Island Life August/September 2018

Feature
A decade of
Decadeance
It started simply enough in
2009 - as a one-off charity
dance party to celebrate
Island DJ Tony Martin’s
30 years in the business.
The event was a huge success,
selling out of all 500 tickets
and raising a total of £5,200
for two local charities, Barely
Born and the Earl Mountbatten
Hospice, which had cared for
Tony’s late mother, Eileen.
But the partygoers at that
first event relished the mix of
music, nostalgia, energy and
pure good fun and enjoyed it so
much that Tony was persuaded
it was a show that must go on.
Since then, DECADeANCE has
evolved into one of the most
popular annual events on the
Isle of Wight’s social calendar –
and the countdown has already
begun to party number 10,
happening in November.
Explaining the origin of the
event’s unusual name,Tony
explains: “It came from a mix
of decadence, as in ‘luxuriously
self indulgent’ which seemed a
good description of me playing
my personal favourites and
dance floor fillers from the
1960s up to present day – it
was a sort of decade dance!”
Partygoers were also encouraged
to dress to impress, and be
as decadent as they dared
to be with their outfits.
It proved such a heady mix,
that everyone wanted a followup
event the next year – and the
rest, as they say, is history. The
colourful, high-energy event now
caters for 750 people and always
sells out months in advance.
Meanwhile, it continues to
surprise with its decadent themes
– the most memorable of which
have been 007, Carnival and Spaceinspired
ones - while Tony has also
surprised partygoers on the night
with features such as pyrotechnics
shows, live Samba bands and an
ensemble of Star Wars characters,
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