Dr Laura Hamer, Senior Research Fellow in Music, presented a paper on her on-going research project on Liverpool bandleader Mary Hamer at the Music and Gender in Balance Conference.
Mary Hamer led the house band of the Grafton Rooms, one of the most fashionable dance halls in Liverpool, from 1936 to the later 1950s.
Dr Hamer’s paper considered Mary Hamer’s strategies – as one of the very few female leaders of an otherwise all-male professional dance band – for performing her gender on the bandstand.
The paper showcased part of a research project Dr Hamer is currently undertaking with her Liverpool Hope colleague Dr Mike Brocken, Senior Lecturer in Popular Music, into the dance music culture at the Grafton Rooms in the first half of the 20th century.
The conference was held at the Artic University of Norway, Tromsø, which is the most northerly university in the world, lying actually within the Arctic Circle.