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To name her brings back a nocturnal Buenos Aires that no longer exists and a mysterious world, surrounded by legends and overdimensions, like that of the revue theater. Her name, not even her image, evoke a lost time.
There are no more of his species. They have been extinct for many years. She was the greatest exponent, the one who reached the furthest. The only one who became a symbol, a myth. There are few people who manage to define an entire era with her name alone. Nélida Roca did it.
Her name was Nélida Mercedes Musso. She was born in 1929. With immigrant parents, she always wanted to act. She married very young, at age 16, with the musician Julio Rivero Roca. From him she took the family name by which she would be known. Nélida began to sing in the Rivero Roca's jazz orchestra. She was a mediocre but very showy jazz singer. Someone alerted Luis César Amadori, owner of the Maipo, that in a basement in front of his theater, a very attractive young girl was performing night after night. Amadori immediately hired her and took her on stage in a revue alongside Jovita Luna and Beba Bidart. Nélida quit singing soon and began to work as a full-time vedette.
Some photographic productions in magazines, especially a very daring one for her time with the photographer Henry Keegan made her well-known. Then, when the public came to see her, the ineffable spell was produced, which does not accept too much explanation. She was immediately baptized as the Venus of Corrientes Street. Nélida Roca, mythological goddess of Buenos Aires, reigned for almost 25 years.
She was the most renowned vedette of her time. She was the most successful figure of the most popular show. Until her appearance the vedettes were not very well known. Those who headed the bill were the comic actors. The women who stood out had different talents. Acting, humor, singing. The Bozán sisters or Tita Merello are good examples.
Then there were the vedettes who paraded their bodies on stage, discomforted by feathers and various ornaments. They were in charge of feeding male fantasies. Their role, their image, was taken from the Parisian shows. The revue theatre was a...