Dinner Party Entertainment-Business or Pleasure?
The dinner party is a common event in today's social calendar and it seems to
be more common place for dinner party hosts to provide their guests with some form of entertainment.As far back as Roman times people have congregated together to eat as guests at a friends table. These events would always begin with the serving of watered down wine, a tradition that still exists today in contemporary dinner parties where we see cocktails or wine served as guests arrive and mingle before eating. More watered down wine would be served with dinner, and yet more after dinner as the guests would gather to be entertained by readings of scriptures or philosophy, singers or musicians and even dwarves and acrobats. These parties were taken as an opportunity for a host to demonstrate his status, and so the entertainment could often be very extravagant.
In the middle ages, Madrigal dinners were an early example of what later became known as dinner theatres. They were comprised of several food courses, each heralded by the performance of a song unaccompanied by musicians, of between 2 and 8 vocalists. A play would be enacted between each course of the meal and the evening would culminate in a choral music concert. From their roots in Italy and dating from the 1520's, the Madrigal spread through Germany, France and the UK, before gradually being replaced in the 17th century by Arias following the rise of opera as the most popular musical genre.
In Victorian times, the dinner party became more formal in nature, with men withdrawing to the smoking room immediately after eating. Sometimes entertainment may have been a feature, and as most ladies were able to play the piano and sing, this would be the most likely form it would take, although card games and cricket in the summer time were also played.
During the first half of the 20th century, dinner parties became much more of rarity as a result of the 2 world wars. Only the most wealthy were able to indulge in such extravagances and pomp and ceremony more commonly dominated over festivities. It was not until the period of affluence through the 1950's and 60's that entertainment and eating began to re-converge. The 1950's saw a huge rise in dinner theatres in the US that combined a meal with a show or night club, and in the UK and Europe, eating out became the status activity of the in crowd', and this would frequently be combined with live bands and other entertainment.
In recent times, the economic downturn and other factors including the increased price of alcohol in bars and restaurants, the smoking ban, a revived enthusiasm for cooking, an awareness of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and the availability of good quality ingredients has encouraged more and more people to entertain at home. As a result, dinner parties are becoming a more regular feature of modern day socialising. The popularity of shows like Come Dine With Me' the River Cottage' series' and the plethora of other cookery shows that are regular visitors to most homes have fuelled peoples imaginations; food, socialising and entertaining are being more frequently enjoyed together. As people are starting to explore new flavours and directions with their cooking, they want to share them with their friends, and of course, show off a little.
Extravagance and status have begun to re-emerge, dinner party hosts often taking the opportunity to show off not only their cooking skills but also their homes and, as with the Romans, try to impress their guests with as many extras as they can think of. Some have been known to hire caterers and attempt to pass off the food as their own, others hire waiters or singers to serve and entertain their guests.
Combining eating and entertaining is becoming the norm amongst friends, and it is also becoming of increasing importance in the business and corporate world. Conferences, seminars and business events often include a lunch or dinner, and it is now commonplace for these meals to be accompanied with entertainment. Event management companies now realise the role that music and interactive entertainment can have on group dynamics and cohesion and are beginning to explore this area and develop new approaches to team building and corporate hosting.
Margaret Cooke from the event management and entertainment company 'Opera Bespoke' told me: Dinner party entertainment has definitely seen an increase in popularity in the last ten years. People have always enjoyed sharing food together with the company of good friends, and it seems only natural to me that these times are celebrated through the joy of singing.' It seems that his has been the case historically and it has often been commented that people from the UK are generally more inhibited when it comes to activities such as singing with their friends. Hiring an entertainer to do the singing for you provides the perfect solution. You are ensured that you get good quality entertainment that promotes an open and friendly atmosphere, and saves everybody's blushes too. The Japanese have a long history of mixing business with singing,' Margaret continued Karaoke is its modern form, and only now are we starting to understand the role of music and socialisation in business relationships here in the West.'
I recently attended one of Opera Bespokes' singing waiters routine that was performed at a wedding reception to witness the effect on the audience for myself. Their classically trained opera singers dressed as waiters and worked alongside the regular waiters. Out of the blue, they began a carefully rehearsed routine, beginning softly and sporadically, then building in volume towards a fully voiced operatic performance. The guests were left stunned at first, and then bit by bit they really got into the swing of things. Afterwards it was as though some barrier had been broken down between them. They seemed to talk and interact more openly and there was a definite increase in the buzz' of conversation and general gesticulation in the room. The whole atmosphere of the party had been lifted a couple of levels. The element of surprise had played a big part in this and it was easy to see how this would translate into the business world, enabling colleagues and associates to interact, relax and eat together and then draw that social dynamic into the next phase of their conference or event.
Food and entertainment have gone hand in hand for many centuries of human history and so it is simple common sense that there would also be benefits to be enjoyed throughout the business community and so it is highly likely that corporate event entertainment is a business sector that will continue to grow for sometime into the future.
Dinner Party Entertainment-Business or Pleasure?
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