![Veloz and Yolanda 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Veloz_and_Yolanda_1.jpg)
Frank Veloz (1906–1981) and Yolanda Casazza (1908–1995) were a self-taught American ballroom dance team, husband and wife, who became stars in the 1930s and 1940s, and were among the highest paid dance acts during that era. They performed on stage in productions such as ''Hot-Cha!'', which ran for 119 shows on
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
in 1932. They also appeared in popular films such as ''
Under the Pampas Moon
''Under the Pampas Moon'', also known as ''The Gaucho'', is a 1935 American Western film directed by James Tinling and starring Warner Baxter and Ketti Gallian. Baxter plays an Argentine gaucho. Rita Hayworth also had an early role in the film. ...
'' (1935), ''
The Pride of the Yankees
''The Pride of the Yankees'' is a 1942 American film produced by Samuel Goldwyn, directed by Sam Wood, and starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, and Walter Brennan. It is a tribute to the legendary New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, who die ...
'' (1942), ''
Honeymoon Lodge
''Honeymoon Lodge'', also known as ''Second Honeymoon'', is a 1943 American musical comedy film directed by Edward C. Lilley for Universal Pictures and starring David Bruce, Harriet Hilliard, June Vincent, and Rod Cameron.
Plot
Cast
* David ...
'' (1943), ''
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
'' (1944) and ''
The Thrill of Brazil
''The Thrill of Brazil'', also known as ''Dancing Down to Rio'', is a 1946 American musical film directed by S. Sylvan Simon for Columbia Pictures and starring Evelyn Keyes, Keenan Wynn, and Ann Miller
Ann Miller (born Johnnie Lucille Col ...
'' (1946), the latter of which is credited as being of major importance to the growth in popularity of
Samba
Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...
in America.
Veloz and Yolanda specialized in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
ballroom dance
Ballroom dance is a set of partner dances, which are enjoyed both socially and competitively around the world, mostly because of its performance and entertainment aspects. Ballroom dancing is also widely enjoyed on stage, film, and television. ...
styles, and opened their own chain of dance studios, where many middle-class people learned the art of ballroom dancing. The studios closed down in the mid-1950s as new forms of dance became popular. Veloz and Yolanda did much to legitimize ballroom dance as a performance art and invented the "Cobra Tango", a dance which interpreted a fight between a snake and a tiger. A full-length ballet written by their son Guy Veloz, ''An American Tango'', is based on their life story.
Early years
Frank Veloz was born in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
in 1906 to a Spanish father and a Dutch mother.
Yolanda Bianca was born in 1908.
One of six sisters, Yolanda was from an Italian family.
They met at a high school sorority dance in the Collegiate Club on 84th street,
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
; Yolanda was sixteen and a student at
Washington Irving High School while Veloz was an office boy.
They danced in public dance contests, at first without success, but then won forty competitions, with prizes of US$5 or US$10 ($72 and $144 in 2018).
In 1927, they won the New York City and State Championship.
After this they lost their amateur status and could no longer enter the competitions.
At first, Veloz and Yolanda struggled as a professional team. Many of their engagements turned into disasters.
Veloz and Yolanda featured in the 1927 Broadway show ''Artists and Models'', starring
Ted Lewis and
Jack Pearl
Jack Pearl (born Jack Perlman; October 29, 1894 – December 25, 1982) was a vaudeville performer and a star of early radio. He was best known for his character Baron Munchausen.
Vaudeville and early films
Born in New York, Pearl debuted as a ...
.
In 1929 they were in ''Pleasure Bound'', another revue, with
Aileen Stanley
Aileen Stanley, born Maude Elsie Aileen Muggeridge (March 21, 1893 – March 24, 1982), was one of the most popular American singers of the early 1920s.
Early life
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Stanley was the youngest of four children of English ...
, Jack Pearl and
Phil Baker.
''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' critic
Brooks Atkinson
Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theatre critic. He worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his ...
described ''Pleasure Bound'' as a "rough-and-ready" revue, but called the act of Frank Veloz and Yolanda Casazza a has-to-be-seen "centrifugal dance spinning feminine heels in the air".
The couple married in 1929 and soon began arguing over each other's mistakes, even considering divorce.
Star performers
![Veloz and Yolanda in Champagne Waltz 1937](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Veloz_and_Yolanda_in_Champagne_Waltz_1937.jpg)
In the 1930s, Veloz and Yolanda performed at first in small night clubs in New York, and later at expensive supper clubs.
They appeared as specialty dancers in the Broadway
musical comedy
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...
''
Hot-Cha!'' which ran for 119 performances at the
Ziegfeld Theatre between 8 March and 18 June 1932. They got their break when they were performing at the Everglades in Manhattan and were spotted by the
Shubert brothers
The Shubert family was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district, in New York City, as the hub of the theater industry in the United States. They dominated the legitimate theater and vaudeville in the first half of the 20th cen ...
. This led to a highly successful career on the stage, in films and in supper clubs. Veloz and Yolanda choreographed the dance sequences in the film ''
Rumba
The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba ...
'' (Paramount, 1935) starring
George Raft
George Raft (born George Ranft; September 26, 1901 – November 24, 1980) was an American film actor and dancer identified with portrayals of gangsters in crime melodramas of the 1930s and 1940s. A stylish leading man in dozens of movies, Raft is ...
, and in some sequences Veloz doubled for Raft. The film ''
Under the Pampas Moon
''Under the Pampas Moon'', also known as ''The Gaucho'', is a 1935 American Western film directed by James Tinling and starring Warner Baxter and Ketti Gallian. Baxter plays an Argentine gaucho. Rita Hayworth also had an early role in the film. ...
'' (Fox, 1935) starring
Warner Baxter
Warner Leroy Baxter (March 29, 1889 – May 7, 1951) was an American film actor from the 1910s to the 1940s. Baxter is known for his role as the Cisco Kid in the 1928 film ''In Old Arizona'', for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor at ...
featured
tango
Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...
. Rita Cansino, later to achieve fame as
Rita Hayworth
Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...
, performed an exuberant blend of flamenco and tango. The high point of the movie was a performance of a "cobra-tango" by Veloz and Yolanda.
As the leading ballroom dance team in the United States, Veloz and Yolanda made US$8,500 (over US$150,000 in 2018) in one week in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
in 1939. They appeared on the cover of
''Life'' magazine on 30 October 1939, which called them, "The greatest dance couple in America." They were the first to give a recital of ballroom dance at
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...
They appeared at the
Chicago Palmer House and then at the
Cocoanut Grove in Hollywood. Veloz and Yolanda moved to
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
in the 1940s.
The Cocoanut Grove performances led to movie contracts, including ''
Honeymoon Lodge
''Honeymoon Lodge'', also known as ''Second Honeymoon'', is a 1943 American musical comedy film directed by Edward C. Lilley for Universal Pictures and starring David Bruce, Harriet Hilliard, June Vincent, and Rod Cameron.
Plot
Cast
* David ...
'', ''
Cavalcade of Dance
''Cavalcade of Dance'' is a 1943 American short film released by Warner Bros. Pictures and directed by Jean Negulesco. It was nominated for an Academy Award at the 16th Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (One-Reel).
Cast
* Veloz and Yolanda ...
'', ''
The Pride of the Yankees
''The Pride of the Yankees'' is a 1942 American film produced by Samuel Goldwyn, directed by Sam Wood, and starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, and Walter Brennan. It is a tribute to the legendary New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, who die ...
'', and ''
The Thrill of Brazil
''The Thrill of Brazil'', also known as ''Dancing Down to Rio'', is a 1946 American musical film directed by S. Sylvan Simon for Columbia Pictures and starring Evelyn Keyes, Keenan Wynn, and Ann Miller
Ann Miller (born Johnnie Lucille Col ...
''.
Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn (born Szmuel Gelbfisz; yi, שמואל געלבפֿיש; August 27, 1882 (claimed) January 31, 1974), also known as Samuel Goldfish, was a Polish-born American film producer. He was best known for being the founding contributor a ...
had insisted on having a nightclub sequence with Veloz and Yolanda in ''The Pride of the Yankees'' to give some interest for women in what was otherwise a baseball movie.
They performed in ''Dancing with the Stars'' at the
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018.
The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...
in 1942, 1944 and 1946.
Other activities
![Veloz and Yolanda with their race horse Veolanda 1938](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Veloz_and_Yolanda_with_their_race_horse_Veolanda_1938.jpg)
Both Frank and Yolanda were
Christian Scientist
Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...
s. Yolanda always carried a knitted bag with her holding ''
the Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
'' and ''
Science and Health''. She attended the same Christian Science church as
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...
for many years.
Off stage, she was quiet, modest and wore plain clothes, saying "pretty" clothes were for her performances.
Her stage dresses, all designed by Frank, were exquisite.
Their first child, Frank Jr., was born in 1940.
They had four children in all, called the "million dollar babies" due to the amount of income the couple lost while Yolanda was pregnant and then nursing a newborn. Two of these children died in their twenties.
In 1938, Veloz and Yolanda published a dance manual, ''Tango and Rumba: The Dances of Today and Tomorrow'' (New York: Harper & Brothers), co-written with Willard Hall.
They hosted a TV show, ''The Veloz and Yolanda Hour'', for several years.
They opened a nightclub in Florida, ''The Iris''.
From the 1940s, the Veloz and Yolanda Dance Studios gave lessons in ballroom dancing for twelve hours each day, with the slogan "Walk In – Dance Out". The studios taught the Rhumba, Waltz, Fox Trot, Smooth Swing, Tango, Samba and Mambo. With each style, the student had to learn a series of steps or combinations. They would progress through the grades of "ruby" and "emerald" to the ultimate "diamond" level.
In 1949, when Yolanda was pregnant, Frank Veloz danced with Jean Davi (born Jean Phelps) on the first
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the television industry in the United States. It is a 501(c)(6) non-prof ...
awards.
Jean was a Hollywood
Lindy dancer who trained in ballroom dancing at one of the Veloz and Yolanda dance schools.
After Yolanda retired, Jean became Frank's partner in stage and TV performances.
When the fashion for ballroom dancing declined, replaced by new forms of dance, the Veloz and Yolanda schools began to close.
The marriage broke up in the mid-1950s.
In 1956, Yolanda sued Veloz for maintenance, accusing him of infidelity with Jean Davi, his dancing partner.
The suit was dismissed the next year.
In 1962, Veloz sued for divorce on the basis of extreme cruelty by his wife. Yolanda was to have custody of their minor children. Their children were Nicholas, 21; Anthony, 18; Yolanda, 16 and Guy, 12.
Frank Veloz died in 1981. Yolanda Casazza died in 1995.
A full-length ballet written by their son Guy Veloz, ''An American Tango'', is based on their life story.
Style and influence
![Veloz and Yolanda 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Veloz_and_Yolanda_2.jpg)
Veloz and Yolanda did much to legitimize ballroom dance as a performance art.
Veloz and Yolanda were interested in the way animals moved about and were said to have studied horses to learn change of stride and tempo.
They created the "Cobra Tango", a dance that interpreted a fight between a snake and a tiger.
Veloz and Yolanda were known in particular for their interpretations of Latin Dance.
With the Columbia film ''
The Thrill of Brazil
''The Thrill of Brazil'', also known as ''Dancing Down to Rio'', is a 1946 American musical film directed by S. Sylvan Simon for Columbia Pictures and starring Evelyn Keyes, Keenan Wynn, and Ann Miller
Ann Miller (born Johnnie Lucille Col ...
'' they made the
Samba
Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...
popular in America.
Their signature dance was the "Yolanda Tango", written by Frank, with which they ended their dance performances.
William Teaford and Elizabeth Talbot-Martin said this dance epitomized their style and performance.
They wrote, "There was one lift that was truly spectacular – Frank would pick up Yolanda, spin her with her head down, then throw her out where she landed on one knee in a low lunge, back leg extended. They never did any thing acrobatic, but this lift was spectacular."
''For Your Pleasure'', a "dance vaudeville" featuring Veloz and Yolanda, opened at New York's Mansfield Theater on 5 February 1943 and ran for eleven performances.
They performed five dances, with Yolanda in a different gown for each.
After seeing the show
George Jean Nathan
George Jean Nathan (February 14, 1882 – April 8, 1958) was an American drama critic and magazine editor. He worked closely with H. L. Mencken, bringing the literary magazine ''The Smart Set'' to prominence as an editor, and co-founding and ...
said, "... it is my notion that this Veloz and Yolanda team is merely of the current average skill, not nearly so good as
the De Marcos, that is, if it is Renée and not the present Sally who serves as Tony's partner, yet somewhat better than some of the couples publicized in the floor shows.
However ''
The Billboard
The Billboard () is a massive granite monolith in the Sarnoff Mountains of the Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, standing just west of Mount Rea between Arthur Glacier and Boyd Glacier. It was discovered in November 1934 by a Secon ...
'' said of the show:
Films
Veloz and Yolanda performed as dancers in:
* 1934 ''
Many Happy Returns'' Specialty Dancers
* 1935 ''
Under the Pampas Moon
''Under the Pampas Moon'', also known as ''The Gaucho'', is a 1935 American Western film directed by James Tinling and starring Warner Baxter and Ketti Gallian. Baxter plays an Argentine gaucho. Rita Hayworth also had an early role in the film. ...
'' Café Dancers - The Cobra Tango (as Veloz and Yolanda)
* 1937 ''
Champagne Waltz
''Champagne Waltz'' is a 1937 American comedy film directed by A. Edward Sutherland and starring Gladys Swarthout, Fred MacMurray and Jack Oakie. It is one of five movies produced by Paramount in the 1930s featuring Swarthout, a very popular Met ...
'' (as Veloz & Yolanda)
* 1939 ''
Rose of Washington Square
''Rose of Washington Square'' is a 1939 American musical drama film, featuring the already well-known popular song with the same title. Set in 1920s New York City, the film focuses on singer Rose Sargent and her turbulent relationship with con art ...
'' (Fox) Specialty Dancers in interlude during
Alice Faye
Alice Faye (born Alice Jeanne Leppert; May 5, 1915 – May 9, 1998) was an American actress and singer. A musical star of 20th Century-Fox in the 1930s and 1940s, Faye starred in such films as ''On the Avenue'' (1937) and ''Alexander's Ragtime B ...
's singing of title number
[''Great Movie Musicals on DVD'' - A Classic Movie Fan's Guide]
by John Howard Reid - Google search with book preview
* 1942 ''
The Pride of the Yankees
''The Pride of the Yankees'' is a 1942 American film produced by Samuel Goldwyn, directed by Sam Wood, and starring Gary Cooper, Teresa Wright, and Walter Brennan. It is a tribute to the legendary New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig, who die ...
'' (Goldwyn) Specialty Dancers
* 1943 ''
Cavalcade of Dance
''Cavalcade of Dance'' is a 1943 American short film released by Warner Bros. Pictures and directed by Jean Negulesco. It was nominated for an Academy Award at the 16th Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (One-Reel).
Cast
* Veloz and Yolanda ...
'' (Warner Bros. Short)
* 1943 ''
Honeymoon Lodge
''Honeymoon Lodge'', also known as ''Second Honeymoon'', is a 1943 American musical comedy film directed by Edward C. Lilley for Universal Pictures and starring David Bruce, Harriet Hilliard, June Vincent, and Rod Cameron.
Plot
Cast
* David ...
'' (Universal) Dancers
* 1944 ''
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
'' Veloz and Yolanda
* 1946 ''
The Thrill of Brazil
''The Thrill of Brazil'', also known as ''Dancing Down to Rio'', is a 1946 American musical film directed by S. Sylvan Simon for Columbia Pictures and starring Evelyn Keyes, Keenan Wynn, and Ann Miller
Ann Miller (born Johnnie Lucille Col ...
'' (Columbia)
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
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Veloz Ave & Yolanda Ave, Los Angeles, CA 91356
{{Authority control
American ballroom dancers
American Christian Scientists
Converts to Christian Science from Roman Catholicism