Whitey’s Lindy Hopper of awesome!
Second couple in this scene from the 1947 film Boy! What a Girl!:
At 3.00 dancing at the Savoy with Leon James (from 1950 Mura Dehn docoSpirit Moves):
In a whole series of sequences from Spirit Moves, wearing a shiny skirt and strapless shirt:
[Thanks again to Peter Loggins for helping me figure out who’s who in the clips, AND for suggesting Esther!]
O’Neil was one of those dancers who blew people’s brains.
Acrobatic tap from the 1936 film Amuse Yourself.
A tiny woman who partnered ‘Tiny’ Bunch in the 1938 film ‘Manhattan Merry-go-round’: watch a snippet here, and read more about Johnson at savoystyle.com.
Norma Miller: author and lindy hopping queen.
I figured I needed to step up the politics a bit. Think I’ve got opinions? Norma’s got them all.
Also FUCK YEAH SISTERS GOT OPINIONS. And if you have a problem with that, you should probably just leave the internet. Walk out of your town, and into the wilderness, never to speak to another human being again.
Here’s Norma talking about making the film Hellzapoppin’, racism and running a dance troupe:
Miller and Leon James are the second couple in this sequence from Day at the Races (1937):
Miller (dancing with George Greenidge) is half of the sixth couple in the jam during the jitterbug contest section of Keep Punchin’ (1939):
Miller dances with Billy Ricker, as the second couple in the iconic scene from Hellzapoppin’ (1941):
Miller is in the Hot Chocolates/Cottontail (1941) soundie, but I’m not sure which dancer she is:
There are some interesting photos of Norma Miller, Frankie Manning and other dancers in the Getty Images collection.
[Once again I’m using Bobby’s article about iconic clips to identify dancers.]
Oh dear. I had meant to seek out new women this month, but I’ve just been up against it lately, without a spec of time to do research.
Jeanne Veloz is a west coast dancer, and she has her own website.
I like this video because it reminds me of The Vampire Diaries. Why choose, when you can have both? Rock on, Jeanne, rock on.
[nb the above image is from Jeanne Veloz’ website]
Man, this is a busy week.
Here’s a repost because I am busy.
In the 1935 film ‘Roberta’.
(I love the band in this scene!)
Crap! Nearly forgot to post!
Off to teach in a tick, so no time for more research.
First couple, dancing with Johnny Innis in A Day At The Races (1937):
Born Nannie Mayme in Lancaster, South Carolina in 1912, (passing away 3 May 1967), McKinney was a talented performer with a relatively short career. As with many of the big name black women stars of the period she could sing, dance, act, was a talented comedian… all that good stuff. She starred in Lew Leslie’s stage show Blackbirds of 1928, and there was discovered for the film Hallelujah!. She also starred in Safe in Hell (1931), Gang Smashers (aka Gun Moll 1938) The Devil’s Daughter (aka Pocomania 1939), and a number of other films (you can read more about those here).
There are some more excellent photos in Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films By Donald Bogle, which is a key work in American race and film studies (it’s dealing in large part with racial stereotypes in cinema).)
See Nina Mae McKinney dancing and singing in this excerpt from the 1929 film Hallelujah!:
Golly, that last post was fierce.
You know you don’t really have to solo dance if you don’t want to, don’t you?
