Which American dancer worked at a jazz music bar and lounge in Atlantic City, New Jersey prior to its closing in the mid-1970's?
621333a511d4e893494d062842efdf8d
Grace's Little Belmont Grace's Little Belmont was a jazz music bar and lounge in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Located at 37 Kentucky Avenue, it was one of the four popular black nightclubs situated on that street between the mid-1930s and mid-1970s; the others were Club Harlem, the Paradise Club, and the Wonder Gardens. The Little Belmont was located across the street from Club Harlem, with which it often shared performers and patrons. Wild Bill Davis and his swing and jazz quartet were featured summer performers from 1950 through the mid-1960s, and Elvera M. "Baby" Sanchez, mother of Sammy Davis, Jr., worked at the bar. The club closed in the mid-1970s and was later demolished.
8f72d42cc6476f17e3ae8ce5c6078d67
Elvera Sanchez Elvera Sanchez (September 1, 1905 – September 2, 2000) was an American dancer and the mother of Sammy Davis Jr.
6b8c789446308f14956e641b075f559b
Anita Elson Anita Elson (1898–1985) was an American dancer and singer who appeared in revues in New York City and London, England, in the early 20th century.
8d12d8ce7c6e252657996cfeee665d52
Ruth Price Ruth Price (born April 27, 1938) is an American jazz singer and Artistic Director of the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles, California. Price attended ballet school in 1952. In 1954, she sang with Charlie Ventura and later worked as a singer and dancer in Philadelphia and New York City. She moved to Hollywood in 1957 and toured with Harry James from 1964 to 1965.
d0a139e605d74e8ba052c3bac3b3c1c5
Bill Robinson Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949) was an American tap dancer and actor, the best known and most highly paid African-American entertainer in the first half of the twentieth century. His long career mirrored changes in American entertainment tastes and technology. He started in the age of minstrel shows and moved to vaudeville, Broadway, the recording industry, Hollywood, radio, and television. According to dance critic Marshall Stearns, "Robinson's contribution to tap dance is exact and specific. He brought it up on its toes, dancing upright and swinging", giving tap a "…hitherto-unknown lightness and presence." His signature routine was the stair dance, in which Robinson would tap up and down a set of stairs in a rhythmically complex sequence of steps, a routine that he unsuccessfully attempted to patent. Robinson is also credited with having introduced a new word, "copacetic", into popular culture, via his repeated use of it in vaudeville and radio appearances.
149cc4262695ed812e4b42ac6942867d
Valerie Bettis Valerie Elizabeth Bettis (December 1919 – 26 September 1982) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. She found success in musical theatre, ballet, and as a solo dancer.
508bde91fa5b68d96c4f48c9ce7622d8
Babette's Babette's or Babette's Supper Club was a supper club and bar at 2211 Pacific Avenue on the Boardwalk of Atlantic City, New Jersey. It operated from the early 1920s onwards and was sold in 1950. The bar was designed like a ship's hull. In the backroom was a gambling den, which was investigated by the federal authorities and raided in 1943.
802beb8b47214bd815357c973b983ef8
Mae Barnes Mae Barnes (born Edith Mae Stith, possibly January 23, 1907 – December 13, 1996) was an African-American jazz singer, dancer and comic entertainer. She was responsible for introducing the Charleston dance to Broadway in the 1924 revue "Runnin' Wild". After her career as a dancer ended, she became a successful nightclub singer and recording artist.
dc05a49e4ff8578111a6ad0318a56503
Velvet Nation Velvet Nation was a gay dance event that took place at the Nation nightclub, formerly known as The Capitol Ballroom, located at 1015 Half Street, SE in Washington, D.C. The party name was derived from the venue name and "Velvet", an ode to the gay community. This event was hosted weekly on Saturday nights, 388 times over seven years, serving more than 741,000 patrons. The event ended when Nation closed its doors on July 16, 2006. The club was forced to close because of eminent domain, and the land is now part of the redevelopment program being spurred by the new Nationals Park baseball stadium in the Navy Yard/Near Southeast neighborhood.
7ef1f382187bd116c1e0a2948a3affd5
Stretch Johnson Howard Eugene Johnson (30 January 1915 – 28 May 2000), better known as "Stretch" Johnson, was a tap dancer and social activist.
66ed7feceb4f93a9610697a5f5f69a62
Vera Olcott Vera Olcott (1893–19??) was an American dancer from Philadelphia who became popular in Europe in the early 20th century.
190e2ff405c4c0bc3f76101f6c5b2530
Smalls Paradise Smalls Paradise (often called Small's Paradise and Smalls' Paradise, and not to be confused with Smalls Jazz Club), was a nightclub in Harlem, New York City. Located in the basement of 2294 Seventh Avenue, it opened in 1925 and was owned by Ed Smalls. At the time of the Harlem Renaissance, Smalls Paradise was the only one of the well-known Harlem night clubs to be owned by an African-American and integrated. Other major Harlem night clubs admitted only white patrons unless the person was an African-American celebrity.
5b0da10e17aa39bf745bda26aace1791
Tempest Storm Tempest Storm (born Annie Blanche Banks, February 29, 1928), and dubbed the Queen of Exotic Dancers is a burlesque star and motion picture actress. Along with Lili St. Cyr, Sally Rand, and Blaze Starr, she was one of the best known burlesque performers of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Her career as an exotic dancer spanned more than 60 years and she was still performing in the early 21st century.
e903e5e412270b55008d21066764da15
Iris Chacón Iris Chacón Tapia (born March 7, 1950 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican dancer, singer, and entertainer. She enjoys great popularity in Puerto Rico (where she had a weekly variety show for more than a decade) and in other Latin American countries, as well as such U.S. locales as New York, Miami, and Los Angeles.
22a4767491a998306fd240a236866519
Mariam McGlone Mariam McGlone (January 20, 1916 – May 19, 2008) was an American dancer, dance critic, and educator.
bc7087a1093b8d65e367f73dc8921f2b
Bert Kelly (jazz musician) Bert Kelly (June 2, 1882 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa – January 1968 in Long Beach, New York) was an American musician, who pioneered jazz as a banjoist, bandleader, educator, promoter, night club owner, and night club operator. After professional stints in Seattle and San Francisco, Kelly moved to Chicago in 1914 where he flourished a banjoist, bandleader, and promoter. In 1915 — before the U.S. prohibition — he founded and operated a Chicago speakeasy called "Bert Kelly's Stables," where patrons were introduced to early jazz.
b747bc1c75c21877da053e965ae330c0
Joan Merrill Joan Merrill (January 2, 1918, Baltimore, Maryland–May 10, 1992 New York, New York) was an American singer and actress. She began her career in the 1930s on radio and later sang at nightclubs across the United States, including at the Copacabana in New York City, the Thunderbird in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Rio Cabana in Chicago. In addition to live performances she starred in the 1941 musical film "Time Out for Rhythm" and, in 1942, had roles in "Iceland" and "The Mayor of 44th Street". As was popular at the time, her songs were patriotic and inspired by support for World War II.
c04f3f49b5f5b6889bc4632abeb5845c
Candy Johnson Candy Johnson (February 8, 1944 – October 20, 2012) was an American singer and dancer who appeared in several films in the 1960s.
42e4bd50faba4ad95571480b9ec13485
Buddy Johnson Woodrow Wilson "Buddy" Johnson (January 10, 1915 – February 9, 1977) was an American jazz and New York blues pianist and bandleader, active from the 1930s through the 1960s. His songs were often performed by his sister Ella Johnson, most notably "Since I Fell for You", which became a jazz standard.
b1ade61aa2e95f4656f9e35862178fd6
Zelda Kaplan Zelda Kaplan (June 20, 1916 – February 15, 2012) was a fixture in New York's art, nightclub, and fashion worlds. She was often seen at popular New York nightclubs until closing. Her trademark outfit was a matching African-print dress, handbag, and shoes, and a tall cloth hat.
3754dff2f3423c60753afd3567b8f9ac
Arthur Murray Arthur Murray (April 4, 1895 – March 3, 1991) was an American ballroom dancer and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the dance studio chain that bears his name.
6e381b1ccb4781d4857845a31cb7021d
Kentucky Avenue Renaissance Festival Kentucky Avenue Renaissance Festival, also known as the Historical Kentucky Avenue Renaissance Festival, is a street fair held each summer in the former black entertainment district of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Founded in 1992, it appeared annually until 2001, and then resumed in 2011. Held on and around the site of the razed Club Harlem (today a parking lot), the weekend fair commemorates the R&B and jazz nightspots that once lined Kentucky Avenue and that attracted both black and white clientele in its heyday from the 1940s through 1960s. The festival features live performances by R&B and jazz musicians and bands, dance performances, street performers, arts and crafts for children, and food concessions, and draws hundreds of attendees.