|
A
Concise History of Latin American Dancing in the UK
Latin
American dancing was introduced to the UK via Paris in the 1920's but
it should be borne in mind that, like Ballroom dancing, its roots go
back to Folk dances and such which took centuries to refine into the
present form.
Illustrating
this process we can look at The Volta, a quick and continuous turning
dance popular in France for over a hundred years beforehand which gave
rise to the Slow and Quick Waltz around 1775, its memory being retained
in the Volta Movements used in present day Latin.
For
the main foundation of Latin American dancing in the UK we have to look
to a Frenchman, Pierre Jean Phillip Zurcher Margolie, known professionally
and affectionately as Pierre. Born in Toulon near Marseille, his engineering
studies at Zurich University were cut short due to losing the sight
of one eye after being struck therein by a tennis ball, after which
he went to live in Paris where all his spare time was spent in the Dance
Halls and Clubs also frequented by Cuban, Argentinean, Brazilian and
Spanish immigrants who danced their national dances to bands of their
contemporaries who were there as artistes and entertainers.
A
heavy man, he only appeared to be slow moving but his natural aptitude
soon brought him to the forefront of the Parisian dance scene.
He
capitalised on both his dancing and musical talent by coming to London
in the mid 1920's to demonstrate and then teach the then 'new craze'
of Latin American dancing. His repertoire consisted of the Argentine
Tango, the Paso Doble and later a form of Samba followed by the Rumba,
although nowadays the Tango, rightly or wrongly, belongs to the Ballroom
Faculty.
By
way of an aside it must be said that by this time Paris had begun to
lag behind New York as the centre of Latin American dancing, probably
due to the closer proximity of the United States to South American,
particularly Cuba, plus the advent of its own 'Jazz Age Dancing'.
Pierre's
studio was in Piccadilly - imagine the rent of it today and where would
you get the clientele able to afford the economic admission charge,
but in that era most of the great dancing Masters, such as Josephine
Bradley and Victor Silvester, lived and taught in or around the West
End of London.
In his footsteps came Monsieur and Madame Chapouls, well known French
demonstrators who gave an exhibition of Rumba at the Café de
Paris followed by Don Azpiazu and his Dance Band who introduced 'true'
Rumba music to London.
In
the early 30's he engaged a young pupil as his partner, none other than
the now famous Doris Lavelle. It took several years but eventually she
was acknowledged as the 'Queen of Latin' alongside Josephine Bradley
as the 'Queen of Ballroom' and on the subject of honorary tiles, Pierre
was known as 'The Emperor'.
The
studio later moved to Greek Street in Soho, a cosmopolitan area of shops,
pubs, restaurants and living accommodation, where it was then safe to
walk around at any hour of the day or night.
Irene
Evans
|
