In previous posts, we've seen that Jelon Vieira and Loremil Machado performed capoeira and other Brazilian dances in settings as varied as street corners in the Bronx, to Central Park, to community centers, dance schools and off-Broadway stages. Add to the list, upscale nightclub/discos. Olivier Coquelin, nicknamed "Disco Daddy,"
opened the first discotheque in New York with Le Club, in 1960, and achieved further notoriety in 1966 with
Cheetah. Vieira and Machado found work performing at his upstairs/downstairs clubs,
Cachaca and
Hippopotamus. The Brazilian-themed
Cachaca opened in March 1977, one month before Studio 54.
To make money to survive, I did shows in a club called “Cachaça and Hippopotamus” For a long time, in the late 70s and early 80s it was a famous New York club. It was a way for me to cover my expenses, the income from teaching was not enough. I didn’t have many students and I did not want to be find a job where I would be underemployed.... [Loremil Machado and I] put on shows at Cachaça every Wednesday for four to five years and that helped us pay for rent, buy groceries and live.
-Jelon Vieira, in his 2007 interview with Mauricio Barros de Castro
The following video is from the latter half of a ten minute feature aired in 1979 on WPVI Philadelphia's videomagazine show "The Speed of Thought." In it, Loremil Machado (longer hair) and Jelon Vieira perform capoeira in a nightclub in 1979. This was probably at Cachaca. Note the live jazz accompaniment, the playful style, the solo turns, the show-off attitude. I see some elements of breaking, and some of Loft style. Click on image to play.
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| Cachaca matchbook |
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| Hippopotamus matchbook |
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| Eye, Feb. 16, 1977 |
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Larry Peabody on the bar at Cachaca, WWD March 17, 1977
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| New York Magazine, April 2, 1979 |
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Ad in Interview Magazine , June 1977
Olivier Coquelin talked about his new club in the June 1977 issue of Andy Warhol's Interview Magazine.
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Interview Magazine June 1977
Coquelin apparently changed his mind about the entertainment by 1980, as evidenced by the following clippings from Variety and Back Stage in 1980.
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| Variety, March 12, 1980 |
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| Variety, March 12, 1980 |
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Back Stage, February 29, 1980
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"Daddy Disco" Olivier Coquelin in front of his club "Cachaca." date unknown
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