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2 Dance and Identity Politics in American Negro Vaudeville: The Whitman Sisters, 1900–1935 Nadine A. George At the dawn of the twentieth century, professional African American dancers were employed primarily in vaudeville, an idiom that combined the theatrical traditions of variety, minstrelsy, and traveling road shows and served as a proving ground for young talent. With a few notable exceptions, these performers were prohibited from touring on white vaudeville circuits. Therefore, black vaudeville circuits like the Theatre Owners Booking Association (TOBA) developed and promoted black talent and catered to black audiences. As early African American performers honed their craft, they helped pave the way for others by battling institutionalized racism and restrictions placed on black artistic expression . Barred from portraying serious dramatic roles, African American performers took the only genres available to them— comedy and musicals—and excelled. Black female performers of this era faced special challenges reflecting national beliefs about the place of black women in the larger social framework. In this chapter, I examine the black vaudeville troupe known as the Whitman Sisters, which not only starred but was also operated in its entirety by four remarkable female siblings—Mabel, Essie, Alberta, and Alice. After discussing their contributions to the American stage, I argue that by undermining the race and gender categories of their day, while insisting upon high-class status and challenging the assumptions of audiences, producers, and theater owners, the Whitman Sisters 59 60 /  1:  made the vaudeville stage of their time into an unexpected site of resistance to the mores of a world molded by segregation. A DAY IN THE LIFE No matter the weather, it was standing room only when the Whitman Sisters came to town.1 Whether they appeared at a local theater house or the black church, huge crowds packed the hall to the suffocation point and included some of the most distinguished people in town. Many were turned away at the door. Others waited outside to catch a glimpse of the show or hear some of the songs. Anyone who was anyone went to see the Whitman Sisters. Several hours before the audience arrived, Mabel Whitman finalized details with the manager of the theater and argued with him as he tried to pay the company less than the agreed-upon salary. Mabel usually threatened to pull the show at the last minute, and when the manager called her bluff, he found that she was not bluffing. He gave in and went back to the original price, but this time Mabel demanded full payment in advance to ensure that he did not cheat them. She had won. She then went to oversee the final rehearsal. Mabel would yell at the dancers, ‘‘Get those feet up there.What the hell do you think you’re doing? Get those feet moving!’’2 Some twenty-five performers scrambled to get into costumes and makeup. Dancers stretched and singers vocalized. Essie fixed the stitching on costumes. Mabel decided which of eight different programs the company would perform that night, informed the cast of the order, and gave notes to iron out some rough spots in the numbers. She then, perhaps, told one of the ‘‘picks’’—short for ‘‘pickaninnies,’’ as talented black child dancers were called—that his act would be cut in half because it still needed work. The little boy probably cried but did not consider leaving the show and going home because everyone knew that ‘‘when you joined the Whitman Sisters, you went with them, you worked with them, and you just learned—that was all. You just learned to perform.’’3 This was the best show business education around. For a ‘‘pick’’ with theWhitmans, ‘‘You sang one week, danced the next, sold peanuts the next, and if you :    / 61 got caught breaking any of the rules they shipped you home in a hurry.’’4 The eight-member jazz band, led by Bennie Moten and featuring the young Bill (later Count) Basie, played an overture, either a classical piece or a new piece written for the show by Alberta Whitman or the band leader, offering a taste of the music they would play between each act. Mabel was the first to walk on stage, and when the applause died down she would address the audience . She spoke of the sisters’ childhood, about how they had taken part in concerts and church work since their father was a minister of the gospel. She went on to speak about their...

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