Posts Tagged With: Frank Veloz

Rudolph Valentino great lover of the silent screen, played an important part in the life of an obscure kid who was to rise to heights himself in later years. That youngster was Frank Veloz of the noted dance team, Veloz and Yolanda. At the time, Frank Veloz was a teen-age messager boy for a New York Bank. Valentino was winning early fame for his performance of the Argentine Tango. “I saw him dance, and after that I couldn’t sleep or eat until I met the man”, Veloz said. ‘Dance was boiling in my soul at the time only I didn’t know it’. He added: “through a friend, I met Valentino in a Broadway restaurant. I told him I wanted to be a great dancer like him. He was charming the perfect gentleman. I was impressed by his complete humility. “He was pleased that his dancing inspired a bright-eyed youngster. And he devoted an hour to telling me that a dancer must apply long hours to imagination and to practice to bring out individuality and personality. He devoted long hours to imagination and practice. Veloz and Yolanda attained great heights not only as the first dance team to be starred in motion pictures, but as concert artists from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl. When Edward Small first dreamed of his idea of putting Valentino’s story on the big screen, Veloz was one of the first he considered for the role. “But I felt then, as I feel now, that I don’t do the part justice” Veloz said. The Veloz influence still will be felt in the picture when it reaches the screen. Today, he is teaching Tony Dexter who will play Valentino to dance the Gaucho Tango, a number which will be one of the dramatic highlights of the film when it is made.