El Dorado Not Quite Golden .... Yet

The El Dorado offers a spacious dance floor, a cozy balcony
and a pleasantly accessible stage.
(BAZ Staff Photo)

- by K. I. Jaidov

If you weren't able to attend the long anticipated opening of the El Dorado Club, don't despair. You didn't really miss all that much. It was most likely impossible for anyone or anything to live up to the lofty expectations that had been set for opening day, and it didn't. The event provided a new venue for the same familiar people to do the same familiar things in the same familiar ways. A sort of Der Keller Happy Hour with lower light, nicer dresses and bawdier humor.

Still, the new club fairly throbs with potential. It is lit up enough to see, but dark enough to to keep things as interesting as one might wish for. It lacks much in the way of seating, but this may encourage people to dance and mingle instead of planting themselves on a stool at the bar. There's room enough for a lot of dancers, and the stage is small and set low, creating a sense of connection between audience and performers. As a cabaret venue it should prove far superior to the more formal Odeon. A cozy balcony rings the upper level, providing a bit of privacy along with open views of the activity below.

Fr Yardly and Fr Morales officially open the El Dorado.
(BAZ Staff Photo)

There was, by Berlin standards, a large crowd - over thirty at one point. Short speeches from Sonatta Morales and Jo Yardley marked the official opening of the club and entertainment was  provided by Lydia Yalin and Myron Byron. A most unfortunate server glitch brought the festivities to a sudden, albeit temporary halt, from which they soon made a resilient and good natured recovery. Alts were very much in evidence, although nothing much went on that you could not have told you mother about - or had her along to see.

"Masculine Women and Feminine Men"? Not on opening
day, when a mostly traditional crowed packed the club.
(BAZ Staff Photo)

What was missing, and what we may reasonably hope will assert itself over the next few weeks, was any sense of a unique and different personality. In a sense, the club may have been victimized by the reputation of its historical predecessor. "Notorious" takes time. It isn't something that anyplace or anyone starts out as because of good marketing. The El Dorado has what it takes to achieve notoriety. Or perhaps something else altogether. As the crowd of curious voyeurs gives way to one of more regular and devoted followers, "The Golden One" will see its own style emerge. There is no reason to think that it will not become the place to be (if not to be seen) in central Berlin. Give it a week for the dust to settle, and then stop in and decide for yourself.