Table Of ContentDance and the
Hollywood Latina
(cid:2)
LATINIDAD
Transnational Cultures in the United States
This series publishes books that deepen and expand our knowledge and
understanding of the various Latina/o populations in the United States in the
context of their transnational relationships with cultures of the broader
Americas. The focus is on the history and analysis of Latino cultural systems
and practices in national and transnational spheres of influence from the
nineteenth century to the present. The series is open to scholarship in
political science, economics, anthropology, linguistics, history, cinema and
television, literary and cultural studies, and popular culture and encourages
interdisciplinary approaches, methods, and theories. The Series Advisory
Board consists of faculty of the School of Transborder Studies at Arizona
State University where an interdisciplinary emphasis is being placed on
transborder and transnational dynamics.
Marta E. Sánchez, Series Editor, School of Transborder Studies, Arizona State
University
Marivel T. Danielson, Homecoming Queers: Desire and Difference in Chicano
Latina Cultural Production
Regina M. Marchi, Day of the Dead in the USA: The Migration and
Transformation of a Cultural Phenomenon
Priscilla Peña Ovalle, Dance and the Hollywood Latina: Race, Sex, and Stardom
Dance and the
Hollywood Latina
(cid:2)
Race, Sex, and Stardom
Priscilla Peña Ovalle
rutgers university press
new brunswick, new jersey, and london
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ovalle, Priscilla Peña, 1976–
Dance and the Hollywood Latina : race, sex, and stardom / Priscilla Peña Ovalle.
p. cm. — (Latinidad—transnational cultures in the United States)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–8135–4880–7(hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978–0–8135–4881–4
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Hispanic Americans in motion pictures. 2. Hispanic Americans in the
motion picture industry. 3. Hispanic American motion picture actors and actresses.
4. Dance in motion pictures, television, etc.—United States. 5. Race in motion
pictures. 6. Sex in motion pictures. I. Title.
PN1995.9.H47O93 2010
791.43(cid:2)652968073—dc22
2010003041
A British Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the British
Library.
Copyright © 2011by Priscilla Peña Ovalle
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, elec-
tronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written
permission from the publisher. Please contact Rutgers University Press, 100Joyce Kilmer
Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854–8099. The only exception to this prohibition is “fair use” as
defined by U.S. copyright law.
Visit our Web site: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Manufactured in the United States of America
For Omar, with my deepest passion
For Cynthia Peña Sanchez and Casey Ovalle,
with my greatest love
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1. Mobilizing the Latina Myth 1
2. Dolores Del Rio Dances across the Imperial
Color Line 24
3. Carmen Miranda Shakes It for the Nation 49
4. Rita Hayworth and the Cosmetic Borders of Race 70
5. Rita Moreno, the Critically Acclaimed “All-Round
Ethnic” 101
6. Jennifer Lopez, Racial Mobility, and the New Urban/
Latina Commodity 126
Notes 145
Works Cited 159
Index 171
vii
Acknowledgments
This book is the product of many years of hard work and the tireless support
of a community of friends, family, and scholars, but I must start by acknowl-
edging the one person without whom this book would not be possible:
Omar Naïm. Omar has changed the trajectory of my life yet walks beside me
every step of the way. I cannot imagine a better existence than the one we have
made together, and I continually look forward to our next adventure. He has
loved, nurtured, and inspired me since I was a restless young woman struggling
through college—well before graduate school was even a fanciful thought. This
book is for him.
This book is also for my mother and my father, Cynthia Peña Sanchez
and Casey Ovalle. Each of them has taught me about tireless love, strengthened
me with their creativity, and inspired me with their incredible work ethic. My
education and this book would not have been possible without them. I also
thank my sisters, Natascia and Marcella, for helping me to become a better
teacher and friend.
One of the most wonderful parts of academia is its tradition of mentorship.
Every step of the way, I have been blessed with incredible mentors. First and
foremost, I thank Jane Shattuc. While it was a great leap of faith that got me to
college in the first place, it was Dr. Shattuc who sparked a film theory fire, told
me about graduate school, and made me believe I could pursue it. She then
welcomed me into her home and gave me the great gift of knowing Annie. I can
never repay such generosity, but I hope to grow into the kind of teacher and
mentor that she is.
As a graduate student at the University of Southern California, I had the
good fortune to work with Marsha Kinder, Tara McPherson, David Román,
George Sanchez, Curtis Marez, and Lynn Spigel. I can never fully thank my
committee—Drs. Kinder, McPherson, and Román—for shepherding me
through graduate school, for nurturing my dissertation from its unwieldy
ix
