Taking young viewers back to New York in the 1940s, this energetic adaptation of Dean Robbins’ book, colorfully illustrated by Eric Velasquez, features camera pans of the illustrations, Ron Butler’s narration, and brass-instrument background music.
According to the text, music and dance clubs were segregated during this era and New Yorkers mostly socialized in their own neighborhoods. Then in 1948, the Palladium Ballroom opened and invited all groups to come together and dance to Latin Jazz music that spurned a new dance called the mambo.
The story introduces “Machito and the Afro-Cubans,” one of the Palladium orchestras that relied on jazz trumpets and saxophones to create the Latin Jazz sound. The bright melodies and lilting lively beats attracted dance fans from many ethnically diverse neighborhoods to the integrated ballroom.
As expressive dancers move across the screen and aurally pleasing music sets the tone, viewers are drawn into the sights and sounds of the culturally diverse dancers. The follow-up author’s note (captioned onscreen and read by Butler) offers more information on the showcased orchestra and tells how the integrated Palladium Ballroom set the stage for the 1950s Civil Rights movement. And on a sweet note, we learn that the author’s parents met at the Palladium Ballroom.
Recommended for children's library shelves with a focus on music, dance, and Latin American history.
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