Pete’s Biography

Pedro Aguilar of Man Meets Barbara was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in the New York’s "barrio.” As a young man he became a golden gloves fighter, having trained at Grubs gym in New York where Sugar Ray Robinson and other boxing greats worked out. After losing a big fight he agreed to enter a dance contest at the downtown club called La Clique, where Desi Arnaz met Lucille Ball. He won. With a thousand-dollar prize in his pocket, Pete decided dancing would be his life.

During one dance contest Dezi Arnez introduced Pedro as Cuban Pete.  The name stuck and remains one of the most recognized in Latin Dance. Pete became a weekly performer at the Palladium winning close to 100 prizes throughout his career. He developed hand embellishments and dance movement now seen as standards of Latin Dance. Life Magazine featured him in a 1954 spread, naming him the best Mambo dancer ever.

With two White House performances for Presidents Eisenhower and Johnson, a command performance for Queen Elizabeth of England, and a performance at Madison Square Garden for Prime Minister Ben Gurion of Israel, Pete is one of the best-known Latin dance performers. He is the only dancer recognized in the Latin Jazz Exhibit at the Smithsonian Institute. Currently in his mid-80s, Pete lives in South Florida and is still active in the dance world.