Bagels meet bongos in this surprising story of Jewish dancers who fell in love with the Cuban mambo in the 1950s, sparking a dance craze that swept the nation and the world. Only a revolution could stop it.
“The Mamboniks” tells a little-known story: how Jewish people fell in love with the music and dance of Cuba during the exciting 1950s mambo era.
In the 1950s, when much of America was dancing to Elvis and early rock-n-roll, some free-spirited dancers in New York City swayed to a different beat.
They fell for the mambo, a hot dance from Havana.
Surprisingly, many of them were Jewish. Like the beatniks back then, they earned a nickname: the mamboniks.