I only met him for a brief few minutes. But Andrew Jerrick, aka "A.J.", left a lasting impression on me while in Atlanta last week. When Dan Wilson told me that I was about to meet one of the featured dancers in the famous black and white Mambo Dance Party video filmed in the late fifties at the Palladium in New York City, I couldn’t believe it. I recalled seeing the film and immediately recognized A.J., the gentleman Dan and his wife Lory, were now introducing me to.

I was meeting a Legend. The famous dance video features the Tito Rodriguez orchestra, Perez Parado, and Miguelito Valdez, among others. A.J. told me he was only seventeen years old when the film was made. Back then, there were no strict age requirements at the nightclubs. After speaking for a few minutes, he pulled out a beautiful photograph of him standing in between a young Tito Puente, the famous Machito, Frederico Pagan, and others. Being the daring and forward person that I am, I asked the famous Mambo Dancer for a dance - on "two" no less (yes folks, this "one" dancer from LA has FINALLY worked at, and got this Mambo "two" thing down…)

The minute he placed his hands on my back and waist, I felt myself being carried back in time to the Palladium. We started moving. He placed me into a beautiful lead. I could feel the seasoned years of Mambo experience pulsing in his veins. The quality of his moves, his steps, and his rhythm oozed out of his pores and penetrated through my body like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I was taken away in the dance, and just floated with him in amazement as he took me on a trip, back to a place I had been to, no less in spirit, in another time… the era of the famous Palladium, the Mambo Craze of the 50’s in New York City. I watched in amazement his shines apart from my own. I almost stopped dancing just so I could hold still long enough to take it all in.

I wanted to dance with him all night long. It was the most fun I had in a long time - this was truly a magical moment for me.