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Managed and taught at the Pedro and Olga Studios in NYC on the 2nd floor, 86th Street and Broadway in the 60's. Took my students to Roseland to make some extra money. Watched the Harvest Moon Ball winners being trained by Camille in one room of the studio while George Balanchine taught Ballet in another, his feet bandaged, too old and sore to do the steps, but he was still able to convey just the right look with the movement of his arms and the toss of his head.Years later, I studied Afro-Cuban-Jazz, and conga drums with Jo Jo Smith and Frankie Malabe. Judged Mambo contests in the Catskills, danced in showcases with my students, did occasional tv shows and danced in country clubs etc. For my second great love, The Argentine Tango, there was 3 years of private lessons before feeling comfortable enough to attend the various Milongas in NJ and NYC. Once I "owned" the dance, I set out for South America and trained with the best teachers in Buenos Aires, exchanging Swing and Mambo for Tango lessons. Made 8 trips to study, dance and buy shoes, I learned every note of every song and much about the composers. Found myself singing the words phonetically as I danced, much to the pleasure of the "Portenios". My favorite place to dance is The Confiteria Ideal on Suipacha Street. Getting back to the Mambo......I have all of this music recorded live from the old Palladium in N.Y.C. in the 50's..... jam sessions galore.......Tito Puente with Santos Colon as the singer, Celia Cruz, Orchestra Broadway, Machito, Ray Barretto, the Cuban All-Stars, Orchestra Novel, Monguito, Pacheco with Cassanova singing, etc. Ernie Ensley taped them live, reel to reel. Found them in his closet drying out and the film crumbling. I spliced the torn parts together, saved those precious moments in musical history and put them on cassettes in 1992. Recently with the help of a tech-savvy friend, we converted those cassettes to MP3 files. Now it will be possible to make this music available to all who are interested. The original content is there! The form is now at long last in CD's. These CD's are not for sale because this has been a hobby and passion of mine for many years. If you are interested in collecting the early greats of Latin music live, and want to trade some music, just contact me by sending a message through myspace.I have several VHS tapes of those memorable times when Salsa was still a sauce. Hopefully, in the not too distant future, they will be available on DVDs to all of my Latin-loving friends. Ah! those first great Mambo dancers BET (Before Eddie Torres). Longing to bring forth some of those unforgetable moments from the Palladium days ......a revival of a style that should be preserved.This culture should be in the public domain..... its music and dance for all to enjoy.I am a historian first and a dancer second. Still.....my friends did a video of me on 1/24/08 dancing with Alfred and Gina and put it on myspace under the title, Paladium Dancers. I have added it to my blog. The Salsa/Mambo is alive and well because of the many wonderful and talented young people I have listed in my friend's section. The not so young people (the bands) is just some of the music I grew up with in NYC. Many of those musicians I've known for years and some I've never met. When longing to hear Cachao or Pacheco, I merely go to the site and click on their tunes. Mambo heaven is right here and now!>