Tappin' at the Apollo: The African American Female Tap Dance Duo Salt and Pepper

by Cheryl M. Willis

Overview

In the 1920s and 1930s, Edwina "Salt" Evelyn and Jewel "Pepper" Welch learned to tap dance on street corners in New York and Philadelphia. By the 1940s, they were Black show business headliners, playing Harlem's Apollo Theater with the likes of Count Basie, Fats Waller and Earl "Fatha" Hines. Their exuberant tap style, usually performed by men, earned them the respect of their male peers and the acclaim of audiences. Based on extensive interviews with Salt and Pepper, this book chronicles for the first time the lives and careers of two overlooked female performers who succeeded despite the racism, sexism and homophobia of the Big Band era.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476623153
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	05/02/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	21 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Cheryl M. Willis’s doctoral work in dance focused on African American studies and children’s dance. Selected as National Dance Educator of the Year in 2000, she has toured the U.S. and Canada presenting workshops on creative dance, and has published extensively on tap dance and creative movement. She lives in Vancouver, Washington.
Cheryl M. Willis's doctoral work in dance focused on African American studies and children's dance. Selected as National Dance Educator of the Year in 2000, she has toured the U.S. and Canada presenting workshops on creative dance, and has published extensively on tap dance and creative movement. She lives in Vancouver, Washington.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
1. A Look at the Years That Roared
2. Dancing on the Corner
3. Steppin’ on Stage
4. Candi and Pepper
5. Salt and Pepper
6. The Apollo Theater
7. The Best Year of My Life
8. All Aboard for the East Coast
9. Crossing the Line
10. Down in Dixie
11. Chicago
12. On Midwestern Soil
13. “The Girls”
14. Canadian Jazz
15. A Sweet Moment Slips Away
Epilogue: What Do We Do Now?
Appendix I: Schedule of Performances
Appendix II: In Memory of a Generation Who Performed
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

[I] was knocked out by the rare photos and ads... Willis paints an intriguing picture of what show business was like for these two ladies. This is helped immeasurably by the author’s interviews with Salt and Pepper themselves.”—Classic Images

From the Publisher