By Katherine Leal Unmuth, The Dallas Morning News
Aug. 3–Krystle Gonzales looks like a princess in her tiara and glimmering gold gown. She sits on a throne in a ballroom rented for her quinceanera, the 15th birthday celebration for Hispanic girls.
Girlfriends crowd around her, and Krystle is the center of attention until the real show begins.
“Tenemos una sorpresa,” the emcee tells the crowd. “We have a surprise.”
The Sweet Sensation Cadets run onto the floor — a dozen teenage boys with spiky hair, spotless white tennis shoes and diamond-studded ears.
The girls scream as the professional dance group bounces, steps and flips to a mix of hip-hop and Latin music. Sometimes, the dancing becomes sexually suggestive.
Much like weddings, these coming-of-age parties can be lavish. They may include a church service, a presentation of the girl to society and a waltz at the dinner and dance party.
Birthday girls used to invite friends and relatives to be their escorts and dance partners. But Dallas glitz has reshaped years of Hispanic tradition. Hiring cadets, named for their military-style uniforms, is now the norm.
“They’re more presentable than regular guys,” said Dana Garza, 15, after watching a show. “They’re professionals.”
Alberto Serna, publisher of Quinceaneras y Novias magazine, says the addition of cadets to the modern quinceanera is unique to Texas and most popular in Dallas.
“I can tell you straight,” he says. “In other states, no one has cadets.”
Cadet crews first appeared in Dallas about 10 years ago. Sweet Sensation and a dozen more dance crews like it count on a simple formula: Girls like cute guys in uniform who can dance well. And they will persuade their parents to hire them.
Parents pay $1,000 to $2,000 for seven to 14 cadets to escort their daughter to the quinceanera — typically called “the 15.” They roll to the party in flashy limousines, sit at the head table with the “15 girl” and pose for photos. The package includes dance lessons for the girls, and each cadet earns $50 to $80 per party.
Cadets are only part of the cost. Parents also pay for catering, banquet hall rental, the dress, portraits and party favors. The tab can run into many thousands of dollars.
Alex Jimenez, who is 23 and grew up in Farmers Branch, started Sweet Sensation four years ago. His parents, immigrants from El Salvador, own Migueleno Restaurant & Club in Oak Cliff.
“This is taking kids out of the streets, instead of them doing gangs, they’re here,” Mr. Jimenez said. “I’d rather say, ‘Jose, you’re the best Latin dancer.’… My goal is to get them to MTV or a music video.”
Most of the cadets grew up in Dallas or its suburbs. They range in age from 14 to 18.
The Web site my15.com advises girls on dancers: “They do all the work while all you do is look cute, of course.”
Cadet groups build their names with huge dance competitions known as blowouts. The Internet builds their brand. On MySpace pages, girls debate which group has the hottest guys. The best dancers can become famous.
Dallas crews such as the Latin Boys, Latin Illusion and the Dallas Dream Boyz have dance videos on YouTube that get thousands of hits. In online comments, girls shout out “I love you!” and rival groups hurl insults: “These stupid clowns aren’t dancing.”
Practice time
Migueleno, which serves as headquarters for Sweet Sensation, sits on a rough stretch of Davis Street in Oak Cliff. A trailer park and several rundown motels line the road. A tattered Mexican flag flies nearby.
Outside the restaurant, three gleaming limousines — two Hummers and a Cadillac Escalade — look out of place in a parking lot ringed with barbed wire.
Inside, the cadets practice dancing with their 15-year-old clients on the Mondays and Wednesdays before the Saturday quinceanera.
In one corner of the restaurant’s mirrored salon, a cadet group practices the waltz with a girl. Another group works on hip-hop steps. Competing boom boxes blare a deafening fusion of classical waltz, bachata and hip-hop.
At 15, Vincent Portillo is already a veteran dancer. He runs Sweet Sensation practice sessions like a drill sergeant, shouting instructions at rookie cadets learning the traditional waltz, which involves the twirling of swords.
Vincent wears spotless white tennis shoes and a red T-shirt that proclaims: “I lost my number, can I have yours?” His hair is closely cropped and his eyebrows groomed. His grin reveals a mouthful of braces.
“Watch it with the swords!” he shouts after a girl narrowly misses walking into one.
“Ready!”
“Turn. Out. Turn. March.”
Vincent guides the girl and her escort along the dance floor. Then he spins the girl. She laughs and blushes.
“The girls are shy at first, and then you get to open them up — make it a fun experience they will remember,” Vincent says.
He and his older brother, Nixon, 17, worked hard to become the top dancers and captains of Sweet Sensation. They also wrestle and play football at R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton. Girls often request them at their parties.
“They’ll find me on MySpace and say ‘Do you remember me? You did my 15,’ ” Nixon said.
Mr. Jimenez, their boss, sets the rules. No sagging. Don’t look like a thug. No cursing. No drugs. No gangs. He wants the cadets to project higher quality than “regular” high school boys.
“The girls are very picky,” Mr. Jimenez said. “They look at the face. They look at the butt.”
‘If you got to flirt …’
It’s 2 p.m. Saturday, and the Sweet Sensation cadets are headed to San Juan Diego Church in Dallas for a pre-party Mass for 15 girl Adriana Castillo.
Dressed in crisp U.S. Marine uniforms purchased at a surplus store, they cram into a black Hummer and speed off to church. They stand at attention in the front row. They all take communion.
After the ceremony, the 15 girl and her cadets pile into the Hummer to drive around and take pictures. They stop at Irving’s Mustangs of Las Colinas, a popular photo spot.
The limo doors fly open and rap music pours out. The girl and her friends grin and stare at the cadets. The boys are craving McDonald’s drive-through. They pose and tease the girls.
“Part of our job is to put a smile on the 15 girl’s face,” Vincent says. “If you got to flirt, you got to flirt.”
Showtime
Krystle Gonzales and her entourage arrive at the Fiesta Event Center in southwest Dallas about 6 p.m. Just inside the entrance, chocolate flows from a fountain. A huge video screen flashes childhood photos of the 15 girl.
The cadets are nervous before their opening performance because an Air Force brigadier general and a real U.S. Marine are in the audience. Sometimes, the dancers’ uniforms offend real troops.
But both military men say it doesn’t bother them.
At 8:30, it’s showtime. The song “Tiempo de Vals,” or “Time to Waltz,” plays.
The boys walk in a circle around Krystle, spinning their swords. Each kneels before dancing with her. Their faces are serious. The waltz’s elegant formality awes the adults. But the teens have come for the second, more exciting act.
Cumbia music blares with a bass so strong the ground seems to shake. The quinceanera becomes a dance party. Then, at 11:30 p.m., it’s time for the popular hip-hop baile sorpresa, or “surprise dance.”
The cadets leave the room and return wearing white gloves, jeans and matching red tops under white polo shirts. Girls surge to the front row, where there’s standing room only.
“Take it off!” one shouts.
“I want to see this,” another says.
Vincent and Nixon are out front, bobbing and gyrating through the dance. Girls scream the loudest when the boys bend over for a signature “booty shake” — the grand finale.
The sexually suggestive dancing can be controversial. Boys in other groups have been known to tear off their shirts. Some pastors won’t allow the cadets to appear at the girls’ church service before the party.
Pedro Portillo, pastor of Santa Maria de Guadalupe Church in Irving, said many of the cadets attend his church and are respectful during the quinceanera’s religious service.
“In the church it’s very elegant,” he said. “The problem comes when they dance at the salon. The boys dance very un-Christian.”
Parents can specify what sort of dancing they want, and the cadets will adjust their moves on request.
Blanca Aguilera, Krystle’s mother, said she found it much easier to hire professionals than train her daughter’s friends, who often didn’t show up for practice.
“It’s more of a convenience,” she said. “A lot of people are opposed to it because … they think the boys are like strippers. But they’re fully clothed.”
‘Role models’
The cadets’ popularity is huge among teens.
Amaris Anguiano, 16, who attended Krystle’s party, giggled as she explained the attraction.
“They can booty dance, and they’re attractive,” she said.
“They’re role models for other men,” said Monica Vazquez, 15.
The boys who don’t dance watch the show from the back of the room and make fun of the group. But 16-year-old Luis Morado expresses envy.
“I wish I could dance like that,” he says. “I think they get a lot of girls.”
THE LINGO
Quinceanera: The traditional celebration of a Hispanic girl’s 15th birthday, also seen as a coming-of-age party. Usually held on Saturday evenings.
15: Slang term used by teens to refer to a quinceanera.
15 girl: Slang term describing the honoree.
Cadets/Cadetes: Groups of teenage boys hired to escort girls to their party and perform dances with and for them. The boys are named for the Marine-style uniforms they wear.
Damas y Chambelanes: Traditional girl-and-boy couples who escort the birthday girl and dance the waltz with her. Cadets are replacing them in Dallas.
Rookies: New cadets still learning dance moves.
Captains: Experienced cadets who train and lead the groups.
Surprise dance/Baile sorpresa: Cadets perform this contemporary hip-hop dance for the birthday girl. She can either participate or remain seated.
Blowout: Events where dance and cadet crews perform and compete. Often held on Fridays.
Salon: Ballrooms where many quinceanera parties and blowouts are held.
SOURCE: Dallas Morning News research
—–
To see more of The Dallas Morning News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dallasnews.com.
Copyright (c) 2008, The Dallas Morning News
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
NYSE:MCD,
Comments