Debutants sway in rich blues, pinks and golds. Chaps arrive, dapper in their tuxedos. The coveted VIP passes swing around our necks as we are ushered to a temporary shed-like shack behind the scenes.
It’s the infamous Cambridge May Ball, 1989. We are ready, hours of rehearsals behind us, in our lustrous Can Can costumes. Thick with petticoats and ribbed tight with boned corsets, the bond just as tight among us. We warm up by drinking stolen bottles of Champagne (they DID leave them lying around for the taking, what can one do?)
We wait for hours stretching (drinking) and peeking through the makeshift curtains, forbidden from being seen. We see the rolling hills filled with tipsy University students. Was it King’s College, Clare’s or Trinity?… I don’t remember, they are all the same…rich in history, pomp and circumstance.
As we finally hear the first onstage call, we are met with raucous cheers….”Ta daa tatatata daaa da tatatata….” The Can- Can music roars as we run in whooping and yelling.
It’s show one of four that night. It’s a riot. We push through the arduous choreography, again and again, leaping from cartwheels to splits, making the Can Can leg cathedral to whoops and awe. The relationship between audience and us is magical. Caught in time.
The shows continue, more champagne is drunk and each performance becomes more and more frenzied, us and the audience alike. Until the last one, where we are finally allowed to don our fancy dress and join the frey. Rubbing shoulders with the hoity toity.
The night is long and full. We weave through the archways and old stone buildings stepping over inebriated bodies scattered around campus. We dance to D.J’s playing 89’s best tunes by Lil Louis, Ce Ce Rogers, 808 state and more classics hand picked by Danny Rampling and the like. Memories are made until the birds start to sing and the sky turns pink.
Time to make our way home. The lanyards are taken and the night is done. Our bodies are sore and the sweat dries, we chug Red Bull and walk home arm in arm, through the beautiful City of Cambridge. Passed the River Cam, the Market Square, Mill Road and home.
The night has passed, a moment in time, yet memory lives forever. Thank you May Ball, you were a special one.
'Curioser and Curioser' {Alice} 