| Description |
2 sound cassettes (ca. 120 min.) + 1 transcript (44 leaves) |
| Note |
Interviewed by Constance Valis-Hill at the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in New York City. |
|
For transcript, see *MGZMT 3-1878. |
| Summary |
Cassette 1. Recorded Feb. 3, 1996. Ms. Browne discusses her childhood; learning tap dancing from her father; the importance of music and dance in her family's home; seeing tap dancing in vaudeville houses; the origin of tap dancing; rhythm; jazz; the South Side of Chicago in the 1930's; her favorite musicians; Nat King Cole; auditioning for the NRA Theater in Chicago; the childhood tap act with her sister Marquita called the Jordan sisters; origin of the dance shim sham; performing as a child; studying dance with the Bruce Sisters; attending social dances at the Pershing Hotel's Savoy Ballroom in Chicago; her educational background; working as a chorus girl at the Chicago's Club DeLisa; her first exposure to sand dancing; Sandman Sims; training her ear; working with musicians; listening while improvising; her improvisational process; touring; the various types of chorus line dancers; coming to New York City and performing at the Savannah Club; the decline in popularity of tap dancing in the 1950's and 1960's; teaching at the Bronx Dance Theater; her tap dance syllabus; the Aristaccato Tap Company; and Tina Pratt. |
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Cassette 2. Recorded Feb. 12, 1996. Ms. Browne discusses resuming sand dancing as an adult; her childhood memories of sand dancing; how to produce particular sounds; the comparison between tap and sand dancing; discrimination against women in dance; the difference between choreographing for tap and sand; tempo; dancing to various musical styles; her participation in the tap dance revue called Sole Sisters; her ensemble of dancers and musicians called Jazzing women; and passing on the tradition of sand dancing to the next generation. |
| Local Note |
Interview funded by the National Initiative to Preserve American Dance (NIPAD). |
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Preservation master cassette in: *MGZTCO 3-1878. |
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Archival transcript in: *MGZMTO 3-1878. |
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Master dubbing tape in: *MGZTD 10-1878. 2 reels. |
| Subject |
Cole, Nat King, 1917-1965.
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Sims, Sandman.
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Pratt, Tina.
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Bronx Dance Theater.
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Sole sisters (Tap dance revue)
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Shim sham (Dance)
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Tap dancing.
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| Local Subject |
Discrimination in the performing arts.
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| Added Author |
Hill, Constance Valis, Interviewer.
|
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National Initiative to Preserve American Dance.
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| Donor/Sponsor |
Oral History Archive. Oral History Project.
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| Call No. |
*MGZMT 3-1878 [Transcript]
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| Research Call Number |
*MGZMT 3-1878 [Transcript]
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*MGZTC 3-1878 [Cassette]
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