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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.
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Palladium ballroom
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.
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 Manhattan
In the Bronx
Big Three
In 1948, the Palladium gained in stature because of the so-called Big Three, 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-step. 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, Cuban Pete and Millie, 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.
Popular dances and dancers at the Palladium
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.
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 at. Different jazz musicians and some celebrities would sit in and play with the Latin bands. Others watched and enjoyed the show. Among those who went to the ballroom are the following:
The Palladium was in close proximity to the jazz clubs on West 52nd Street, among them Birdland, the Onyx Club and CuBop City. 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, among other delights, 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 Mambo Kings movie
The dance floor and bandstand of the Palladium was lovingly recreated in the feature film Mambo Kings, starring Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas, about the great era of the mambo at the Palladium Ballroom and about the toughest dance promoter that ever was (Federico Pagani), in which Roscoe Lee Brown played the part of promoter Fernando Pérez; he would listen to what you had to offer in music. The character of Fernando Pérez could make you or break you and was very serious and honest in telling you if you had a chance to make it or not. 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.