Alice Barker
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Alice Barker was a chorus-line dancer during the Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s and 1940s.[1]
Life[edit]
Born in 1912[2], Barker became famous for a video titled “102 y/o Dancer Sees Herself on Film for the First Time” uploaded on YouTube in April 2015[1][3]. In the video, Alice Barker watches herself dance in vintage film clips.
In fact, Alice Barker danced in films with famous artists such as Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson, Gene Kelly, and Frank Sinatra. However, her last name has been misspelled several times by film-makers, who would leave out the middle R and write Baker instead of Barker.[2]
Work[edit]
The three-minute clips Alice Barker performed in were called Soundies. Soundies were made to be screened on movie jukeboxes or Panoramas – free standing projection cabinets in a size similar to modern refrigerators.[4] Soundies became a film phenomenon,
Soundies featured Black singers, dancers – like Barker – and musicians as stars. In Legs Ain’t No Good (Barry/Waller-Graham, 1942), Alice Barker is seated alone at an outdoor lunch counter. She lifts her skirt, extends her leg, and winks to the audience. The tone is playful and fun.[4]
Alice Barker also performed in the following Soundies:
- Chatter (uncredited)
- Jive Comes to the Jungle (uncredited)
- Jungle Jamboree (uncredited)[4]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "See 102-Year-Old Alice Barker's Sweet Reaction to Films of Her Dancing In '30s and '40s". ABC News. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lewis-Smith, Christopher (2016-12-01). "A brief history of the dancer/camera relationship". Moving Image Review & Art Journal (MIRAJ), the. 5 (1–2): 142–156. doi:10.1386/miraj.5.1-2.142_1. ISSN 2045-6298.
- ↑ "Watch 102-Year-Old Former Star See Footage Of Her Young Self Dancing For The First Time". HuffPost. 2015-04-22. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Delson, Susan (2021). Soundies and the changing image of Black Americans on screen : one dime at a time. Bloomington, Indiana. ISBN 978-0-253-05855-3. OCLC 1272998619. Search this book on
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