- Additional Authors
- Gottschild, Brenda Dixon
- Description
- One streaming audio file (approximately one hour and three minutes): digital
- Summary
- Streaming audio file (approximately one hour and three minutes). Margot Webb speaks with Brenda Dixon-Stowell [later Brenda Dixon Gottschild] about performing during the 1930s, on tour and in night clubs [with Harold Norton as the ballroom dance team, Norton and Margo]; the typical structure of the productions in which their act, known as a "unit", appeared; segregation in the theaters and the clubs; the almost complete absence of black agents and managers; the lack of adequate backstage facilities; the cost of lessons; her gowns; alternating touring and working in clubs; a run of one week at a given theater as typical; more on segregation; typical compensation including the disparity between that received by white and by black dancers; the invitation to dance in Russia [former Soviet Union] and its withdrawal; their repertory which included a "toe dance" solo for Webb and an African dance for Norton; Norton's ballet training; more on their repertory including boleros, waltzes, tangos, and rumbas; other black ballroom dancers; performing at the Palladium Theatre in London, England; performing at the Amytis Theater in St. Louis, Missouri thanks to the sponsorship of a wealthy individual; living and performing in Berlin, Germany under the National Socialist regime; the abrupt halt to their tour, in 1937; Harold Norton as a dancer including his versatilityy; their school [ends abruptly].
- Donor/Sponsor
- Gift of Brenda Dixon-Stowell
- Alternative Title
- Dance Audio Archive.
- Subjects
- Genre/Form
- Interviews.
- Sound recordings.
- Note
- For transcript of interview, see *MGZMT 3-338.
- Interview with Margot Webb conducted by Brenda Dixon-Stowell [later Brenda Dixon Gottschild] on April 17, 1978 in New York (N.Y.). The contents of this interview are reflected in Dixon-Stowell's article: Dancing in the Dark: The Life and Times of Margot Webb in Aframerican Vaudeville of the Swing Era, in Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 17, No. 1, Black Theatre Issue (Spring, 1983), pp. 3-7.
- Title supplied by cataloger.
- Sound quality is good.
- Access (note)
- Patrons may access streaming audio only on site at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
- Funding (note)
- The conservation and cataloging of this recording was made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The support of the National Endowment for the Arts is also gratefully acknowledged.
- Call Number
- *MGZTCO 3-338
- OCLC
- 81455115
- Author
Webb, Margot, 1910- interviewee.
- Title
Interview with Margot Webb , 1978
- Production
1978
- Type of Content
spoken word
- Type of Medium
audio
- Type of Carrier
online resource
- Digital File Characteristics
audio file
- Restricted Access
Patrons may access streaming audio only on site at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
- Event
Recorded by Brenda Dixon-Stowell [later Brenda Dixon Gottschild] 1978, April 17 New York (N.Y.)
- Funding
The conservation and cataloging of this recording was made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The support of the National Endowment for the Arts is also gratefully acknowledged.
- Original Version
Original format: one sound cassette (one hour and three minutes); quarter-track; 1.875 ips.; transferred to wav file and streaming file format (myd_mgztco3338_v01f01_sc) in 2015.
- Local Note
Former call number: *MGZTC 3-338
- Connect to:
- Added Author
Gottschild, Brenda Dixon, interviewer.
- Research Call Number
*MGZTCO 3-338