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Roland Kavé’s Ruffled Mambo Sleeves

Object Details

Date
Between 1950 and 1970
Medium
cotton and synthetic fabrics, elastic
Dimensions
Measurement of single sleeve (1995.0023.0010a): 19 5/8 × 12 13/16 × 3 3/8 in. (49.9 × 32.5 × 8.5 cm)
Measurement of single sleeve (1995.0023.0010b): 20 9/16 × 10 3/8 × 2 5/8 in. (52.2 × 26.4 × 6.6 cm)
Cite As
Gift of Roland Kavé
Caption
These ruffled sleeves shimmy and shimmer on the arms of a mambo dancer. The seven-layered sleeves repeat a pattern of black, gold lamé, and red fabric, with black on both elasticized ends. Mambo emerged from Afro-Cuban jazz in the 1940s and flourished in Mexico City and New York City in the 1950s. Dance leader Roland Kavé (1931-2017) introduced mambo to Washington, DC, donning these sleeves in performance during its peak popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. The native Washingtonian, known as DC’s “Mambo King,” taught hundreds of people to mambo on U Street Corridor dance floors, including the Casbah and the Tropical Room in the Dunbar Hotel.
Accession Number
1995.0023.0010a-b
Type
sleeves
See more items in
Anacostia Community Museum Collection
Data Source
Anacostia Community Museum
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/dl8641b50aa-115b-4401-8c4b-427e3a2d62a9
Record ID
acm_1995.0023.0010a-b
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