The line formed outside of the Mango Nightclub was nearly a full block as dusk arrived. The club was getting ready to open and the crowd outside seemed larger than usual for a midweek night. Antonio had not announced if there was another event happening tonight. I assumed that more people than usual wanted to hang out at one of the largest nightclubs in the Roxie and Penelope District.
A staff member escorted us to our designated section of the nightclub. Antonio gave us a private area to the left of the main dance floor. Latisha and I got dressed in our dannza outfits. I had on my black jumpsuit with silver on the sleeve and pant legs. My wife wore a silver knee-length dress with black trim at the bottom. As dannzas, we always wore our customary black and silver outfits when we performed at the Mango.
Patrons entered the nightclub a few minutes later and I heard Gerardo Torres ’song, Move, Move, Move playing on the sound system. That song had become one of the standards for Piccanta music, which had taken over the city in the last several years. The musician Raphael Reynolds began promoting this new style of music about five years before and declared that Guanamamma music, started by
Walter Fuente, was not the authentic music of Walter’s Grove. Reynolds always commented that Fuente came from the city of Terrance and wasn’t native to the area where the Adrian and Kammara rivers met. Also, he was known as the King of Kammarice music and that style never left him even with his creation of Guanamamma music.
Piccanta music was the true music of Walter’s Grove and Reynolds felt Guanamamma music had been an imposter. Thankfully, the Mango Nightclub was
one of two nightclubs in the Roxie and Penelope District that played Guanamamma music on a regular basis. The Tajara was the other nightclub and without them, Latisha and I would not have had a place to perform Guanamamma dancing in the district.
“Are my favorite dancers ready to go?” Antonio Henderson said, after knocking on the door to enter our designated section.
“We are always ready,” Latisha replied. “You know that.”
Antonio smiled and brushed the pant legs of his peach jumpsuit. He wore the latest pastel-colored jumpsuits better than anyone I had seen in the city. Antonio was a tall, muscular-built man with night-colored skin and a perfectly groomed treetop-style haircut. He had an intimidating presence upon first glance but I had known him for years and he was really a gentle, soft-spoken man at heart.
The nightclub owner had allowed us to perform as the opener for the past four years. He had been a supporter of Guanamamma music and dancing, despite the rest of the nightclubs—besides The Tajara—playing Piccanta music exclusively. Antonio was a long-time friend of my father, Gustavoe, who danced at the Mango right up to his last days with us.
“I need your best performance tonight,” Antonio said, while he straightened out the top part of his jumpsuit. “I’m swimming against what the people want these days. I had to stop my sound system man from playing Guanamamma music outside on the nights you’re dancing. The crowd did not want to hear that old-time music, as they say, in this district anymore. I finally gave in and started having Piccanta music played outside to get the crowd we have for tonight.”
“I cannot believe this monotonous, repetitive music has taken off the way that it has. Piccanta music is nothing but drums!” I shot back.
Antonio laughed. “Drums that move hips and behinds! People want to lose themselves in the music and dance the night away. You both are the last hope to show why Guanamamma music still matters. Your father did an admirable job standing up for our city’s native music. Ciscoe, you have continued in that tradition. The times have changed since Diondray came to town and danced in our parking lot. His dance changed what the people wanted.”
I sighed. Antonio was correct. Diondray Azur arrived in our city four years before and was on a quest to travel the entire land on both sides of the Great Forest. He had found a copy of the Book of Kammbi, a religious text, in his birth city of Charlesville. Charlesville was one of the four cities in this region, south of the Great Forest. The other cities were Adrian (northwest from here), and Terrance (southeast from here). Each city had its own character and were not really connected except for being in the same region. Diondray was going to change that due to the prophecy in the last chapter of the Book of Kammbi. The prophecy stated that a descendant of Oscar Ortega, the first disciple of the God Kammbi would unite both regions. Diondray had already traveled to the four cities north of the Great Forest (Santa Sophia, Santa Teresa, Alicia, & Issabella) and our city, Walter’s Grove, was the second stop in the south region after Adrian. Diondray had connected immediately to Guanamamma music and dancing. Latisha and I met him for the first time at Darcie’s, a level one nightclub a few streets east of the Mango. He wanted to learn how to dance to Guanamamma music and we taught him. His dance in the Mango parking lot before leaving our city was still talked about to this day. Many people believe that dance gave rise to Piccanta music and dancing and not Raphael Reynolds ’proclamations. Diondray’s dance was not what Latisha and I taught him. His dancing with our friend Donya Elena Herrera was closer to Piccanta dancing in many people’s minds. It was something different for sure, especially when the leopards from the Great Forest came to watch them. But I contended that it was not Piccanta dancing either.
Latisha grabbed my right hand. “We will be ready, Antonio.”
Antonio Henderson exited the designated section. I could not help but think that something might change after that night’s performance.
“I do not want you to get lost in thought before we perform,” Latisha said, and placed her hands on my face. “Dancing with your mind somewhere does not bring out the best in you. And as you heard, we are going to need our best for tonight. I need you to focus, my love.”
I smiled at my wife. I believed she knew me better than I did myself at times. My mind had begun to drift towards thoughts about my father. He was adamant on the importance of keeping Guanamamma dancing around so that all the people of this city would always have a connection to its history. My father could have danced only in the West Walter’s Grove district for the wealthy and made a better living. But he wanted to dance at the nightclubs in the Roxie and Penelope District here in the southeast section of the city to keep Guanamamma dancing connected to the working class people who came to enjoy themselves for a night out. I was committed to follow in his footsteps and that connection to him meant everything.
I placed my left hand on her dark brown right cheek and took a deep breath. She was still beautiful to me after sixteen years of marriage and now in our early forties. My light brown skin contrasted perfectly with her skin tone. She was a few inches taller than me but it never felt awkward that I always had to look up at her. I thought she would never marry a man as short as myself. Plus, our city viewed marriage quite loosely since our founder of the city, Walter Fuente, nearly 170 years ago had two wives. Monogamous relationships were not celebrated in Walter’s Grove. Latisha demanded that if we got married, she would be the only one. I had not regretted the decision at all.
I ran my fingers through her close-cropped hairstyle and softly kissed her. She opened the door from the designated section and I watched the nightclub owner walk towards the stage. He glanced at us and gave that customary smile. It was time to show them what we got.
“Welcome to the best nightclub in the Roxie and Penelope District,” Antonio announced over a microphone. He looked out at the patrons on the dance floor. “It’s time to get your evening started with a performance from our resident dannzas, Ciscoe & Latisha Maldonado.”
The patrons on the dance floor gave a polite clap. Latisha grabbed my hand again as we walked out from our designated section. I took a deep breath and started to visualize our dance. I looked over at the sound system man and he nodded.
The music came on and it was You’re Better Than a Glass of Javann by Walter Fuente. This was our starter song each time we danced here at the Mango. The song had a whimsical and ironic tone about how a woman that Walter just met after a performance was better than the best glass of javann, our city’s signature liquor. I always thought that song was a playful contrast to the rest of Fuente’s music. It had a lively drum solo and the altophone horn gave the song a bouncy feel that I enjoyed dancing to.
I led Latisha through this first song of our set and she was in tune with me. Guanamamma dancing always began with the man leading in the back-and-forth step with his partner. My dad taught that this basic step was an invitation from a woman, if her male partner was good enough to lead. When I first started learning how to dance as a child, I never understood why Father viewed this basic step as such. However, I had come to understand after dancing with Latisha for all these years. I had to earn the invitation to lead Latisha in the dance and it always began with the basic back-and-forth step.
We did the back-and-forth step four times and returned to the base position. My guide hand, the right one, was in the middle of her back. I pressed my guide hand into her back gently and she knew it was her cue to slide to her right.
“You are here,” Latisha said softly in my ear.
I nodded and returned to the back-and-forth step. The slide to the right was called the First Point of Guanamamma dancing. There were three points in Guanamamma dancing, like a triangle, and the goal was to reach all of them by the end of the song. Guanamamma music was created in a three-part song structure for dancing and once dancers understood that structure, the dance came naturally.
We reached the other two points by the end of the first song and heard a polite applause from the patrons. I had noticed the disinterest and indifferent looks on the patrons’ faces while we danced the first song. Did they dislike Guanamamma dancing that much? Did it seem that out of touch with the partygoers in this district?
“Stay with me, my love,” Latisha said, and squeezed my hand before we began the second song of our set.
“A disappointing response.”
“Yes, my love. Keep going and don’t drift away!”
I shook my head as Blue Dress by Diego Washington came on the sound system. Blue Dress was Washington’s greatest hit song and told the story of how the narrator of the song met a mysterious woman wearing a blue dress in the Roxie and Penelope District. The narrator never knew her name or what part of the city she came from. However, she always showed up in the district wearing the same blue dress, wanting to dance Guanamamma. The song had a more relaxed sound than You’re Better Than a Glass of Javann and I thought it was an excellent follow-up song for our set.
“Stay with me,” Latisha said softly. “Don’t look at the crowd.”
I had to remain focused. Each time, I glanced at the crowd I noticed the blank stares and lukewarm smiles. I groaned inwardly and looked at Latisha. Keep dancing, Ciscoe.
“You are back. Let’s finish the set!”
We finished dancing to the Washington song and heard the same polite applause as for the first song. I shook my head and got into position for our final song. We needed to dance our best. I glanced over at Antonio and saw him talking with Harrell and Brittany. They were dannzas that performed at several other nightclubs in the district. I had never seen them perform at the Mango. Did Antonio invite them to perform? We were always assured since we got this gig that Latisha and I would be the only opening performance at the Mango. Was this his reason for saying that we had to bring our best tonight?
One Night With You by Walter Fuente came on the sound system. I gathered myself and led Latisha in the back-and-forth step. One Night With You was Fuente’s dedication song to his first wife, Josette, when they first met back in the city of Terrance. Josette passed away from an illness just before Walter Fuente came to the area and founded our city. She was the inspiration for a lot of his songs and this one had been considered the best of those types of songs. It was one of the oldest songs in his musical catalog and a great ending song for our set. The altophone horn and the timbau, a drum played between the musician’s legs, carried the song.
“You are still my favorite short man with the best beard in Walter’s Grove!” I laughed and guided her to the right for the first point of the dance.
One night with you
Is all I wanted
Not just for a night of passion Not just to take you to dinner But just to be with you
To see your smile
To make you laugh
To have one night with you
Walter Fuente had a high, nasal voice and he always held the note at the end of each phrase during the song. I made sure to lead Latisha a step longer at each point of the dance. Guanamamma dancing had to be in sync with the music. This was not a dance to show off like Piccanta dancing. Dancing and music were meant to be in unison with each other. Piccanta music and dancing seemed like they always clashed every time I saw it. The dancing never connected with the music. It was more freestyle and loose. And I didn’t understand why people coming to our district wanted that over Guanamamma music and dancing.
I saw your brown eyes and warm smile And I had to meet with you
I had to find out
Who you were
Because you only get one chance To meet someone
Like you
We made it to the second point of the dance. I led Latisha into several twirls as we moved forward like we were heading towards the point of the triangle. I kept looking at my wife and did not glance at the crowd or Antonio talking with Harrell and Brittany. I had to get through the set.
Walter Fuente had updated the song from the original Kammarice version back in Terrance. Fuente added the pandretta, a silver, hand-held percussion instrument that created a hand-clapping sound. The pandretta gave the updated version a festival-type of sound that I thought would energize the crowd. That did not happen. The energy from the patrons was the same as it was at the beginning of our set.
I returned to the back-and-forth step as I led Latisha into the third and final point of the dance. I raised my left hand to twirl her several times. I had to make sure to keep those twirls tight and use my right hand as the guide for the twirling. The right hand always remained in the middle of the back. It could never drift lower to her behind. Guanamamma dancing was not a sexual dance. Sex was for the bedroom, not the dance floor. Piccanta dancing made it all about sex. That kind of energy, which I enjoyed with my wife in its proper context, missed the point about dancing. Dancing was about communication and connection, not lust.
One night with you Is all I wanted
I wanted to find out
About what you like
About what made you laugh
About the things you like to do
All I needed was one night
Could you grant me that wish
One night with you
An altophone horn solo finished the final verse as I twirled Latisha a couple more times and we returned to our base position. The song ended and I heard the same polite applause we had received at our introduction. I held Latisha and looked out at the patrons. Their lukewarm smiles said what they thought of our performance.
“Thank you, Ciscoe and Latisha, for your beautiful dancing to some Guanamamma classics,” Antonio announced. “We have another performance for you coming up.”
“Another performance?” I said to Antonio as we walked off the dance floor.
“Yes, another performance,” he replied. “I said that I needed to see your best tonight. Competition is always waiting in the wings.”
“That was not our agreement.”
Antonio frowned. “Things have changed, my friends. And I have a club to run.”
Latisha pulled me away from the dance floor or I would have stood there and argued with Antonio. I could not believe he would break his agreement with us all of a sudden. My father had worked out that Latisha and I would dance at his club two nights a week and there would not be any other dancing performances on our night of dancing. What had changed his mind now?
Harrell and Brittany walked passed us towards the dance floor. They did not belong here on our night. Harrell was a bald-headed, dark-skinned man with a gangly build. His companion, Brittany, was a petite, blond woman with a round frame.
“Surprised to see us!” Harrell remarked, his arm around Brittany’s waist. “Yes,” I replied sharply.
“It’s time to give people that come to the Mango what they want.”
“What is that?”
Brittany laughed. “Not music and dancing of the past. No one wants that anymore.”
“There is always a place for Guanamamma music and dancing,” I retorted.
“Maybe you both can dance in the West Walter Grove District for those people,” Harrell fired back. “Those rich folks will always like that old style of music and dancing.”
Harrell and Brittany laughed and kept moving towards the dance floor. I could not believe what was happening. Latisha grabbed my hand again and led me back to the designated area.
“We just had our first performance of the evening. Now it’s time for the final performance of the evening. Give Harrell and Brittany a big Mango Nightclub welcome as they dance to the current hit, She’s Got It by Raphael Reynolds!” Antonio announced.
I heard the patrons applaud louder for Harrell and Brittany as we finished changing our clothes. Latisha and I came out from the designated area to watch them perform. The couple stood in position as the song came on the music player. Besides being the spokesperson for Piccanta music, Raphael Reynolds had created some of its most popular songs.
She’s got it
She knows how to move
She’s got it
She knows how to move
Dance for me, darling
Show everyone how to move your body
She’s got it
The patrons clapped to the beat while Harrell and Brittany started with several back-and-forth steps. Piccanta dancing incorporated that Guanamamma step into the dance. He pulled Brittany closer and placed his hands on her wide hips. They both gyrated to the music. Harrell smiled at the crowd and they applauded in return. Was this what they wanted?
She’s got it
She knows how to move
Shake it for me, darling
Shake it for the music, darling
Shake it for our city
She’s got it
Harrell dropped his hands from her hips and began to circle Brittany. She wore a skin-tight white dress that accentuated her hips and behind. Brittany gyrated seductively as Harrell continued to circle her. She reached out her left hand, Harrell grabbed it, and they returned to dancing close together. The patrons cheered and some of them began dancing just like Harrell and Brittany.
“That’s not dancing. They are grinding against each other. There is no thought, no pattern, or elegance to Piccanta dancing. Just lazy!”
“I know, my love,” Latisha said, and placed her arm around my waist. “There is still a place for Guanamamma dancing. This is just what the people want right now. We have to keep faith that the tide will turn back to the music and dancing that the city was founded on.”
“Raphael Reynolds has challenged that assertion,” I replied.
“He has, my love. But the truth will always come out in the end.”
I looked over at Antonio and saw him smiling as the dance floor got crowded. He was into Harrell and Brittany’s dancing and I could not deny that it got the crowd energized and ready for another night of partying at the Mango.
“That was Harrell and Brittany Delaware performing to She’s Got It by Raphael Reynolds. Thank you, Harrell and Brittany, for your performance.”
The crowd clapped loudly as the couple took a bow.
“That’s the kind of energy I need to get my patrons going,” Antonio said to us as he came back to the designated section.
“ I thought you agreed to not having another dannza couple perform on the nights we danced?” I replied.
Antonio frowned. “I’m sorry, Ciscoe. I did agree to those terms as a favor to your father. He wanted you to continue what he started many years ago. However, I had no choice in having Harrell and Brittany perform tonight.”
“What do you mean you had no choice?” Latisha interjected. “This is your nightclub.”
“All I can tell you is that I was forced to have Harrell and Brittany perform tonight. The nightclub is all that I have and I cannot lose it.”
“Cannot lose it?” I said. “How could you lose the nightclub?”
“ Maybe you both should consider dancing to Piccanta music. This is the music of the district now. Guanamamma music does not have a place here anymore. Ciscoe, I know you would rather dance here than up in the West Walter’s Grove District. You may have to consider dancing in that district, if you want to keep dancing Guanamamma.”
“I want to dance here in this district. Not for those people. You know that!”
“ I know. However, I’m replacing your performance for Harrell and Brittany’s performance effective tonight. I have a business to run and my patrons are my main priority. I have the best Level One Nightclub in the district. And we cannot live in the past anymore. Thank you for dancing for the past four years. But it’s time for a change.”
“Time for a change!” I fired back. “You promised that Guanamamma music and dancing would always have a place here.”
Antonio sighed. “I’m not a man to break agreements, especially to those I consider friends. But times have changed. Mango Nightclub has to change with them. I have to keep up with the other Level One Nightclubs like The Tajara and Darcie’s for patrons. I’m truly sorry. Both of you are always welcome here at the Mango.”
I did not understand what outside person would make Antonio go back on his word and fire us from the Mango. What in the world was going on? I grabbed our stuff from the designated section and we left the nightclub.
