... Right??
Click to see the fullsize collage from the 2011 adventure
The 2012 Adventure Was Again A Blast!
Click to see the full sized image (2400px by 1800px)
The Pirates Of Avalon
Various Hollywood performers put on a pirate-themed variety show on Catalina Island, with a number of amiable stars in the audience. It was released 21 November 1935 (USA)
About The Mora Modern Rhythmists
MORA'S MODERN RHYTHMISTS was originally formed in 1994 by Dean Mora, a Los Angeles-area pianist whose interest in the 1920s and 1930s was forged early on as a child (he saw the movie "The Sting" when he was 11, and was instantly hooked). Their repertoire first consisted of popular jazz hits of the 1920's and early 1930's, but soon started to include tunes that would be considered precursors to Swing. This was reflected in their first CD, "My Favorite Band" , released in 1996, which revealed their affinity for both the styles of Roaring '20s hot jazz and the pre-Swing Era dance tunes of the 1930's.
Following a series of small concerts around the Los Angeles area, the band was booked at the world-famous Derby, a nightclub housed in one of the original Brown Derby Restaurants in Hollywood. Soon, the band had garnered a reputation as one of the best swing bands in Los Angeles, and their Monday night performances soon gained a cult following among dancers and band enthusiasts, and they remained at the club for almost three years.
Since then, the band has played in a number of historic venues in Southern California, including the Hollywood Palladium, the Wiltern Theatre, the Avalon Casino Ballroom, the Alex Theatre, the Wilshire Ebell Club, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the Biltmore Hotel, the Oviatt Building, and at both the Los Angeles and Orpheum Theatres in downtown Los Angeles for the Los Angeles Conservancy's hugely popular "Last Remaining Seats" series.
Who Has Gone With Us Over The Years?