Theater Thursday: Veloz and Yolanda
Milwaukee is celebrating the performing arts during September. We are joining in by showing materials from our local theater collections.
The above images come from a program in the Pabst Theater Collection.
In the 1930s and 1940s, Frank and Yolanda Veloz were among the most famous Ballroom dancers in the country. They appeared on the cover of Life Magazine in 1939. Latin dances were their specialty. The couple met during a high school dance party and soon began to enter dancing competitions in New York. Their success in competitions translated in to professional engagements at local supper clubs including the Palais D’Or and the Knickerbocker Grill. These initial engagements didn’t last very long but got the couple noticed. They were soon performing in clubs along the east coast of the United States as well as spending time Havana, Cuba.
Their reputation grew, and they moved from dancing in supper clubs to performing on concert stages, including the first recital of ballroom dances ever to be given at Carnegie Hall in New York. In 1940 they were in the middle of extensive planning for a nationwide tour when they had to put it on hold during Yolanda’s pregnancy. Their son Guy was born in July 1940. When they returned to performing, they were enthusiastically welcomed by audiences across the country, including the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee.
Pabst Theater Collection, 1865-2007 (UWM Mss 260, Series 3, box 59)
