User:Fegan2020/Margo Rodriguez

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Margarita "Margo" Bartolomei Rodriguez (April 6, 1929 - July 29, 2019) was an American dancer apart of infamous duo "Augie and Margo" with her husband Augustin "Augie" Rodriguez. Together the pair assisted in popularizing Mambo dancing through all of their television appearances and live shows. Together with her husband, Rodriguez became one of the highest paid dancers performing for important figures all over the world such as Queen Elizabeth II, John F. Kennedy, and Richard M. Nixon, during her time as a prevalent dancer. Rodriguez is known for her adaptation to mambo dancing by infusing other styles into her performances, such as ballet, jazz, and modern dance. The duo also included athleticism, slides, and spins, with Rodriguez's signature move being a long spin at the end of the performance. These additions to mambo dancing's sultriness and elegance transformed the style into salsa dancing. The pair became prevalent from the 50's all the way to the 70's. During their time dancing together Augie and Margo took part in various contests, winning several awards and prize money of large and small amounts as they often won top prize. In 1980, after 30 years of dancing together, Rodriguez and her husband began teaching their own dance classes, as well as producing shows that premiered on cruise ships, with their last show taking place in Las Vegas featuring Cirque du Soleil.

Early life
Margo Rodriguez was born Margarita Bartolomei on April 6th, 1929 in Harlem, New York to Mencia and Santiago Bartolomei. Both of Rodriguez's parents were born in Puerto Rico, with her father having descendants from Corsica. Rodriguez's mother Mencia, was a homemaker, while her father, Santiago, worked for an import-export company. Rodriguez began dancing when she was 10 years old. After high school, in 1948 she attended a trade school located in downtown Manhattan, which taught her the skills of a beautician. Rodriguez held her position as a beautician until her career in dance excelled in 1950. In 1949, a year after beginning her education in trade school, she met her future husband, Augustin Rodriguez, at the Palladium Ballroom, located in New York. Augie Rodriguez, New York-born as well, served as a merchant marine during the early years of his life, and upon his return he visited and watched dancers at the Palladium perform, until he began dancing himself. Augie, like Margo, was a self-taught dancer and his first teacher at Palladium was "Cuban Pete", also known as Pedro Aguilar, and he was responsible for introducing Augie to Margo. During the audition process at the Palladium, Margo and Augie were paired together and during the callback, like other dancers, were asked to perform various lifts and moves to test the chemistry, ability, and energy of the pair. The duo were pushed beyond their comfort zone, but still made it beyond the audition process securing their role as duo "Augie & Margo" at the Palladium.

Dance
Rodriguez and her husband, Augie, often chose to dance to Tito Puente's music during their performances at the Palladium Ballroom. Together the pair specialized in mambo dancing and incorporated their own additions to the dance style. Mambo dancing, also referred to as New York-style salsa, is a Cuban ballroom dance style that originated in the 1940s and was later popularized in New York by dancers at the Palladium Ballroom like Augie & Margo. The word Mambo means "conversation with the gods" in the Kikongo language. The dance style typically consists of quick tempos and sometimes includes dance steps from Swing dancing. The Palladium Ballroom, where Rodriguez developed her dance style with her partner Augie, is where mambo dancing became especially popular. The three most popular musicians who performed at the Palladium were Tito Puente, Tito Rodriguez, and Machito. These three musicians helped develop mambo, cha-cha, and salsa music. Augie & Margo also helped with the development of mambo, as they incorporated tricks and acrobatics into their performances.

Married life
After a year of being paired together, their relationship advanced from dance partners, to life partners and in 1950, Margo and Augie married. The pair continued their dance lessons, learning various dance styles, such as jazz dancing, classical training, and modern dance and they engulfed the different styles they learned into the latin dance style. Footing they would learn in class one day, they would later find a way to include in their performance later that day. Augie & Margo's signature ending consisted of Margo doing a long twirl, which she learned from ballet lessons, and then their final pose ending the performance. This made them one of the first dancing duos to include slides and tricks in their routines. Augie & Margo performed for various and large audiences during their time together as a duo, including powerful world figures such as Queen Elizabeth II, John F. Kennedy, and Richard M. Nixon. Augie & Margo also opened shows for artists like Sammy Davis Jr. and Harry Belafonte during their heightened time dancing together. The duo's impact on the mambo caused it to transform into a form of popular entertainment instead of a style mainly displayed in nightclubs. Margo and Augie's style influenced Broadway choreography during the 50's and 60's and can be viewed widely including in television programs such as Sweet Charity. Augie & Margo are also known to have attended the 2006 Second Annual World Salsa Dance Championships, which took place at the South Coast Hotel and Casino, located in Las Vegas. The couple is known to have one child together, named Richard Rodriguez. On July 18th, 2014, at 86 years of age, Augie Rodriguez passed away due to cancer at the couple's home in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Five years afterwards, at 89 years of age, Margo Rodriguez fell ill and passed away due to pneumonia as reported by her son, Richard Rodriguez.