A composer friend of mine told me he is going to Miami to shoot some video of a dancer he knows there.

"Oh really," I said, "and who would that be?"

"Cuban Pete" he said.

Wow! Cuban Pete! That guy is super famous! I mean, Desi Arnaz gave him the nickname Cuban Pete! Apparently my friend is really good friends with Pete -- he's his personal videographer. So how cool is that!

Here's a great link from the Planet Salsa Web site on the Mambo craze that gripped North America in the 1950s, and the role that Cuban Pete and his dance partner Millie Donay played.

And of course that got me thinking of Mambo Kings, the movie (with Armand Assante and Antonio Banderas, the latter who starred in the Nine revival on Broadway with Jane Krakowski who I mentioned briefly in a previous post!) which showcased Cuban Pete and Millie Donay on the dance floor.

Which got me thinking of Mambo Kings the Musical (produced by Daryl and Jordan Roth) which is coming to the Broadway Theater in NYC this summer.

Which made me think about writing this post.

Mamma love Mambo!

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