Avant-garde party 2009
The Beautiful and the Damned
Saturday, August 22 | 7 pm
During the hottest party of the year, the Brooks will be transformed into a sultry, jazzy avant-garde scene. Enjoy an array of activities including fortune tellers, black magic, back room gaming, and photo ops as well as fabulous food, cocktails, live music and other performances.
There’s a bonus this year! Two free tickets to the Art of Caring event at Chickasaw Oaks Village from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. Kick off your evening just down the street with food, wine, and great art benefiting Baptist Hospital’s Trinity Hospice House before the Brooks’ main event.
THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DAMNED is quickly drawing near and we want you to be there! The join/renew/upgrade membership cutoff date is Friday, August 21st - unfortunately you will not be able to become a member the night of the party. Call Kiley Robinette at 901.544.6230 to receive your complimentary tickets! Not an Avant-Garde member? Join online
Guests attending Avant-Garde 2009: The Beautiful and the Damned are encouraged to get into the mood of the party. Here is your inspiration:
The Roaring Twenties are known for their social, artistic and cultural dynamism. Society exploded in a million different directions: Jazz music blossomed, modern womanhood was redefined, Art Deco and Surrealism were born, fun and lightness were cultivated in jazz and sports, and there was an obsession with magic, spiritualism, and dancing.
Prohibition was the legal attempt to end the consumption of alcohol and, in defiance of this, gangsters and organized crime skyrocketed, bootleg liquor was all the rage, and speakeasies were the place to consume it.
African American cultural and intellectual life flowered during the 20s. Though it was centered in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, the movement spread to urban centers throughout the U.S. Across the cultural spectrum, artists and intellectuals found new ways to explore the historical and contemporary experiences of black Americans. African American artists and intellectuals rejected imitation and instead celebrated black dignity and creativity.
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Fashion Guide
The 1920s was the decade in which fashion entered the modern era. Clothes were both a trend and social statement. It was the decade when women liberated themselves from constricting fashions and men abandoned overly formal clothes.
Women did away with corsets and donned slinky, colorful knee-length dresses, exposing their arms and legs. The straight-line chemise topped by the close-fitting cloche hat was extremely popular, as was “bobbed” hair. Short, low-waisted dresses allowed women to kick up their heels in new dances like the Charleston.
Men often wore double-breasted vests, sweaters, and short trousers, commonly known as knickers. Men rarely went out without a hat of some form, whether it was a fedora, trilby, or flat cap.
Who you know: Coco Chanel, Rudolph Valentino, Jeanne Lanvin, Jean Patou.
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Music
The 1920s were also known as the Jazz Age. Jazz music saw a tremendous surge in popularity throughout society. Prohibition banned the sale of alcoholic drinks, resulting in illicit speakeasies becoming lively venues for Jazz. Dance music became enormously popular and night clubs were frequented by large numbers of people who all danced to big band music. The “Charleston” was a popular dance craze that swept the nation and at the time was considered immoral and provocative.
Louis Armstrong marked the time by popularizing scat singing. Sidney Bechet was the most illustrious saxophone player of the time. Dance venues increased the demand for popular musicians. Ballrooms sponsored dance contests, and the most popular dances at the time were the Foxtrot, waltz, tango, Charleston, and Lindy hop.
Who you know: Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, Josephine Baker, Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald. |
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Films
Films blossomed in the 20s, and movies were a big business. Throughout most of the decade, films were silent, with stories evolved from vaudevillian roots. The major genres that the time were melodramas, westerns, horror films, romances, mysteries, and comedies. Toward the end of the decade films had become all-color and all-talking. Some of the top films were Haldane of the Secret Service, Don Juan, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Metropolis, The Temptress, and Nosferatu, a Symphony of Horror.
Who you know: Noble Johnson, Clark Gable, Bela Lugosi, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Louise Beavers, Mary Pickford.
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Literature
Authors in the 1920s struggled to understand the changes occurring in society. While some writers praised the changes, others expressed disappointment in the passing of the old ways. Books, newspapers, and magazines were an important part of most people’s lives and formed a large part of their education. Here are some books and authors that define the period:
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Weary Blues by Langston Hughes
The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Home to Harlem by Claude McKay
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
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Other Cultural Phenomena
The Roaring Twenties is seen as the breakout decade for sports in America. The most popular American athlete of this period was baseball player Babe Ruth. His home run hitting and high style of living fascinated the nation and made him one of the highest-profile figures of the decade. Jack Dempsey won the world heavyweight boxing title and college football became extremely popular and captivated fans throughout the country. Harry Houdini kept people spellbound with his tricks and stunts, flagpole sitting competitions were followed, and Spiritualism and the occult swept the nation.
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