Palladium Ballroom

For the later Downtown Club, see Palladium (New York City).
Palladium Ballroom

The Palladium Ballroom was a second-floor dance hall above a Rexall Drugs store at the corner of 53rd Street and Broadway in New York City. It became famous for its Latin music from 1948 until its closing on May 1, 1966.

Opening of Palladium

When the Palladium opened as a dance studio and dance hall, it had a racially restrictive policy and did not maintain the level of funding needed to operate it. It had a dance floor that could hold a thousand couples dancing at once but had fallen into decline by 1947.[1]

Most of the Latin bands were scheduled for the matinee session, many of which were used as relief bands for the big society bands of the time. Latin bands for the most part played at nightclubs such as The Conga, The China Doll, The Park Palace, and The Park Plaza, located in Spanish Harlem. Manhattan Center, Audubon Ballroom, Etc. The Palladium needed capital to survive, so it opened its doors to Classy Whites, Puerto Ricans and Cubans. All people of different Races and Origin. Everyone was accepted. Private Investors joined in and attorneys from Big Law Firms also participated on this Joint Venture for their friends. Lou Walters and Pioneer Legend Promoter Federico Pagani.

Palladium starts featuring Latin music

In 1948, dance promoter Federico Pagani and Lou Walters owner of the Latin Quarter approached his long time friend and they asked Max Hyman and his wife Ann, an heiress to the Otis Elevator Company fortune, about booking Latin music there and to represent them to manage the Palladium. The Palladium with the idea of Federico Pagani The pioneer and legend in the Latin Music brought the Latin music from Havana Cuba to New York City was the first to start a Latin matinee in a downtown dance hall on a Sunday and Wednesday. The first booking, on a Sunday afternoon, was reportedly a huge success, quickly prompting the club to fill its schedule with Latin music. Among the top acts to appear at the ballroom were:

Federico Pagani was a very powerful dance promoter and empresario; he was well known to the American music audience, musicians' union and the recording industry. Pagani brought the Latin era to New York City. He opened many doors to Latin musicians and created the Latin music era at The Palladium Ballroom and showed that Latin music was here to stay. He was responsible for bringing many stars from Havana, Cuba and a number of upcoming bands, for example:

New York Latin clubs

Soon enough, Hispanic New Yorkers would be very proud of a highly visible night spot of their own in the heart of midtown, in addition to clubs such as:

In the Bronx

In Manhattan

Big Three

In 1948, the Palladium Ballroom gained in stature because of the so-called "Big Three" acts, brought in by Federico Pagani. These were:

The Big Three grew tremendously in popularity on the strength of their bookings at the Palladium. These bands were turning out mambo hit after mambo hit. Following are a few of the hits that were popular:

In those days there were no DJs who filled spots between band sets. The music was non-stop. It was a sight to see with the Big Three trying to outdo one another. Machito would play one set, then Puente would step in not missing a beat, and Rodríguez would blend right in, so you couldn't tell when one dropped off and the other began.

Mambo craze

The year 1948 started the mambo craze that eventually spread across the United States. It began at the Palladium Ballroom. At the height of its popularity, the Palladium attracted Hollywood and Broadway stars, especially on Wednesday nights, which included a free dance lesson. Dance instructors such as "Killer Joe" Piro — who briefly served as master of ceremonies at the Palladium when Federico Pagani was not available — Augie and Margo were featured dancers there. Cuban Pete and Millie Donay were one of the best dance teams at the Palladium. They appeared all over the world. Their daughter Denise Gerard still carries on these great Mambo moves that she learned from her world class parents. Her Mother Millie did the most beautiful body rolls. Tito Puente wrote a song for Cuban Pete that is as famous today as it was when it was first written. and Carmen Marie Padilla (later the poet Carmen M. Pursifull), would offer mass dance lessons for the huge crowds. Clubgoers of the era reported seeing Marlon Brando, George Hamilton, Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, Huntz Hall of The Bowery Boys, and others at the ballroom.

The popularity of Dámaso Pérez Prado's Mambo No. 5 (1952) was taking everyone by storm.

The Palladium was known not only for its music but for the exceptionally high quality and innovation of its dancers, fueled by weekly dance competitions and Pie Contest along with a Female Best Leg Contest. Ability to dance, not class or color, was the social currency inside the club. The Palladium's top star-performers, Augie and Margo Rodríguez, took the mambo to unimaginable heights. Another popular act featured was the group called The Mambo and Cha-Cha-Aces, with Andy, Mike and Tina. Mike Ramos and Freddie Rios did their side by side act never repeating the same steps twice. Funny and exciting were these two men who still dance professionally today. Marilyn Winters danced the entire floor in her one-woman show as did the exciting Carmen Cruz. Either dancing with a partner or alone, she always put on a great show. One of the best couples and most popular was Cuban Pete and Millie Donay. Millie was one of the best and did a solo act that really went over big with the Wednesday night crowds. Mike Terrace with his wife Elita, danced in the Wednesday night shows. They did a combination of Adagio, Ballet, Jazz and Mambo. He was one of the original Palladium Dancers and appeared in West Side Story as Bernardo. He was the prime consultant for the movie, Dirty Dancing. Ernie Ensley and Dottie were one of the featured teams who danced at the Palladium on Wednesday nights. He also had permission to tape the bands. Most Sundays he and his business and dance partner Frances P. Gillespie brought the live music from his reel to reel recordings to Orchard Beach in the Bronx. He also played the music at Side Street,a well known club in the Bronx. The Palladium also became a showcase for many new dance rhythms such as the chachachá, the merengue and the pachanga. These became just as popular with the masses as the Mambo.

Contests

Wednesday was Showcase Night. They held different contests, from pie-eating to skirt-raising and Best Legs showdowns and mambo dancing eliminations.

Jazz musicians, celebrities and Latin bands

The Palladium became the place to be seen. The Palladium was in close proximity to the jazz clubs on West 52nd Street, among them Birdland, CuBop City, and the Onyx Club., and various jazz musicians and some celebrities would sit in and play with the Latin bands. Others watched and enjoyed the show. Examples of notables who went to the ballroom include:

Jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who lived in the New York City area during the heyday of the Palladium Ballroom, composed a piece during the 1970s called "Palladium" while a member of the seminal jazz-fusion group Weather Report. The song appears on their Heavy Weather album and features a driving Latin rhythm.

Mambo losing popularity

By the early 1960s, tastes had shifted somewhat and it was clear a new sound was on the horizon. Suggested listening:

The Palladium closed its doors in the spring of 1966. Dancers' and music fans' enthusiasm for the music was not diminished. The Village Gate in Greenwich Village opened its doors to Latin Night on Mondays and Wednesdays. Federico Pagani started Latin Nights with the well-regarded radio host Symphony Sid Torin ("Jumping with Symphony Sid") and Joe Gaines, the host of "S/S Side Kick". Then Federico Pagani started doing the same at Tony Roma's El Corso (close to the Gloria Palace) on 86th Street and Third Avenue, Barney Googles, and the Cheetah nightclub (53rd Street and Eighth Avenue). These venues became the places "the scene" went to next.

Palladium in The Mambo Kings movie

The dance floor and bandstand of the club were lovingly recreated in The Mambo Kings (1992), a feature film starring Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas, about the great era of the mambo at the Palladium Ballroom and about the toughest dance promoter who ever was, (Federico Pagani). Roscoe Lee Brown played the part of promoter Fernando Pérez, who would listen to what one had to offer in music, could make or break candidates, and was very serious and honest in telling them whether or not they had a chance to make it. Tito Puente played himself, and Desi Arnaz, Jr. played Desi Arnaz, Sr. The movie's band, The Mambo Kings Band, also featured Ralph Irizarry, Machito's son Mario Grillo, and others. One of the best books written on the Mambo and it's history was called "When The Drums Are Dreaming" by Josephine Powell. This book replete with historic pictures from her private collection goes through the Mambo from its inception and it is mostly about the life of Tito Puente, who was fond of saying "Salsa is a sauce, Mambo is the Dance". Josephine Powell played an important role in getting Tito Puente a star in Grauman's Chinese Theater. The Hollywood Walk of Fame Star was presented on August 15, 1990. There are several pictures of this momentous event in her book "When The Drums Are Dreaming".[4]

References

  1. ↑ Cf. Rondón, p.1
  2. ↑ Singer, Roberta L. & Martínez, Elena (Spring 2004). "A South Bronx Latin Music Tale" (PDF). CENTRO Journal. 7 xv1 (1).
  3. ↑ Siegal, Nina (September 8, 2000). "In the Footsteps of Mambo Kings". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104802/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Further reading

Coordinates: 40°45′48″N 73°58′58″W / 40.76333°N 73.98278°W / 40.76333; -73.98278

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