By Cary Jenkins

LITTLE ROCK — Eight dance teams twirled, shimmied, leapt and spun their way across the dance floor Nov. 18 at Dancing Into Dreamland at the Governor’s Mansion.

The fundraiser for Friends of the Dreamland Ballroom featured a dance competition, celebrity judges and audience participation with guests texting their vote for a favorite dance team.

Amber Jones, the nonprofit’s executive director, explained that Dancing Into Dreamland was an evening about sharing the universal language of music and dance just as it was celebrated almost a century ago in the Dreamland Ballroom.

The program began with Lawrence Hamilton serenading his friend Mercedes Ellington, who was one of the judges. The pair have worked together on Broadway.

Ellington is the granddaughter of Duke Ellington, one of many stars who performed at the Dreamland Ballroom in the 1930s. A graduate of the Juilliard School of music, Mercedes Ellington was a June Taylor Dancer and the first black woman on The Jackie Gleason Show. She serves on the Tony awards nominating committee.

Other celebrity guests were David Miller, who has a weekly big band radio program Swingin’ Down the Lane, which is broadcast on more than 40 national public radio stations including KUAR; Leslie Harper, a former professional dancer and singer at Opryland and musical director for the Summer Musical Theater Intensive at theArkansas Repertory Theatre; and Arkansas native Steve Buckley, who was vice president of artist and repertoire at Motown and served as a talent judge on Star Search.

When votes were tabulated, dancers Allison Stodola Wilson and Jonathan Bostick won for their disco dancing routine. Wesley Crocker and Lawrie Rash received the people’s choice award.

The Friends of Dreamland Ballroom focuses on sharing the musical, cultural and architectural history of the Dreamland Ballroom and historic Taborian Hall on West Ninth Street. The building was constructed in 1918 by a black fraternal organization, the Knights and Daughters of Tabor, in what was then a thriving black business district, according to the group’s website.

This article was published November 28, 2010 at 4:29 a.m.
High Profile, Pages 46 on 11/28/2010

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The event will be emceed by Lawrence Hamilton with special guest Mercedes Ellington. The event, Dancing into Dreamland, is a dance contest of 8 dance teams, listed below, performing all styles of dance.

Dance Dynamics Junior Duo – Ashton Jones and Marina Redlich
Ms. Karen’s Dance Studio – Sterling Warren, Kennedy Sample, Raygan Sylvester, Hannah Bakalekos
David Carter and Melissa Napier
Beyond Ballroom – Wesley Crocker and Lawrie Rash
Roger McCoy and Kay Ford
Sankofa Performing Arts Dance Theater – Angela Burt, Gena Harless, Clarice Kinchen, America Jones

Kerry McCoy, founder of Friends of Dreamland Ballroom said, “It is somewhat of a mix between ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and ‘So you think you can dance?’” The Grand Prize is a trip for four to New Orleans.

There will be a silent auction, food, cocktails, text voting, open dancing, and a performance by Lawrence Hamilton and Mercedes Ellington. Dress is party attire’

The following companies are sponsors of this Event – Stella Boyle Smith Trust, Capital Hotel, Robbi Davis Agency, Oxford American Magazine, MainStream Technologies, and Ken Rash Casual Furniture.

For more information and to purchase tickets to the event visit www.dreamlandballroom.org and click on events.

Amber Jones
Executive Director
Friends of Dreamland
www.dreamlandballroom.org
amber@dreamlandballroom.org
501-607-0954 cell

Historic preservation is rarely quick or easy.

Just ask Little Rock’s Kerry McCoy. She fell in love with Taborian Hall in 1991. Bill Clinton wasn’t even the president yet.

Almost two decades later, she’s still trying to restore the old place.

Here’s how she describes it at the website www.dreamlandballroom.com: “I first fell in love with Taborian Hall from its outside appearance, a stately, three-story, red brick building, standing alone on Interstate 630, abandoned, with a huge hole in the roof letting in the sun and rain. I always envisioned my company, Arkansas Flag & Banner, housed in a building of such grandeur.

“After driving by many times, I finally got up the courage to come inside. Stepping over debris and skirting the homeless people, I worked my way to the third floor and … it was beyond love at first sight. Because the roof was missing, birds were flying around and the sun was illuminating the room. Staring across the open hole in the floor to the Dreamland stage and box seats, I had a feeling that was indescribable, a kind of euphoria. It could have been because I was pregnant with my third child and my nesting instincts were heightened, but whatever it was, it sent me on a chain reaction that I have never regretted.

“I love this old building and have had many offers from people wanting to purchase it, renovate it, make a club of it or some apartments and even a school. But I keep to my original vision. Maybe it’s not the best business decision, but it’s a decision of the heart — to renovate the Dreamland Ballroom into an event center to be shared with the whole community. If you are ever lucky enough to go upstairs and see the Dreamland, I think you will feel its magic too.”

McCoy created the Friends of Dreamland, a nonprofit organization to raise money for the restoration. Additional information can be found at the website. Those wishing to donate also can call (501) 255-5700 or send an e-mail to friends@dreamlandballroom.com.

Taborian Hall, at the corner of Ninth and State streets in downtown Little Rock, was part of the Ninth Street business corridor. For years that corridor was, in essence, the Main Street for blacks in Arkansas. Earlier known as Taborian Temple, it was built for the fraternal insurance organization known as the Knights and Daughters of the Tabor. A black contractor named Simeon Johnson went to work on the building in 1916 and completed construction two years later.

More than 1,500 people were in attendance for the 1918 dedication of Taborian Temple.

In August 1918, the Negro Soldiers Club opened on the first floor to provide a recreational outlet for black soldiers stationed at Camp Pike. The building also would house the offices of black doctors and dentists, along with a pharmacy, through the years.

The website picks up the story in the 1930s: “By 1937, the Dreamland Ballroom was firmly established on Taborian’s third floor. The popular dance hall with its famous ’swing floor’ was a hotbed for big bands, jazz and blues and the scene for dances, socials and basketball games. It was a regular stop for the Chittlin’ Circuit, a national touring company of professional black entertainers, revues and stage shows.

“With the advent of World War II, the USO bought the building and turned the first to the third floors into a club that served thousands of black soldiers from Camp Robinson and the Stuttgart Air Base. The Dreamland ripped and rollicked during those war years and beyond with legendary musical artists including ‘Fatha’ Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald, and comedians Redd Foxx and Sammie Davis. Local stars cut their musical teeth in the Dreamland too.”

The Taborian Temple became known as Taborian Hall in the early 1950s and soon housed the Twin City Club in the basement, the Waiters Club on the second floor and the Club Morocco where the Dreamland had been. B.B. King and Ray Charles were among those who performed on Ninth Street in those days.

By the early 1970s, though, what was known as urban renewal (but was actually the massive destruction of city neighborhoods across the country) had laid waste to the Ninth Street corridor. Taborian Hall stood empty until McCoy purchased it in 1991.

She estimates the cost of fully restoring the upstairs ballroom to be $1 million. She had hoped to finish the third-floor restoration work in 2012, though the Great Recession has slowed fundraising efforts considerably.

The Friends of Dreamland’s new executive director is Amber Jones. The native Arkansan is an Arkansas Tech graduate who earlier had worked at Curran Hall. An initial $50,000 will be used to install hardwood flooring on the third floor so fundraising events can be held there.

Ann McCoy, Kerry’s mother-in-law, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette earlier this year: “My favorite thing now is the view from the big windows. You can see the Capitol building, Philander Smith. It just has a beautiful view.”

A recent story by Becca Bona in The Daily Record described Kerry McCoy this way: “It’s important to note that McCoy is one dynamic individual. She has always been a go-getter, apparent from her hard work of starting a business when she was 20 years old with a mere $400. When the lively entrepreneur fell in love with the crumbling building, she knew that a project would ensue. She didn’t know about the inside of the building until later. … She said she had planned to restore the third-floor ballroom and make it open to the public by 2000. Unfortunately, the price range for renovation was always a hair out of her reach.”

McCoy told Bona: “I love this project, but it’s overwhelming. I can’t stand lost opportunities.”

Let’s hope Little Rock’s business leadership, which has failed to capitalize on so many opportunities through the years (note the impending destruction of historic Ray Winder Field by UAMS), will step up to help Kerry McCoy achieve her dream while preserving an important part of this state’s largest city.

PAPER TRAILS:
By Linda Caillouet

LIVIN’ THE DREAM:

Seems like a lifetime ago when, back in 1992, I wrote a feature on Kerry McCoy buying the historic Taborian Hall to house her business, Arkansas Flag and Banner.

She’s since dreamed of completely restoring it, especially the third-floor Dreamland Ballroom.

Renovation on the ballroom is set to begin Sept. 13. First on the list?

Leveling and securing the ballroom’s floor.

THANKS FOR SPREADING THE WORD!

LITTLE ROCK — DATE WITH A DRIVE-IN: Back in the late ’80s, this columnist, then a young reporter, embarked on a quest to find a mystic relic from the past her generation had missed – the then-nearly extinct drive-in theater. Success was found at the Galaxy Drive-In in Hammond, La. Pity the younger generations who’ve never experienced one!

But the folks at Arkansas Flag and Banner and nonprofit preservation group Friends of Dreamland Ballroom, in their thinking-outsidethe-box quest to restore the historic ballroom atop the business’ downtown building, Taborian Hall, are reviving this American icon.

Beginning last Saturday and running through July 24, at 8:30 p.m. every other Saturday night, the parking lot behind the building at 800 W. Ninth St. will be transformed into an oldtime drive-in. Gates open at 7:30 p.m. and concessions of beer, soft drinks, hot dogs and more will be sold.

$20 a car or $5 a person for walk-ups. May 22, Reefer Madness/Sex Madness; June 12, Night of the Living Dead; June 26, The Outlaw; July 10, The Little Princess (Family Night); and July 24, The Fast and the Furious.

Paper Trails appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Contact Linda Caillouet at (501) 399-3636 or at lcaillouet@arkansasonline.com.

This article was published May 12, 2010 at 4:28 a.m.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 05/12/2010

The featured performers include: blues singer Gil Franklin; the Unseen Eye, with band members Chad Carter, Jobe Kara, and “Chicken” James Dorris, who performed in the Dreamland Ballroom during its glory days.

“Not only will this event be fun,” says Dreamland Chairman Kerry McCoy, “but we’re also hoping that we can educate people about the musical significance that Dreamland once played in Little Rock’s Jazz and Blues community.”

Doors open at 8pm and bands will go on at 9pm. It’s $7 at the door (and maybe bring a little extra cash for the donation bar!). All proceeds will go toward the Dreamland Ballroom renovation efforts.

Take a look at our Facebook Event

For information: http://www.dreamlandballroom.org or
Contact: friends@dreamlandballroom.org
Phone: 501-255-5700

So buy a brick today and support the Dreamland Ballroom! We want you to enjoy it as much as we do. Help us bring the party back!

To book your photo shoot please call 1-501-255-5700.
Buy a brick here: http://www.flagandbanner.com/fab/productpage.asp?id=DREAMBRICKBIG
or print this off and mail: http://www.dreamlandballroom.com/images/stories/paver-proof.jpg

How long has it been since you’ve been to a drive-in movie? For some people, the question is, have you ever been to a drive-in movie? Experience the nostalgia of the drive-in movie while helping a good cause this Saturday as the Friends of Dreamland Ballroom hosts the first of six showings.

The May 8 showing of Charade begins at sundown, approximately 8:30 p.m. The 1963 romantic thriller stars Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. Concessions selling hot dogs, soft drinks, bottled water, Yarnell’s ice cream and Diamond Bear Brewery beer are on-site.

The screenings are projected on the back of the historic Arkansas Flag and Banner building, also known as Taborian Hall, with the audio broadcast through your car radio, courtesy of AV Arkansas. Viewers should find their spot in the rear parking lot behind Arkansas Flag and Banner.

The subsequent movies are going to be shown every second and fourth Saturday from May through September. According to Friends of Dreamland Ballroom, the movies to be shown cover a broad spectrum in hopes of having something for everyone.

Taborian Hall is one of Little Rock’s most important historic structures. During its heyday, the ballroom played host to Ray Charles, Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra, B.B. King, Duke Ellington, Arkansas-native Al Hibbler, Nat King Cole and his Trio, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzie Gillespie, and Arkansas’s-own Louis Jordan.

Admission is $20 per car or $5 for walk-ups, who should bring their own lawn chairs. Arkansas Flag and Banner is located at 800 West 9th Street in downtown Little Rock. More information on the ongoing work on the ballroom, visit www.dreamlandballroom.org/.

Proceeds from the movie series go toward restoration of the ballroom. Other scheduled showings are:

May 22: Reefer Madness/Sex Madness (1936/1938 – two exploitation films)

June 12: Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero’s 1968 cult favorite)

June 26: The Outlaw (1943 Howard Hughes-directed film starring Jane Russell)

July 10: The Little Princess (1939 classic starring Shirley Temple)

July 24: The Fast and The Furious (1955 starring John Ireland)

A famous old ballroom on top of the Arkansas Flag and Banner building in downtown Little Rock will soon be renovated.

THV’s Melissa Dunbar-Gates took a tour and spoke with building owner Kerry McCoy.

A non-profit group has been established to revive the facility; but they have a long way to go.

The room has incredible history. Can’t you just see a packed house, a full dance floor, and hear the trumpets of Luis Armstrong blaring. This room has been all kinds of things.

Originally built in the late 1800′s, it served as an African American USO club in both world wars; according to building owner McCoy a black fraternity used it to house women and children here in the great depression.

McCoy says, “I’ve had offers to turn it into a restaurant, turn it into apartments, to make a school out of it, but I’ve refused them all because I think it needs to stay exactly like it is be an event center for the community to use.”

According to McCoy the whole 9th Street corridor, where her building sits, used to be known as Little Rock’s “Little Harlem.” she said the street was lined with African America owned businesses on one side, and homes on the other side; and it is inside that old ballroom that African America entertainers came to play.

McCoy says, “A lot of the entertainers would perform at Robinson hall for the white people then stay in the hotel right next door and come up here to the ballroom and jam all night long.”

McCoy says, “I don’t want to do one single thing to it except make it safe and get an elevator up here. I want it to look exactly how it does.”

McCoy’s non-profit group needs more than a million dollars for the renovation. For a price you can have your name put on one of the box seats above the stage, or can have your name put on the stage, or the balcony in the back; and be a part of bringing the music and dancing back to the dreamland ballroom.

You can help make the Dreamland Ballroom renovation a reality by logging onto its website. There you can buy a brick for the new front sidewalk. Your name will be engraved in your brick.

Click Here to see the Video!