series of five gala performances by Alicia Markova, Anton Dolin and the Ballet Rambert. The success of these performances led to the formation of the English National Ballet. Circuses The arena was well known as a venue for circuses. It was home to Tom Arnold's annual Harringay Circus for eleven seasons from Christmas 1947 to Christmas 1957. For the first circus show in 1947 Arnold hired twenty baby elephants specially imported from Ceylon by the Chipperfield family. They arrived at the George V Dock in London's Docklands in October 1947 on SS Arbratus. Billy Smart occasionally appeared in these shows. At one of the Mammoth Christmas Circuses, he spray-painted five of his elephants white, yellow, blue, cream and pink. The 1952 circus included an elephant act with Sabu, the young Indian actor made famous by his appearance in films such as The Thief of Baghdad. The resident band for the circuses was led by Charles Shadwell; the signature tune "Down with the Curtain" always introduced the proceedings. The arena also hosted a number of other circus shows. In 1956 the Moscow State Circus came to Harringay, the first occasion on which a state circus from the Soviet Union had visited Western Europe. Other events included a handful of western cowboy shows in the 1950s, including the 1952 Texas Western Spectacle, starring the famous cowboy singer/actor Tex Ritter. Other events There were ice skating shows including the huge production of Rose Marie on Ice in July 1950 starring the 1948 Olympic Champion Barbara Ann Scott. The Arena was also open as an Ice skating venue for the public. Harringay was the venue for the first National Colliery Music Festival in 1948. The festival included eight brass bands, three pipe bands and nine male voice choirs, all from collieries around the UK. There were also displays of clog dancing and sword dancing by colliery groups. The finale was a performance by a 700-strong choir accompanied by a massed brass band and conducted by Sir Adrian Boult. American evangelist Billy Graham held his first 'Crusade' in the UK at the Arena from 1 March – 12 May 1954. Audiences could hear Graham event Sunday during the three-month crusade. It was the first of 23 'crusades' and 'missions' that he held in the UK between 1954 and 1991. His visit was started off with a gala event at the stadium which included a visit