The Story Of Legendary Bahamian Dancer Paul Meeres
By Monique Forbes
Guardian Features Reporter
Nowadays when the term "Over the Hill" is used, most people do not necessarily think of a posh, upscale, vibrant, cultural or touristic center where international celebrities once wined and dined.
Those who can remember, however, the music, songs, and glamour still lives on in their souls. An icon during the glory days of Over the Hill was the late dancer and entertainer, Paul Meeres.
Born and raised in the heart of the Grants Town in 1902, Meeres, like many Bahamian males during the early 1900s, went abroad to the United States to worked on what was called "the contract," an employment agreement between U.S. and the Bahamas, to meet its demand for farm workers.
While there, Meers was introduced to the art of dancing which dramatically changed his career. Without formal training, utilizing his natural talent, he developed a smooth dancing style that put him on the international entertainment stage.
During the period in Afro-American history known as the "Harlem Renaissance," he rose like a bust of light in the night sky and became a main feature at New York's, plush Cotton Club in the 1920s. Strikingly handsome, he was regarded as the best looking man in the Bahamas and was nicknamed "The Brown Valentino," a source says.
"Paul Meeres was the first black Bahamian to work in New York City at a white club. Back in those days, the Cotton Club in Harlem was the club where black dancers could work, says Berkley, "Peanuts" Taylor, a close friend of Meeres, as he delves into his life.
"From New York, it was on to Paris where he performed at the ritzy Follies-Bergère Theater, with celebrity American dancer Josephine Baker, remembered for her jaw-dropping performance, which included a costume of 16 bananas strung into a skirt.
At the height of his career, Meeres toured much of ther Americas, Cuba, the Far East, and Canada. In fact, his far-reaching popularity took him to Buckingham Palace where he gave a command performance.
He returned to the Bahamas at the height of his career in 1939, and opened Chez Paul Meeres Club "Over the Hill", at Fleming Street. Meeres also built the first theatre and 50-room hotel Over the Hill, comments Taylor.
Taylor's first encounter with Meeres was at age 4 was life changing as Meeres gave him the stage name, "Peanuts".
"In 1939, on the way from Our Lady's school where I went as a four year old, I heard this music playing and decided to look. The gate was open and I went in and saw this man dancing. I walked up to him and told him I could dance better than he could. He said, A little peanut like you is telling me you can dance better than I. Why don't you come over tonight and let me see what you can do," says Taylor, laughing.
The rest is history. Taylor went on to become a part of the act known as "Frances Agusta the 450 Pound Worth of Joy, and Peanuts The Wonder Boy."
"I was like his protégé; he discovered me. I was like his son," says Taylor, his voice quivering with emotion.
Describing Meeres as a "nice man," Taylor says he was a gentle, humble and loving person.
"He was not at all the type you would think being so handsome and sought after. He was not arrogant and stuckes up; he was very down-to -earth," Taylor remembers, as the corners of his mouth turned upward into a broad smile.
According to Taylor, it was Meeres pale, light, almost European features which might have caused him to be less accepted at home.
"His problem was, he was never really accepted in the Bahamas because he looked white," he continues.
He adds: "The white Bahamians were afraid because he was so white and he could pass for white. But he didn't choose really to do that. So I think that it was a double whammy in those days, with his type of situation."
Nevertheless, business was booming at Paul Meeres Club, as it attracted big name celebrities such as screen stars Elizabeth Taylor and Ava Gardner.
"He brought bands and entertainers from Cuba and Jamaica; he brought peacocks, too. In the garden, he had peacocks ... it was really beautiful and grand!" says Taylor, his voice filled with excitement.
He explains why the club was popular among the international traveler:
"First of all, it was because he went abroad and appeared in all the famous club in Paris, London, New York, and Cuba. He was able to bring along with him that environment. Whenever he brought people in, everybody knew they were people was of a high caliber."
Soon, however, things started going downhill for Meeres. The once savvy, well-dressed, businessman took to the bottle and allowed his business to falter.
"He should have really stayed out of Nassau, he would have been better off, says Taylor, with anger in his voice.
When his nephew escaped from prison, and hid in his mother's house, Meeres took the rap for housing a fugitive; he spent six months in prison for that offense.
"He was never the same after that. He went into a depression, started drinking heavily, lost his ambition. Even though he had the club, he just walked the street drunk," says Taylor, with tears in his eyes and his voice lowering to a poignant tone.
In 1957, Taylor and Renee Volt from Sweden, took over the club and renamed it "The Tropicana" which burnt down in 1958 under mysterious circumstances.
Four years later, tragedy struck. On Sept. 13, 1962, a drunk Paul Meeres, staggered across the path of a Customs Department bus driven by Dyanza Burrows. He was pronounced dead hours later at the Princess Margaret Hospital. He was the father of three.
"We have not given Paul Meeres the kind of recognition he deserved. We seem to give only politicians recognition," says Taylor, noting that artists like Meeres contributed immensely to the rise of the Bahamian tourism Industry.
" Artists are always put on the back burner, We have lovely funerals for them when they die, and everybody get up and say fantastic things, but then there is nothing else," he says.
Caption Paul Meeres
Posted: Monday December 29, 2003
