Pedro "Cuban Pete" Aguilar (June 14, 1927 – January 13, 2009)"Mambo star 'Cuban Pete' dead"
/ref> was named "the greatest

Mambo Mambo most often refers to: * Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...

dancer ever" by ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' magazine and

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz ...

. Pedro Aguilar was nicknamed "Cuban Pete" and . Aguilar was born in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...

. He took tap-dance training in childhood and had an early career in boxing. He then transitioned to dance; creating a rhythmically complex, visually arresting dancing style that electrified audiences. By his own count he invented 100 signature foot, torso and hand movements with names like the Porpoise, the Shimmy Shimmy and the Prayer. His nickname, "Cuban Pete," was conferred on him, in 1949, at the famous

Palladium Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself na ...

dance hall in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, in reference to the classic

mambo Mambo most often refers to: * Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...

song "Cuban Pete" by

Desi Arnaz Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was a Cuban-born American actor, bandleader, and film and television producer. He played Ricky Ricardo on the American television sitcom '' I Love Lucy'', in which he c ...

. The moniker was endorsed by Arnaz himself. Aguilar won numerous prizes in Latin dancing during the Mambo era, together with his dance partner Millie Donay until 1956. He danced at the White House for President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

and later for President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

. In the 1950s, Aguilar appeared at a British

Royal Command Performance A Royal Command Performance is any performance by actors or musicians that occurs at the direction or request of a reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Although English monarchs have long sponsored their own theatrical companies and commis ...

before

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

. Aguilar also appeared on ''

The Jackie Gleason Show ''The Jackie Gleason Show'' is the name of a series of American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970, in various forms. ''Cavalcade of Stars'' Gleason's first variety series, which aired on the DuMon ...

''. He was a recipient of many prestigious awards for his work, and remains the only Latin dancer recognized in the

Latin Jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, which ...

exhibit at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

. Aguilar made a career as a dancer, teacher and choreographer. He also worked for

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

, in Los Angeles for many years. As a consultant on the film ''

The Mambo Kings ''The Mambo Kings'' is a 1992 musical drama film based on the 1989 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel ''The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love'' by Oscar Hijuelos. The film was directed and produced by Arne Glimcher, and stars Armand Assante, Antonio B ...

'' (1992), he taught Antonio Banderas and

Armand Assante Armand Anthony Assante Jr. (; born October 4, 1949) is an American actor. He played mobster John Gotti in the 1996 HBO television film '' Gotti'', Odysseus in the 1997 mini-series adaptation of Homer's ''The Odyssey'', Nietzsche in ''When ...

to mambo, and can be seen in several of the dance scenes. In 2000, he collaborated with

Edward Villella Edward Villella (born October 1, 1936) is an American ballet dancer and choreographer. He is frequently cited as America's most celebrated male dancer of ballet at the time. He has won numerous awards, including the Daytime Emmy Award for Out ...

on the ballet ''Mambo No. 2 a.m.'', which had its premiere with the

Miami City Ballet Miami City Ballet is an American ballet company based in Miami Beach, Florida, led by artistic director Lourdes Lopez. MCB was founded in 1985 by Toby Lerner Ansin, a Miami philanthropist. Ansin and the founding board hired Edward Villella, ...

. In 2002, a documentary, ''The Lucky Man'' (also entitled Game Boys) by German film-maker Dieter Weihl, featuring Aguilar, premiered at The Tiburon International Film Festival. Barbara Craddock was his last dance partner (since 1998) and manager. Aguilar and Craddock were both inducted in the

International Latin Music Hall of Fame The International Latin Music Hall of Fame (ILMHF) was an annual event established in 1999 and held in New York City to honor artists who have largely contributed to the Latin music genre. In addition to the induction into the Hall of Fame, the a ...

. On November 14, 2007, it was announced they were the recipients of the Latin Jazz USA Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 2007/08 Ms. Latina International Pageant, with the presentation on December 22, 2007, at the Manuel Artime Theater in Miami, Florida. They were the first Latin dancers to receive this award. Aguilar died on January 13, 2009, from heart failure at Sinai Plaza Rehabilitation & Nursing Center,

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Aguilar is survived by his daughters Denise Gerard and Petrina Aguilar, son Sean P. Aguilar, granddaughter Gina Gerard and grandson Noah.

References

External links

Cuban Pete website
* ttps://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/may/24/pedro-cuban-pete-aguilar-obituary Pedro 'Cuban Pete' Aguilar, The Guardianbr>Pedro Aguilar, Inventive Mambo Dancer, Dies at 81, New York Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguilar, Pedro 1927 births 2009 deaths Mambo Puerto Rican dancers Dance teachers 20th-century American dancers