Name/TitleRoller Skating NHS Nurse's Uniform
About this objectRoller Skating NHS Nurse’s uniform, modelled on the original NHS uniforms of the 1940s, consisting of blue dress, white apron, detachable collar and underskirt. Worn at the 2012 London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony by Heather Spence aka Demolition Darcy, a skater with the London Rockin’ Rollers.
MakerLondon Rockin' Rollers
MakerLondon 2012 Olympics Costume Dept
Date Made2012
Period2010s
Place MadeEngland, London
Subject and Association Keywordssport - roller derby
Subject and Association KeywordsOlympic Games
Subject and Association KeywordsNHS
Subject and Association KeywordsNursing
Subject and Association DescriptionDanny Boyle’s Olympic Opening Ceremony was watched by 62,000 in the Olympic Stadium and an estimated one billion people worldwide. The ceremony told the story of London and Great Britain from its beginnings as a green and pleasant land to the working men and women of the Industrial Revolution. It included a visit to Buckingham Palace with James Bond and the Queen parachuting into the stadium, a celebration of the National Health Service and children’s literature followed by Mr Bean, a whistlestop tour of British pop music and culminating with the invention of the World Wide Web and the lighting of the Olympic torch.
The NHS section featured roller skaters creating a dancing necklace around the dancing beds and children creating shapes including the logo for Great Ormond Street Hospital and a crescent moon. The skating nurses were roller derby skaters from the London Rockin’ Rollers and London Rollergirls plus jam and recreational skaters from across the capital. During the nightmare sequence a giant Cruella de Ville, Queen of Hearts and Voldemort appeared, tormenting the children trying to sleep and put an evil curse upon the nurses turning them into zombies. The Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang also appeared on quad skates and a group of menacing, skating Dementors featuring another London Rockin’ Roller and London Rollergirl. After a squad of Mary Poppins’ flew in on their umbrellas and vanquished the baddies, the skaters celebrated with a pinwheel in front of Mike Oldfield performing In Dulce Jubilo(!). The skaters undertook 150 hours of rehearsal in the three months leading up to the event, which was choreographed by original cast members of Starlight Express (https://womenslibrary.org.uk/2016/08/05/nmrd-object-of-the-month-roller-skating-nhs-nurses-uniform).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Rockin'_Rollers:
London Rockin' Rollers (LRR) is a flat-track roller derby league based in London, England. Founded in 2007, the league is a member of both the United Kingdom Roller Derby Association (UKRDA) and the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). The league was started in 2007, by a group of founding members including Jackie Mason (derby name Jack Attack). At the time, there were only two other roller derby teams in the UK: the London Rollergirls and the Birmingham Blitz Dames. The team participated in the UK's first ever closed-door, interleague scrimmage (practice game) against Birmingham on 1 July 2007. They made history again later in the year when they played the Stuttgart Valley Roller Girlz in Europe's first international bout on 14 October, which they lost 94-71.
In 2009, the league presented their first home bouting season at the historic York Hall in Bethnal Green. The league also hosted its very first intraleague bout on 27 February 2010, a closely fought bout between the Voodoo Skull Krushers and the NeanderDolls. In January 2012, London Rockin' Rollers competed in, and won, the UKRDA's "Tattoo Freeze" tournament. In June, several of LRR were part of the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony and the 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony. In September, Kit Kat Power represented Team Sweden against USA Roller Derby and Jack Attack represented Team England, also against Team USA. In October 2012, the league was accepted as a member of the WFTDA Apprentice Program, and became a full member of the WFTDA in September 2013.
Named CollectionNMRD @ Glasgow Women's Library
Object TypeCostume
Object numberGWL-2012-20
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved