Description
Book Synopsis While tap dancers Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Eleanor Powell were major Hollywood stars, and the rhythms of Black male performers such as the Nicholas Brothers and Bill Bojangles Robinson were appreciated in their time, Black female tap dancers seldom achieved similar recognition. Who were these women? The author sought them out, interviewed them, and documented their stories for this book. Here are the personal stories of many Black women tap dancers who were hailed by their male counterparts, performed on the most prominent American stages, and were pioneers in the field of Black tap.
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. Rhythm Preserves the Spirit
- 2. From Jim Crow to Master Juba
- 3. White and Black Minstrelsy
- 4. Aida Overton Walker: Queen of the Cakewalk
- 5. Alice Whitman: Queen of Taps
- 6. Tappin' in Time
- 7. Clubbin' in Harlem
- 8. Let's Swing
- 9. "Candi": Improvised Rhythms
- 10. "Baby Edwards": A Legend in Her Own Time
- 11. Ludie Jones
- 12. Louise Madison: A Dancer's Dancer
- 13. Jeni LeGon
- 14. Lois Bright
- 15. "Pepper"
- 16. "Salt": Little Lady of Taps
- 17. Edwards Sisters
- 18. Juanita Pitts
- 19. Delno Polk Bailey
- 20. Isabelle "Eleanor Byrd" Fambro
- 21. Black Tap: Decline and Resurgence
- 22. And Now
- 23. In Retrospect
- Glossary of Dance and Music
- Appendix I: A Few More Women Dancers
- Appendix II: Performers Who Blazed the Trail
- Chapter Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
