| Manhattan’s
three famous ballrooms, Roseland, Palladium and
Arcadia were easily accessible – on Broadway
within walking distance of one another from 52nd
to 54th street.
At that time I was too proud to take dance lessons,
everything came so easy for me, but I realized
that to dance in such superior company, particularly
at Roseland, I needed professional help. Wisely,
I started taking lessons…
My stay in New York, however, would be brief.
Around that time the precursor to today’s
Dancing with the Stars was The Arthur Murray Dance
Show, like the current TV show, it featured big
name “stars” from show biz and the
sports world, dancing with Arthur Murray teachers.
But unlike Dancing with the Stars, the style was
social, rather than competitive.
As the popularity of the show increased, the crème
de la crème of New York’s elite corps
of social dancers were recruited to dance with
the celebrated stars.
At the time, I was a new-comer on the New York
scene, without style or reputation uncertain which
direction (style) suited me best: New York social
or Roseland.
Still…I was recruited.
 |
Yeah,
but not for the “Murray show”
– for another tour of duty with the
U.S. Navy. Consequently, I remained an unknown
entity for the next eighteen months.
Discharged in early 1952, I put on my hardhat
again, my itinerary spanning the mid-west,
Chicago and The Big Easy – where I spent
Saturday nights cruising on the Mississippi
river boats, getting acquainted with the “Cajun
hop” |
(my
own term,) a form of “swing” similar
to today’s International Jive.
Still more of a street-dancer, my return to Chicago’s
Aragon ballroom, after a swinging six weeks in New
Orleans, confirmed my belief (in later years,) that
American Style ballroom dancing – on a national
scale – was non-existent; regional, being
a more accurate description, like: New York Style,
Chicago, New Orleans et al.
New York, however, was accepted – nationally
– as the premier form of American Style ballroom
dancing.
The
Dance Educators and Dance Masters of America,
held regular “teaching sessions” at
prestigious hotels such as the Waldorf Astoria,
inviting teachers from all over North America
to “catch-up” with the latest, in
the New York Style.
Roseland and Palladium were the “in”
places, of course, but challenging for popularity
was The Harvest Moon Ball. Such was the dancing
climate of “Swinging Manhattan,” when
I returned in the spring of 1953.
“The Ball,” as it was known to the
“in-crowd” was the major amateur dance
competition in American – or more to the
point – New York Style ballroom dancing:
a serious event that required a year of training
with weekly contests held at Roseland preparing
the young “hopefuls” for the finals
at world famous Madison Square Garden.
By the mid 50s I was evolving from street dancer
to a budding professional. At the same time, International
was becoming a force to be reckoned with –
its unique dance position turning heads and penetrating
the veneer of HMB coaches.
Still an all-American event, however, one American
couple defected and entered in the International
Style. Little did I know, or imagine, that in
three short years, International would produce
a winner, thereby changing The Ball forever.
The year was 1958: I was at Roseland the night
of the “Preliminaries,” cheering for
my friends, Joe and Christa Mehegan, who were
favored to win the all-around championship, but
were upset by an International team in the foxtrot
competition.
A week later, at Madison Square Garden, the International
team won the foxtrot; Joe and Christa prevailed,
winning the tango and coveted “all-around”
title. But their victory was diminished, over-shadowed
by the historic event of an International team
becoming a Harvest Moon Ball winner for the first
time.
The following year, one HMB coach added a “flavor”
of International to the traditional Roseland/HMB
routines, producing another winner.
The impact on future Balls was significant, with
rival coaches falling into step. Having made in-road
into the prestigious Harvest Moon Ball and with
the full support of America’s major dance
studios – that promoted it as “The
Standard of Ballroom Excellence” –
International, successfully achieved national
recognition.
By 1960, it was solidly entrenched in every major
city in North America, the lone holdout –
New York.
Understand one thing…there was no conspiracy,
it wasn’t necessary. The successful take-over
was the result of a superb, organized effort on
their part, and lack of it on ours.
A clarion call should have been sounded: “To
arms, to arms…the British are coming, the
British are coming…”
But unlike 1775, when proud Americans rebelled
against the invaders, this time, they were embraced
with open arms by the American Tories.
Originating in England, it spread to the continent
and North America during the post-war years. At
that time, New Yorkers referred to it as English
dancing, the designation International Style coming
in the mid 50s. It has since evolved into a world-wide
“colossus,” so ubiquitous that its
“competitions” are held in the hotel
ballrooms of the major cities of the world: London,
Paris, Rome, Tokyo, to name a few…
During the ensuing years, “The Ball”
still managed to retain its identity, despite
the amalgamation of two “distinctly”
opposing styles. Noticeably missing, however,
was the Roseland Foxtrot
End
part 1
© This
story and others to follow are excerpts from my
first book “Diary of a Street Dancer.”
My email number for anyone interested in a copy
is: wdarian23@att.net
04-Jul-2010
The
Harvest Moon Ball part
2 please click here
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