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...

Alice Barker was a chorus line dancer during the Harlem Renaissance of the the 1930's and 40's. She danced at clubs such as The Apollo, Cotton Club, and Zanzibar Club, with legends including Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Although she danced in numerous movies, commercials and TV shows, she had never seen any of them, and all of her photographs and memorabilia had been lost over the years. After years of searching we found three "Soundies" Alice appeared in and were finally able to show them to her — she had never seen herself in motion in her life!  If you'd like to send Alice fan mail we would love to see her get the adoration she deserves after so many years! (We'll do our best to read some of your comments to her as well.): Alice Barker c/o Brookly Gardens (formerly the Bishop Henry B. Hucles Episcopal Nursing Home) 835 Herkimer Street  Brooklyn, NY11233 All of Alice's films from this video are collected...

Known to many as the most beautiful male model of all time. Not much is known about him except that he was a fixture at Studio 54. The actor Raymond St Jacques was his adopted “father”. On any given night at studio 54, Sterling could be seen twirling Bianca Jagger, Pat Cleveland and Grace Jones around the floor. Caroline Kennedy would go to Studio 54 just to dance with Sterling. Sterling, Raymond, Howard Rollins and Paul Winfield were also fixtures in the Castro. Pat and Sterling danced on Soul Train for a minute. Sterling never reached the levels of success as his female counterpart Grace Jones although he did make an attempt in the early eighties at a music career. People talk about Tyson Beckford, but Sterling was the first to walk the runways for Givenchy, Halston and Yves Saint Laurent. He came, he danced and died with no fanfare. So every time you see a black man walking a runway or modeling in print just think about Sterling for a minute because he was the first.