Alicia Parla (1914 – October 6, 1998) was a Cuban rhumba dancer and hospital administrator who was called "the Queen of Rumba" by the press. Born into a strict middle-class Cuban family, she and her family moved to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

when Cuba became politically turbulent in the 1920s. Parla began dancing with Don Justo Angel Azpiazú in 1930 and toured the United States and Europe during the first half of the decade. She taught rhumba to Edward, Prince of Wales at his

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

villa in 1932 before her European tour ended in 1933. Parla returned to Cuba as per her father's instruction in 1934 and went into a domesticated life. She briefly came back into public view in two films and the occasional nostalgic show.

Biography

Parla was born in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. Her father worked as an

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

, and her uncle was Cuba's first aviator. Parla had one sister, Zilia Navarete. Her mother was strict, warning her daughter from age nine onward almost daily not to marry unless she was no longer a virgin. During her childhood, Parla had the ambition to become a professional rhumba dancer after becoming obsessed with the technique, but her father was against Parla dancing and wanted her to obtain self-sufficiency by becoming a typist and then marrying. In Cuba's 1920s political turbulence where

Gerardo Machado Gerardo Machado y Morales (28 September 1869 – 29 March 1939) was a general of the Cuban War of Independence and President of Cuba from 1925 to 1933. Machado was elected president in 1924 as the leader of the Liberal Party, a moderate reform ...

became dictator of the country, the family moved to

, and Parla was sent to convent school in

Key West Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...

, while her father remained in Havana. After graduating, Parla and her mother moved to New York, defying her mother's wishes and took a job as a

cigarette girl Cigarette girls in Florida in 1956 Cigarette girl at the Bellmansro restaurant in Sweden, 1940 In Europe and the United States, a cigarette girl was an attractive young woman who sold or provided cigarettes from a tray held by a neck strap, ...

in a night club in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

and waiting to attract more attention over other dancers, as she shared the house where she lodged with a dance school. She agreed not to tell her father about her job and allowed her mother to work as a on-the-job chaperone and threatening to kill herself. Parla's job gave her the confidence to audition in the presence of director of the Havana Casino Orchestra Don Justo Angel Azpiazú, after the club's Spanish dancer felt unwell. Out of 150 candidates held at an audition at the Paramount Theatre, she won the audition to be part of Azpiatzú's dance team because of "her gyrating hips". Parla was due to be paired with a male dancer but she demanded to Azpiatzú that she dance the rumba alone after she declared one of the candidate's uncoordinated. She said, "The rumba is very sexual, and I didn't like doing it with a partner." Parla and the group toured New York in 1930, becoming a success with her "sexually suggestive rumba act". The following year, she toured the United States to demonstrate her technique, before moving to Europe with her mother to tour with the group in 1932. During an engagement in

, Parla attracted the attention of Edward, Prince of Wales and his brother Albert, Duke of York. Edward summoned Parla to his villa the next day to teach him the rhumba. On

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. It is referred to, both legally and commonly, as () in French, though ''la fête nationale'' is also u ...

on July 14, 1932, she descended a stairwell draped in Cuba's red, white and blue colors, causing the French to mistake her patriotism of her homeland as a gesture to their own national holiday and earning her praise with shouts of "Vive La France". This led "Mariana scarfs" copied from her costume to go on sale in chic French stores, along with casseroles, cocktails and perfumes named after her, and taught

Josephine Baker Freda Josephine Baker (; June 3, 1906 – April 12, 1975), naturalized as Joséphine Baker, was an American and French dancer, singer, and actress. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in France. She was the first Black woman to s ...

the rhumba. Parla then went to Brussels, where Leopold of Belgium was so taken with her rhumba that he provided her with a large enough box of chocolates that she stepped on it. She returned to the United States via the SS ''Île de France'' in November 1933. Parla spent 1934 dancing at Mon Paris nightclub, before complying with the wishes of her father at the end of the year to return to Havana and marry a millionaire rancher. Life living on a Cuban became too domesticated as a housewife and mother and she exchanged marriage for a return to public view. In 1935, Parla received an appointment to teach Edward the cucaracha in London, and said wanted Edward to visit Havana. She became friends with

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

, and featured in two films in Mexico, '' The Angry God'' and ''The Black Privateer,'' along with multiple documentaries. After

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

took power in Cuba in 1959, Parla and her family fled to the United States and settled in Miami, working as a hospital administrator and typist at Victoria Hospital before retiring 20 years later, with the occasional appearance in nostalgia shows.

Personal life

Parla was married three times. Her first marriage to millionaire rancher Antonio Fuello resulted in a daughter before they divorced. Parla's second marriage, to jai alai player Guillermo Amuchastegui who toured the globe in the 1940s, also ended in divorce. She was lastly married to Armando Gali-Menendez, a senior

Cuban Revolutionary Army The Cuban Revolutionary Army () serve as the ground forces of Cuba. Formed in 1868 during the Ten Years' War, it was originally known as the Cuban Constitutional Army. Following the Cuban Revolution, the revolutionary military forces was recon ...

officer serving under the rule of

Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar (born Rubén Zaldívar; January 16, 1901 – August 6, 1973) was a Cuban military officer and politician who played a dominant role in Cuban politics from his initial rise to power as part of the 1933 Revolt of t ...

, He predeceased Parla. She died from cancer on the night of October 6, 1998 in Miami.

Reception and legacy

Orlando González Esteva, a historian, called her "a fabulous story of Cuban music", and several publications termed her "the Queen of Rumba".

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and c ...

, the journalist, called Parla "that lovely Havana torso flipper".

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parla, Alicia 1914 births 1998 deaths Dancers from Havana 20th-century Cuban women Cuban female dancers Cuban expatriates in the United States Rumba dancers American hospital administrators