Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Michael Terrace/a/k/a Michael Gutierrez: Michael Terrace/a/k/a Michael Gutierrez: Dance As...

Michael Terrace/a/k/a Michael Gutierrez: Michael Terrace/a/k/a Michael Gutierrez: Dance As...: Michael Terrace/a/k/a Michael Gutierrez: Dance Asylum

Michael Terrace/a/k/a Michael Gutierrez: Michael Terrace/a/k/a Michael Gutierrez: Dance As...

Michael Terrace/a/k/a Michael Gutierrez: Michael Terrace/a/k/a Michael Gutierrez: Dance As...: Michael Terrace/a/k/a Michael Gutierrez: Dance Asylum

Saturday, September 7, 2013

The Clave By Michael Terrace

The Clave- 2/3 and 3/2

By Michael Terrace

The syncopated rhythm of the clave dictates all Mambo music. It’s the metronomes. That gives Latin music its earthy swing. A full clave has two halves, a front half, and a back half. The dancer’s and teachers , put to use the two side of the clave to accent the count of two, which is marked on the forward step by the male, and the back step by the female. . If one counts the eight beats in two bars of music the forward clave, called a 3/2 clave, is counted 1, 2-1/2, 4, 6, 7, with the two side being the 6, 7. In a reverse clave called a 2/3 clave, it is counted 2, 3, 5, 6-1/2, 8, with the two side being the 2, 3. The clave is not written in any arrangement and there is no clave player in any band that can read the written sounds of the clave. It takes years for a dancer to acquire and train his ear to hear the Three two-side and step on the down beat to be an authentic mambo dancer. Clave in Spanish, translated means “key” in English, supporting the fact, that clave is the “key” to the music. Claves are a musical instrument, two mahogany sticks, that when tapped together mark the distinct rhythmic clicking sound of the clave. Much a-do is made about dancing on the clave and ninty percent of latin dancers say they dance on the clave, but in reality they haven’t the slightest idea what their talking about and can never break in down.

Marty Arret story

Palladium home of the mambo.

Has a thousand stories

Michael Terrace a/k/a Gutierrez

Marty Arret

Part 11

Professional Dancer, NYC Public School teacher, entrepreneur, and one of the kindest men ever to grace the field of Mambo music and dance.

I first met Marty in the Bronx at my girl friend’s apartment, who was one of the best and most exciting female mambo dancers of the celebrated Palladium times. Her name was Vera Garrett. She and I were one of the more popular Mambo dancers in the Palladium show. Marty and Vera were the best of friends in high school and she was teaching him the basics of dancing and teaching the Mambo. Marty was the most eager pupil and at the time I thought to myself is he kidding, a short little fat guy wants to be a dance teacher. Little did I know, that he would turn out to be more than a good teacher, and little did I know what a great asset he would turn out to be for the Latin music and dance world, along with the kindness he bestowed on hundreds of musicians and fellow workers in the Hispanic community. I was one of the fortunate ones who received his generosity, kindness, his wit and his never ending friendship that lasted till the day he left for the Palladium Heavens. I know he went there because he was a Jewish Saint. On this earth, Marty was born of the Jewish faith and like Jesus he died a Jew. Marty went into several businesses and positions, all within the dance and musical Mambo World, and always making each one a success. Each step he took he garnered the respect and friendship of his colleagues and even of some top underworld characters. With his wit, intelligence and his ever present and generous helping hand he was loved and admired by all.

Graduating from Stuyvesant High School he went on to graduate from NYU with a B.S. degree in education and an M.A in supervision and administration in Industrial Arts, he accrued thirty post graduate college credits. He then became a teacher of Industrial Arts and was placed in an area where there were more Spanish students, than there were “Anglo’s” or Caucasians and where he first heard the musical sounds that changed his life forever. Those were the sounds of the conga, the clave and “Oye Como Va” by Tito Puente, which he went for in an enormous way. At the time there were many places in Manhattan and in the Bronx where he could dance the Mambo and Marty went every night to a different one, to learn more about this great new dance. The rumba was giving in to the new sound called Mambo and new styles were evolving, using a diamond step as the basic for the Mambo. Marty kept learning and landed a teaching job at White Row a resort hotel in Liberty NY. Coincidences do occur and this was one. Prior to dancing at White Roe he was a waiter there along side of the legendary promoter, Billy Graham, where they both waited tables together for one season. Billy Graham also became interested in the Mambo and together they would go dancing at Corey’s restaurant, which became known as the second Palladium. This was the time Mambo was huge in the Catskills, every hotel had a Mambo band and two or more Mambo teachers. Marty was new at teaching and just one step ahead of his pupils, which was quite common with most dance teachers in the Catskills. Ninety five percent of the teachers in the mountains were just learning to teach with no prior experience or schooling on the technique of teaching this dance. The Hotels didn’t care and didn’t know the difference; they were more interested in getting a free dance teacher and someone who would dance with the single girls every night. Marty was perfect for that. He loved women and was very successful at catching them. (And he proved it by getting married five times) Marty was not the best dancer around, but he made up for it by being smarter than most teachers and dancers and using his natural charm and charisma with a gentleman’s manner. Aware of his limitations, he sought out two of the most beautiful female dancers with great bodies who would enhance his act and also make him look good. And naturally his choices were so damn good that when he did his shows with these beautiful women, the audiences were only looking at the girls and not at him. But it was Marty who got the applause and the credits. As a sidekick, he also hired a male instructor who was tall dark and handsome and a stylish dancer and who also did a duo with Marty. His sidekick who taught with him was Robert Talbot, who was a student at NYU and one of the better dancers and one who later in life turned out to be my best friend. Bob was carried away with dancing and wanted nothing more than to be a dance teacher and even today though he is the head Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco, he still teaches the mambo and earns money dancing on stage, dancing with his wife and partner, Mona. Bob’s dream is to relive his life and go back to the Catskills and teach and dance.

Marty was able to put together a routine with Nina Lazar and Bunny Asborn who was the equal of Nina in looks and dance excitement. The trio was called the Marty Arret dancers. As a schoolteacher of Industrial Arts and Design, Marty was able to design patterns in the dance that brought out the best in him and the best movements his girls could exhibit that had sexy gyrations. With his newly formed act and his side kick Bob Talbot, they danced at every Hotel that had Mambo shows and in those days there was one every night of the week. One night Killer Joe of the Palladium visited Ben Makis’ club in Brooklyn where Marty and his troupe were performing and was taken by the trio, and he hired them to dance at the Palladium. Dancing at the Palladium for Marty and the girls was like dancing before the Queen of England; it was a huge honor and a credit his claim to fame. But unfortunately it was shorted lived and ended abruptly when the Palladium was raided and closed. That was the first and last time Marty danced at the Palladium. The closing of the Palladium devastated a thousand dancers and many more musicians, and the dance world was stunned along with a million guests who had attended the shows and dances over the years.

Marty had received many other blows. His first wife wife died of a drug over dose, which tragedy placed upon him the singular responsibility of taking care of a daughter as well as dealing with bouts of depression. But, with some good fortune he met a bombshell Puerto Rican girl that made his head spin and she spun him into a marriage. This lady was Chi Chi Navarro, a great entertainer who sang and danced with wonderful joy and excitement. Marty now found himself taking care of his own daughter and her three children as well, driving them from place to place to do her shows. They combined their act at the Pines Hotel in South Fallsburg, NY Along with Joe Cuba who played the dance music for them and their mambo shows. This marriage to Chi Chi lasted less than one year. But Marty took it in stride, he always knew where his real talents were and he used that intellectual power to guide him down the right path. Except, that is, in matters of love and marriage and that little weakness took him into and out of five marriages. But in the end he finally found success here as well and his fifth became the real true love he had always been searching for and that true love lasted till heaven summed him. Her name was and is Pattie De Vesta, daughter of a great ballroom dancer, Lillian Kenyan, whom I had the pleasure of dancing with a hundred times. Lillian was the best Lindy Hopper at the Roseland dance club.

Marty loved the business of dancing and music and he had idols in all divisions of the talented Latin dance world. The person Marty most admired was the owner of the Palladium, Maxwell Hyman. Marty went to Max, and conveyed to Maxwell his dilemma: “I’m a mambo dancer, a teacher and I’m not talented at either, but this music is in my blood and I know that I belong in this field and I want go with my gut feelings”. Max, the old professor said, “Use your Yiddisher kup and lead and become a manager, a promoter and an owner. Look, I like the same music and dance too and I sought out and bought out the Palladium from some dumb bells who thought they were smarter and tougher than me, but I knocked them out of the box. You can do the same by managing the raw talent that these beautiful Latinos have and help this now small group grow.” Marty’s eyes opened wide, his head started to beat like a conga drum and his cerebellum lit up and he thought of someone he considered a dumb bell that was running a mambo club into the ground. Marty was very thankful and said to Maxwell, “You’re a life saver again”, knowing how many people Max helped and saved. Marty immediately went to a low level dance club called Corso’s on 86th street, where Tony Raimone, a less than sharp but shrewd and well connected dapper Dan owned a failing mambo club.

Tony was a very good-looking mob-like person and a tough guy not to be taken for an fool; his street savvy was very sharp, but his business sense was stubbornly less than sharp. Marty was by far his superior intellectually, but getting Tony to understand was going to be a hard task. Marty convincing point was that he could bring the Palladium crowd to Corso’s and double his business. Keeping the steady pace of salesman ship, Marty said “If you allow me to run a dance contest and give a free lesson to early birds and hire the mambo bands that the Palladium used for their shows and dances, you’ll have a gaint success” Tony said “Wow that sounds good; but what if I hire the bands and let you run the shows and it falls flat on its face?” Marty responded, “Then you don’t have to pay me.” Tony then said to Marty, “You forgot one thing” to which Marty replied: “What?” Tony then menacingly said, “I break your fucken legs and throw you down the stairs like the bouncers use to do with fuck-ups at the Palladium.” Marty now knew he was dealing with one of the wannabe mob boys. Marty stood his ground and said: “The Palladium is closed, we can’t miss! There’s thousands of people looking for a Mambo dance place, if you don’t accept my deal, I’ll get the Roseland to do it. Don’t pass this up, I’ll make Corso’s famous for you.” Tony thought for a minute and said, “OK, here’s our contract, shake my hand and pray that I don’t have to break your legs and throw you down the stairs.” They shook hands and Marty sensed a tone fear about the person with whom he was dealing in with, and relief that at last, he would have his own Mambo club to run. Marty was scared to death and made calls to the mambo-nicks and called me and I went to the Roseland and spread the news. We placed calls to Tito Puente and Joe Cuba, who both loved the idea, whereupon they both immediately called Tony to express their confidence in Marty’s plan. Marty got on his thinking cap on and sent out fliers, got a press release to promote the Corso’s Mambo nights and the news spread widely and quickly by word of mouth, and the song was “Papa loves Mambo at Corso’s every Wednesday. It’s the new Palladium, with a Dance Show, a dance contest and free mambo lesson with an early bird free dish of food.” The opening was very close to that which occurred at the Palladium opening, long lines on 86th street. Tony Raimone was thrilled and hugged and kissed Marty. Marty was not thrilled by a Mob-ish, kiss but rejoiced in his success none the less. Copying the PALLADIUM to a “T” made the joint famous in no time, even the weekends were drawing big crowds. Using his yiddisher kup again, Marty started managing mambo bands, one was Orchestra Broadway and then there was Joe Cuba, Conjunto Classico, Hector Casanova and Santiago Ceron. Coros’s success was overwhelming for Tony Raimone. But Tony started to get jealous and railed at Marty, becoming obnoxious, abusive, he pushed him around like a punching bag. Finally Marty had enough. He lashed out at Tony “you ungreatful bastart I made a fortune for you made Coros’s famous,you know what” before marty could finish. Tony said” You luckly I don’t

throw you down the stairs, you’re fired! get out of here before I” Marty realized that all the pushing and lashing around was on its way to becoming more violent and so he found his way out10 of Tony’s club. Fortunately for Marty he didn’t have to look for help, it came to him, when the IRS raided Tony’s restaurant and found drugs; arresting his son along with Tony, and both Tony’s restaurant and Corso’s were closed. Tony’s financial accounting books for all his enterprises were found to have two separate sets of books and that discovery contributed to his downfall as well. So now Tony’s Corso’s was closed and he paid heavily for his illegalities. Marty was spared and was free to enter a new business. He had managed to save enough money to buy and start a new Palladium on Broadway and 96th Street. The building was owned by a company where Kenny Carmel was a senior partner and Vice Chairman of the Board. Kenny, an extremely well to do gentlemen who used his money first for his wife and family, and then would use generosity help many others. Kenny and his wife loved dancing and the world of dancers and one of the people Kenny helped was Marty Arret. Now Marty was associated with a highly sophisticated socialite with a very keen business sense.

The clientele at the Club Broadway, in upper Manhattan was ninety percent Hispanic, starting with the Mambo bands he hired, his office workers, the bouncers, numbering as many as twenty at times. But of great importance to the success of this new enterprise, Marty teamed up with the owner of America’s number one theatrical agency specializing in Latin acts: Ralph Mercado. Mercado was a promoter at Madison Square Garden of Mambo musical performance events featuring all the great Latin orchestras and performers of the times, from Tito Puente, Johnny Pacheco and Celia Cruz to then lesser known performers like Tito Nieves and Marc Anthony, who subsequently became stars in their own right. Ralph Mercado had the biggest following in all areas of Latin entertainment. Now Marty’s partner was a real businessman and his intellect was on a par with Marty’s. This time around they featured The EddieTorres Dance Company to entertain their new clients, in which Eddie Torres danced with his wife Maria and a long list of excellent Mambo dancers many of whom, such as Delille Thomas went on to start their own dance companies and Mambo schools. Eddie Torres had a huge following among the young Mambo dancers of New York and Eddie was single handedly responsible for reviving the classic, “old school” Palladium style of dancing Mambo on the “Two” beat just at the time when the Mambo started to fade and lose its cache. When Rock and Roll and then the Hustle emerged, the young dancers lost interest in the Mambo and in the ballroom dance world. But Eddie worked in Spanish Harlem and in the Bronx and was personally responsible for rejuvenating the Mambo’s popularity back to its former heights. Marty helped Eddie jump into fame by exposing him to the public at the Club Broadway by giving Eddie the Mambo shows on Wednesday and letting him MC and perform with his own orchestra and dancers on Sundays while he was still up at the Club Broadway.

Eddie was and is more than just remarkably good at the Mambo, he was authentic or “classic” in his Palladium styling at first, but later on he began adding many of the endless turn patterns and spins that became popular among hustle dancers and the Mambo style he developed lost some of its “authenticity”. But nevertheless, Eddie up for it with the “old timers” with his truly great dancing and especially by teaching the “on two” or “up beat” Mambo to literally tens of thousands of dancers over the many years that followed. Eddie Torres had a great talent for choreographing mambo routines, more so than all the others in the field, and that was a great asset for the shows in which he performed and the sharpies of Spanish Harlem loved it.

When Marty lost his lease for the building at which the Club Broadway was located he opened a new club at the former location of the well-known Latin Night Club, The Chateau Madrid. The new Club Marty opened with Ralph Mercado was called the Latin Quarter and then, when issues rose about the ownership of that name, The L.Q. And working together, Marty and Ralph created the most successful Mambo, Merengue Salsa night club in New York, hiring such name orchestras as Tito Puente Machito, Marc Anthony, El Gran Combo and Johnny Pacheco, to name but a few. Once again copying the Palladium was the way to go with the exciting performances by the best Mambo dancers available performing mambo shows and offering free lessons.

Marty had some good friends at his side and the one great friend was Willie Rodriguez. Willie is a tough Puerto Rican that ran the club as manager. He was in charge of almost everything; managing the bouncer’s was one of his hardest tasks. These six foot plus giants loved their jobs as bouncers and over doing it, for them, was pure pleasure. Willie Rodriguez gained a great love and admiration for Marty, one that grew throughout the years as he worked absorbing the manner of kindness, the generosity and thoughtfulness Marty displayed with the respect he gave the Hispanic people and their communities. Willie worked with Marty at night and during the day he severed as a Detective with the NYC police department. Willie recently retired and when Marty went to the Palladium in the sky, Willie became active in the world of Mambo as an entrepreneur, running mambo nights at varies hotels and night clubs in the tri state area.

Marty leaves behind a beautiful wife who was his beloved heart beat and soulmate, Pattie De Vesta, his son Martin Owrutzky and his grand son Joey Owrutzky, who unfortunately didn’t live up to the expectations Marty had wanted him to achieve but who does have the intellect and kindness that Marty taught him.

In closing I bring down a curtain of joy on a true friend that did it all and gave his all to every person that needed him, without asking anything in return. Thank you Marty you will always be remembered and loved. And we be will seeing you and all the others, one day in that Palladium in the sky. Mike Terrace

michaelterrace@gmail.com

901 237 5538

Saturday, July 13, 2013

The palladium has a thousand stories.

THE PALLADIUM HAS A THOUSAND STORIES

BY MICHAEL TERRACE

PART 15

THE PARK PLAZA IN SPANISH HARLEM

Catered to a select group of latinos that liked to dance to the music of their borne culture.It was located on 110th street and 5th Ave in Spanish Harlem. Synonymous and a precursor to the Palladium Ballroom, the Park Plaza was quite different than the Palladium, it had no hollywood stars playing a roll of glamorous importance or the Italian Mafia beaming the dominance over their turf’s No! The Plaza had its own elegance, they carried the crest of their Spanish noble ancestor’s in their social way of living. Good manners, good dress and the kissing of the back of a Lady’s hand,was a point of ethics as a moral principle. The Plaza was ninety nine percent Spanish,encompassing, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and some Cubans, the other one percent, were American white’s. They all came from with in the Christian community, between 110 Th. and 125th street. From 1938 up un-till 1948 the Plaza’s main dance was the Rumba, the danzon and the soul dance of romance, “The bolero”. It was closes to their existence, as it is to all Spanish people. Bolero’s are songs of passionate romantic love affair’s of the heart, poetic love’s between men and women, the mother’s of armor for her children and the earthy rooted love of country. The bolero’s have poetic signatures that bring tears to the eyes, each Spanish country his own. Spain has “Granada”, Argentina has “Mi Buenos aires credo”, Puerto Rico has “La Isla de encanto. and Cuba has Juan ta na merrra. Each one significant to their own country. All of these latin tints carry a special pride as newly Americanized citizenship, their are very mindful that many of them have a linkage from their great great grandfathers to the Santa Maria,the Pinta and the Nina ships that were sent by Queen Elizabeth from Spain. They proudly know that the Spanish were more than part of the discovery of America.

I alway joke around and say, “three boats full of Latinos came over with one Italian and he got more credit than the Spanish did. But no matter what country or state, every discovery was given a Spanish name.

Another discovering Italian I know also made a monumental discovery, he found The Park Plaza and put it in his heart with love,he placed the music in his vein’s and used it to dance to the boleros, the rumba and the conga. He view the light and the dark ladies of the Park Plaza artistically with verse, he always told me, “Women art a works of art, you must look at every one piercingly with loving care ,like a flower, enjoy the curves and design and hold them close when you dance. He’s a special guy with literary skills and a love for life at 92 he’s still rocking . Listen to an old professor as he sentimentally describes his inner feeling’s for the music and dance, that changed his life forever, a temple called the Park Plaza and a people, the Latinos he learnt to love.

Let me give a some verse with some Rice and Beans a little Mambo.

By Vincent Livelli

The Park Plaza crowd consisted of more women than men. I believe it was because during the great depression men had no jobs. Where as women were milliner’s ( women all wore hats)seamstress and dress makers with sewing machines. The mother and daughter duet was evident since girls were chaperoned,and came looking for a husband among men who could afford .25 cents price of admission. It was fertile ground. No long lines like the Palladium since people had no money to spend for entertainment . You could not hear the band outside in the street as you could at the Palladium. To hear latin music you had to stand by a fire house,that put a radio outside, ( Few people owned a radio) or at W 116th street. The entrance of the P.P ( Also known previously as the Golden Casino,) Women at the P.P. were either widows or mothers of young girls seeking husbands. You could see the difference in their dress.Widows had hats, many with feathers ( we saw some with paste imitation cherries) The daughters were very well costumed in the latest patterns since they as well as their mothers costumed made their dresses to show shapes.

I traveled to the Park Plaza searching for music of a certain flavor: Afro Cuban. I couldn’t dance a step, I didn’t know a soul, couldn’t understand a word, couldn’t play a note nor could I spare, during the Great Depression, the carfare and admission. At a time when there was little joy in the world, the music gave me the reasoning I needed to set off from Ft. Hamilton, Brooklyn, up to Harlem, when it was dangerous to do so.

I found what I was searching for the moment I heard the Happy Boys orchestra, while paying my twenty-five cent admission. The ticket window was grilled, like a Bronx bodega’s cashier. The only bandstand was a lighted area as I sought a chair near an exit sign. The ladies, young and old, were lined up facing the young and old men, all sitting on the rows of chairs along the walls. For the first few numbers that the band played, I felt no need to do other than sit and listen, filled with satisfaction at having found what I needed and had accomplished.

I was not destined to remain a wallflower for long, for after my second visit, I was approached by a girl who came and asked me to dance, something unheard of at the time. I wisely declined, feeling foolish—but better to feel foolish than to look foolish on the floor. What I needed now was the ability to dance rumba. On my third visit a tall black fellow came up to me. “I see you sitting—why don’t you dance?” “I don’t know how,” I answered him. “Show him how,” he said to his partner.

So it was that Rene and Estella, the top Afro-Cuban dance team perhaps of all time, got me dancing. That brief encounter was the first step that led me around the world on cruise ships, to hotels, nightclubs, dance studios and lectures, carrying Afro-Cuban rumba with me for others to learn. To popularize it was what became necessary, to pass its joyous content on to others.

***

There was no band stand or microphones at the Park Plaza, no amplifiers or spotlights, though alarm bells were visible in two opposite corners to signal to the bouncer where to hurry to in the room in case of need. Nor was there fire-safety equipment evident. The fire exit led to an alleyway that was shared with the neighboring Teatro Hispano and its fire exit, both leading onto Fifth Avenue.

The Happy Boys band, with Diorite Santiago singing, did not take long breaks. Their two-minute numbers allowed frequent changes of partners. Particularly favorite pieces would be repeated. To tease dancers, the band employed a mock break, resulting in chairs being thrown to the middle of the floor—in jest, not in anger. (This display of bogus protest was inspired by barroom fights popular in cowboy movies of the 1930s.) The music resumed with prostrate suppliants rising up off the floor to continue dancing.

As one of the only sources of gaiety during 30% unemployment in America, the Park Plaza’s rumba world was vital. At a time when, elsewhere, you would be asked to “Please leave the dance floor” if your dancing was considered indiscreet, here these behaviors were encouraged as an ingredient of joyful exuberance. The hiropo, that titillating, sexy, verbal innuendo of everyday Cuba, manifested itself in the physical activity on the dance floor, like intimate paintings springing to life.

Four iron columns supported the ceiling. The one in the far darkest corner served, in addition to holding up the ceiling, to provide support for the girl while her partner pressed into her, grinding away at her body while the music accompanied a clandestine, sexual-outburst performance. Couples would take turns using this structure for gratification. This was not acceptable behavior, nor was it condemned—it was conveniently ignored.

When the management of the Park Plaza installed a very large upright fan, the admission went up to thirty-five cents. It was set at the top of the stairway that led up from the basement, where the toilets and men’s latrines were located. Currents of air carrying male and female pheromones floated over the dance area. In this way ethereal substances, sex steroids, were blended into the suggestive lyrics, the flirtations in progress, the orchestral vibrations, the sweet-smelling tobacco, libido Latino, overlapping perfumes floating in the congested intimacy of a room one-third the size of the Palladium, filled to the brim with sensuality.

The large fan added spice to the feverish environment, increasing body temperatures to the maximum. The latrine windows were open to allow cold air to enter the building. A communal urinal there, like a trough found on animal farms, served to allow a constant flow of water that kept the pipes from freezing in winter.

No one lingered long, for the glare of the white tile walls disturbed one’s mood. You returned at the sound of the first note of the rumba to the darkness of the dance floor, the music and your partner, buttoning up as you ran. If someone were to yell “Fire!” the dancing would continue until flames might be seen.

***

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Sunday, June 9, 2013

My Bio

MICHAEL TERRACE

December 31, 1926 –

Born Miguel Santiago Gutierrez de Lozano to a Dominican mother and a Cuban father in Spanish Harlem, Mike grew up dancing to Latin music at family parties. When he was a teenager, his friend Frank “Killer Joe” Piro taught him basic swing dancing. It was not until after he was released from the U.S. Marines in 1946, however, that Mike began to take dancing seriously. Despite his limited dance skills at the time, Mike's good looks earned him a job teaching ballroom dancing at Murray Dales where he learned the popular ballroom dances of the day. Mike worked diligently on his dancing and soon secured a job teaching dance at the prestigious Lido Hotel in Long Beach. In order to become more versed in the Latin dances, Mike frequented the Park Plaza in Spanish Harlem where he would offer to pay skilled female dancers to dance with him for an hour at a time. He also attended early dances at the Palladium Ballroom (then Alma Dance Studio) where he met and performed with Vera Garret, his first mambo partner, and his first wife Nilda, who became his first professional dance partner. Mike Terrace was also learned mambo by watching his friends, who were some of the pioneers of Palladium style mambo, including Larry Seldon and Joe Vega.

In the summer of 1949, Mike Terrace began working as a dance teacher at Grossinger's Hotel, the Catskill resort with the largest and most prestigious dance staff. Mike recalls that his life at Grossinger's was filled with temptations to service wealthy women in more than just dancing, much like that of the dance teachers portrayed in the film Dirty Dancing (whose creator Eleanor Bergstein relied on stories Mike told her in creating her fictional characters). One summer, the tap dancer Georgie Tapps, an idol of Mike Terrace, came to perform at Grossinger's. As Mike recalls the incident, Georgie Tapps lovingly pulled him aside and admonished, “You're shit. You don't know how to dance. You want to learn how to dance; you go to ballet school. You sign up and take advantage of the GI bill that's rightfully yours. You become a dancer. You want to be a dancer, give up the shit. All you're going to do is become a gigolo here, and then they're going to discard you when you're too old.” The interaction altered the course of his life.

Mike Terrace quit working at Grossinger's, moved back to New York City, and began studying ballet through the GI Bill with the Vladimir Dokoudovsky at Ballet Arts. Through years of disciplined study, Mike acquired enough ballet skill to incorporate multiple pirouettes and double tours en l'air into his mambo dancing. Along with Augie and Margo Rodríguez, Mike Terrace was one of the pioneers in ballet-mambo, adapting ballet adagio lifts for mambo shows. Mike Terrace, performing with three successive partners, was one of the most successful dance acts to emerge out of the Palladium. With his first wife Nilda, Mike developed acts to mambo, samba, tango, and popular music. Their repertoire included a tango with a 16-foot bull whip and a number in which Nilda sang “I've Got the World on a String” while Mike danced. Another favorite act was “In a Little Spanish Town,” choreographed by Peter Gennaro. Their dance acts often included more jazz and ballet steps than mambo, making them appealing to broader audiences than mambo purists. They performed throughout New York and beyond at venues including: the New York Palace Theatre, New York Radio City Music Hall, New York Winter Garden Theatre, Roseland Ballroom, Raleigh Hotel in the Catskills, Chez Paris in Chicago, and Bill Miller' Riviera in New Jersey. Mike and Nilda Terrace were featured dancers on the 1954 Mambo USA tour, on which Mike Terrace also worked as emcee (replacing Pupi Campo who could not remember the names of the performers). Mike and Nilda dissolved their marriage and partnership at the end of the tour.

After splitting with Nilda, Mike began performing with Barbara Anne Gray, a former soloist with the Joffrey Ballet. Together they worked as the opening act for many well-know singers, including: Sammy Davis Jr., Johnny Mathis, Hoagie Carmichael, Johnny Ray, and Bobby Darien. They played extended runs at the Eden Rock in Miami Beach and at the Condado Beach Hotel and Hilton Conquistador in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In 1960, Mike met his second wife, Elita (Cleveland) Terrace. While he was training Elita (who had no prior dance experience) to become his dance partner, Mike Terrace continued to dance with various partners in Catskills mambo shows, including Kuki Martínez. Soon he began performing with Elita at Kutcher's Country Club in the Catskills. Mike and Elita were then booked to open for many singers and comedians, including: Don Rickles, Jackie Mason, Tony Martin, Carol Channing, and Harry Belfonte. Mike and Elita have three children and still enjoy social mambo dancing from their home in Florida.

Sources:

This information was relayed to me during a personal interview with Michael Terrace at his home in Fort Lee, NJ on February 1, 2008 and subsequent email communication.

Additional Resources:

“El Palladium: History of A Most Prominent Dance Hall” By Michael Terrace and Peter Settimelli

“The Palladium has a Thousand Stories, Part II” by Michael Terrace and Peter Settimelli

Header photos: Mambo Aces (Aníbal Vázquez and Mike Vázquez) and Jackie Danois

Website Design: Wren McMains, Additional Credits

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Palladium, Jimmy Vincent

Palladium story,

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Palladium home of the mambo.

Has a thousand stories

Michael Terrace a/k/a Gutierrez

Marty Arret

Part 11

Professional Dancer, NYC Public School teacher, entrepreneur, and one of the kindest men ever to grace the field of Mambo music and dance.

michaelterrace@gmail.com

901 237 5538

Que pasa magazine,articles

http://www.quepasamagazine.com/1%20of%20Palladium-House-of-Mambo_2-By%20MICHAEL%20TERRACE.htm

http://www.quepasamagazine.com/AUGIE%20&%20MARGO-Palladium-House-of-Mambo_2.htm

http://www.quepasamagazine.com/Joe%20Vega%201-%20Palladium-House-of-Mambo_2.html

http://www.quepasamagazine.com/MICHAEL%20&%20MARGOT.html

http://www.quepasamagazine.com/Palladium-House-of-Mambo.html

http://www.quepasamagazine.com/MICHAEL%20&%20MARGOT.html

http://www.quepasamagazine.com/The%20Dancers%20Francois%20&%20Szony.html

http://www.quepasamagazine.com/mambo%20usa-part8.html

http://www.quepasamagazine.com/Palladium-House-of-Mambo_2.html

http://www.quepasamagazine.com/mambo%20usa-part9.html

http://www.quepasamagazine.com/mambo%20usa-part9.html

http://www.quepasamagazine.com/mambo%20usa-part9.html