187:, and her uncle was Cuba's first aviator. Parla had one sister, Zilia Navarete. Her mother was strict, warning her daughter from age nine onward almost daily not to marry unless she was no longer a virgin. During her childhood, Parla had the ambition to become a professional rhumba dancer after becoming obsessed with the technique, but her father was against Parla dancing and wanted her to obtain self-sufficiency by becoming a typist and then marrying. In Cuba's 1920s political turbulence where
219:, she won the audition to be part of Azpiatzú's dance team because of "her gyrating hips". Parla was due to be paired with a male dancer but she demanded to Azpiatzú that she dance the rumba alone after she declared one of the candidate's uncoordinated. She said, "The rumba is very sexual, and I didn't like doing it with a partner."
239:
on July 14, 1932, she descended a stairwell draped in Cuba's red, white and blue colors, causing the French to mistake her patriotism of her homeland as a gesture to their own national holiday and earning her praise with shouts of "Vive La France". This led "Mariana scarfs" copied from her costume to
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and waiting to attract more attention over other dancers, as she shared the house where she lodged with a dance school. She agreed not to tell her father about her job and allowed her mother to work as a on-the-job chaperone and threatening to kill herself. Parla's job gave her the confidence to
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in
November 1933. Parla spent 1934 dancing at Mon Paris nightclub, before complying with the wishes of her father at the end of the year to return to Havana and marry a millionaire rancher. Life living on a Cuban became too domesticated as a housewife and mother and she exchanged marriage for a
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Parla was married three times. Her first marriage to millionaire rancher
Antonio Fuello resulted in a daughter before they divorced. Parla's second marriage, to jai alai player Guillermo Amuchastegui who toured the globe in the 1940s, also ended in divorce. She was lastly married to Armando
222:
Parla and the group toured New York in 1930, becoming a success with her "sexually suggestive rumba act". The following year, she toured the United States to demonstrate her technique, before moving to Europe with her mother to tour with the group in 1932. During an engagement in
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took power in Cuba in 1959, Parla and her family fled to the United States and settled in Miami, working as a hospital administrator and typist at
Victoria Hospital before retiring 20 years later, with the occasional appearance in nostalgia shows.
170:
villa in 1932 before her
European tour ended in 1933. Parla returned to Cuba as per her father's instruction in 1934 and went into a domesticated life. She briefly came back into public view in two films and the occasional nostalgic show.
154:(1914 – October 6, 1998) was a Cuban rhumba dancer and hospital administrator who was called "the Queen of Rumba" by the press. Born into a strict middle-class Cuban family, she and her family moved to
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return to public view. In 1935, Parla received an appointment to teach Edward the cucaracha in London, and said wanted Edward to visit Havana. She became friends with
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Orlando González Esteva, a historian, called her "a fabulous story of Cuban music", and several publications termed her "the Queen of Rumba".
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was so taken with her rhumba that he provided her with a large enough box of chocolates that she stepped on it.
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go on sale in chic French stores, along with casseroles, cocktails and perfumes named after her, and taught
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After graduating, Parla and her mother moved to New York, defying her mother's wishes and took a job as a
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in 1930 and toured the United States and Europe during the first half of the decade. She taught rhumba to
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when Cuba became politically turbulent in the 1920s. Parla began dancing with
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307:, the journalist, called Parla "that lovely Havana torso flipper".
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audition in the presence of director of the Havana Casino
Orchestra
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183:, Cuba in 1914 to a middle-class family. Her father worked as an
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674:"She's to Step Out With the 'Rhythmic' Prince of Wales"
597:[The Cuban who danced with two British kings].
455:"Alicia Parla, 84, Dies; Showed the World How to Rumba"
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became dictator of the country, the family moved to
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730:"Cuban Beauty Wants Duke Of Windsor Visit Havana"
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738:. Associated Press. January 5, 1937. p. 1
595:"La cubana que bailó con dos reyes británicos"
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553:"Sexy Cuban-American taught world to rumba"
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763:[The Queen of the Rumba Died].
339:from the original on September 19, 2015
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888:Cuban expatriates in the United States
796:"Alicia Parla; "Queen of the Rhumba""
773:from the original on November 3, 2020
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710:from the original on November 3, 2020
650:from the original on November 3, 2020
634:"Queen of Rumba taught King to dance"
607:from the original on December 2, 2019
565:from the original on November 3, 2020
397:from the original on November 3, 2020
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383:Sweeney, Philip (October 21, 1998).
227:, Parla attracted the attention of
808:from the original on March 7, 2020
534:– via Gale Academic OneFile.
291:officer serving under the rule of
14:
561:. November 1, 1998. p. A10.
467:from the original on May 27, 2015
113:Armando Gali-Menendez (his death)
110:Guillermo Amuchastegui (divorced)
898:American hospital administrators
646:. October 9, 1998. p. E19.
593:Biancho, Ciro (March 30, 2019).
769:(in Spanish). October 8, 1998.
706:. November 3, 1933. p. 6.
327:"Alicia Parlá, American dancer"
526:. October 29, 1998. p. 27
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761:"Murio La Reina de la Rumba"
746:– via Newspapers.com.
718:– via Newspapers.com.
688:– via Newspapers.com.
658:– via Newspapers.com.
573:– via Newspapers.com.
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834:Internet Broadway Database
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107:Antonio Fuello (divorced)
873:20th-century Cuban women
704:The Tipton Daily Tribune
517:"Alicia Parla; Obituary"
289:Cuban Revolutionary Army
287:Gali-Menendez, a senior
385:"Obituary: Alicia Parl"
332:Encyclopædia Britannica
229:Edward, Prince of Wales
213:Don Justo Angel Azpiazú
164:Edward, Prince of Wales
160:Don Justo Angel Azpiazú
85:Hospital administrator
878:Cuban female dancers
700:"Returning Rhumbist"
678:Muncie Evening Press
299:Reception and legacy
271:The Black Privateer,
233:Albert, Duke of York
868:Dancers from Havana
804:. October 9, 1998.
206:in a night club in
460:The New York Times
246:Leopold of Belgium
179:Parla was born in
801:Los Angeles Times
293:Fulgencio Batista
217:Paramount Theatre
208:Greenwich Village
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93:Years active
60:(aged 83–84)
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56:October 6, 1998
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839:Alicia Parla
830:Alicia Parla
810:. Retrieved
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152:Alicia Parla
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82:Rhumba dance
58:(1998-10-06)
22:Alicia Parla
15:
863:1998 deaths
858:1914 births
225:Monte Carlo
168:Monte Carlo
76:Occupations
852:Categories
311:References
96:1930–1950s
766:El Tiempo
523:The Times
175:Biography
806:Archived
771:Archived
708:Archived
648:Archived
605:Archived
563:Archived
465:Archived
395:Archived
337:Archived
197:Key West
121:Children
832:at the
812:May 26,
777:May 27,
742:May 26,
714:May 26,
684:May 26,
654:May 26,
644:Reuters
611:May 26,
569:May 26,
530:May 26,
471:May 26,
401:May 26,
343:May 26,
166:at his
101:Spouses
68:Florida
33: (
181:Havana
140:Rhumba
136:Dances
130:Career
42:Havana
193:Miami
156:Miami
64:Miami
843:IMDb
814:2020
779:2020
744:2020
716:2020
686:2020
656:2020
613:2020
571:2020
532:2020
473:2020
403:2020
345:2020
269:and
53:Died
46:Cuba
35:1914
31:1914
28:Born
841:at
253:SS
854::
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