Enlightened Free Thinking Nubian Kings And Queens

Ada Overton Walker, buck-and-wing, cakewalk virtuoso and choreographer regarded as one of the first African American choreographers on the American stage was born Ada Wilmon Overton on February 14, 1880 in Greenwich Village, New York City, the second child of Pauline Whitfield, a seamstress, and Moses Overton, a waiter. She was a child who seemed to have danced before she walked, fond of dancing in the streets with a hurdy-gurdy, until her parents decided she would receive formal dance training. Around 1897, after graduating from Thorp's Dance School, she toured briefly then an opportunity came when a girlfriend invited her to model for vaudeville advertisement at New York's Music Hall. She eventually the cast of  Williams and Walker's Octoroons, in which once critic declared of her performance, "I have just observed the greatest girl dancer." In 1899 Overton married George Walker and they became the leading cake-walking couple of the new century; in the cake...

Leonard Harper was a producer, stager, and  choreographer  in New York City during the  Harlem Renaissance  in the 1920's and 1930's. Harper's works spanned the worlds of  Vaudeville ,  Cabaret ,  Burlesque  and Broadway musical comedy. As a dancer, choreographer and studio owner, he coached many of the country's leading performers, including  Ruby Keller .  Fred Astaire  and  Adele Astaire , came by the studio twice, and the  Marx Brothers  went for lessons. He produced floor shows and theatrical revues both uptown in Harlem and downtown on Broadway's Great White Way. In his  Times Square  dance studio he trained the  Busby Berkeley  dancers, and Fred's sister  Adele Astaire . He co-directed and staged the ensemble segments of  The Exile  and the short film  Darktown Revue  with  Oscar Micheaux . Harper staged for Broadway  Hot Chocolates ...