Loud Latin Rhythmic music would blast through the open
windows and doorways of apartment dwellings penetrating the ears of reluctant
hearers. Puerto Ricans have always loved their music and plenty of it back then
and even now, whether they are cooking, doing the laundry, cleaning the house or
driving a car. There is something in the rhythmic beat of Latin music that
reaches into their very soul. Their style of musical compositions incredibly
rich in Latin variations of tone, blend the base ingredients of rhythm, melody,
and harmony sounded by one or more instruments which may include trumpets,
trombones, saxophones, piano, drums, maracas, cowbells and guitars. For many of
the Puerto Ricans in "El Barrio," dancing was an escape from the frustrations of
their daily lives." It didn't matter how tired they felt or how miserable their
lives were, as soon as their bodies were swept up by the passionate rhythm they
would become rejuvenated , literally dancing until they dropped.
El Cha-Cha-Cha
This dance was first seen in the dance-halls of America, in the early 50s,
following closely Mambo, from which it was developed. The music is slower than
Mambo. Mambo dancing was a sensual Cuban dance and it was one of the most
popular form of dances in the United States. After the World War II the Mambo
was pushed aside by the Cha, Cha, Cha which became popular around 1956.
There was a growing popularity of Latin dance music during the forties and
fifties. Latino dancers from all over Spanish Harlem would flock to the "Park
Palace Ballroom" located at 110th Street and Fifth Avenue, El Caborojeņo and
Broad-way Casino, two popular dancehalls on the west side of Manhattan, the
Palladium ballroom down in mid-Manhattan, the Grand Plaza and Tropicana in the
south Bronx or go to the Roseland Ballroom located on 51st street taking
advantage of their Latin Tuesdays which were always packed, for an evening of
Latin rhythmic excitement. As the musicians played their instruments to the
greatest names in Latino music, "the partners , skins flushed with perspiration
would spin around the dance floor, whirling around each other. Their hips and
shoulders swaying in time, and feet marking the beat of the music" to rhumbas.
boleros, guarachas and the mambo, floors shaking under their body movements. The
young busty Latin women would heat up the atmosphere as they moved seductively,
swaying their curvacious hips to the beat of the drums. Occasionally a
flirtatious remark made by another male dancer who had a little too much to
drink, would set off a verbal confrontation between both men that would lead to
an outright street brawl of switchblades and broken bottles as others would rush
to their defense. Unfortunately, for the people from "El Barrio" there never was
a dull moment even when they wanted to have a good time.
Those from "El Barrio," who didn't go to the nightclubs, would stay at home and
have their own loud parties on the weekends. On unbearable hot nights many
families would sit on their stoops and spend hours in loud endlesss chatter and
laughter until the wee hours of the morning irritating the neighbors who wanted
to sleep.
