Alice Barker (July 30, 1912 – April 6, 2016), sometimes known by her stage nickname, Chicken Little, was an African American chorus line dancer active during the Harlem Renaissance.[1][2]
Alice Barker | |
|---|---|
_in_1942_in_Legs_Ain%27t_No_Good.png) Barker in "Legs Ain't No Good" in 1942. | |
| Born | Alice Mary Barker July 30, 1912 New Orleans, Louisiana, US |
| Died | April 6, 2016 (aged 103) Brooklyn, New York, US |
| Burial place | Cemetery of the Evergreens, Brooklyn, New York, USA |
| Spouse | Wallace Bishop |
| Website | alicebarkernotbaker |
Early life
editAlice Mary Barker was born on July 30, 1912, to African American parents Ernest Alred Baker and Corinne Baker (née. Davis),[3] in New Orleans, Louisiana.[4][5] Barker picked up a talent for dancing in her youth. In a video interview, Barker recounted,
"My mother told me she was getting ready to bathe me, and on the corner was a band playing. She had forgotten something, and she went back in the house to get it. And when she came [back], I was gone, and I was down there naked, just going, dancing. And I can see me down there [now], naked, just dancing. And then if the band would stop playing, I'd look at them and say, 'Come on, let's get it going![6][7]"
Barker married Wallace Bishop, a jazz drummer, in 1932.[8]
Career
editBarker performed during the Harlem Renaissance era of the 1930s and 1940s, with "The Zanzibeauts" tap ensemble. Barker also performed in "Soundies," a type of musical film short popular at the time. She performed in many famous clubs, including The Apollo, the Cotton Club, and the Cafe Zanzibar. She performed with legends such as Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.[9]
During her career, Barker picked up the nickname, "Chicken Little." Barker recounted as to the origins of the nickname, "Whenever we'd go somewhere to eat, and the server came and asked what we was gonna' eat, I'd always say chicken." [10]
Internet fame
editBarker was featured in a YouTube video, uploaded in April 2015, titled "102 y/o Dancer Sees Herself on Film for the First Time" which attracted over 40 million views on the site. This fame led her to receive thousands of fanmail, and on her 103rd birthday, she received a letter from the White House.[11][12][13]
References
edit- ^ News, A. B. C. "See 102-Year-Old Alice Barker's Sweet Reaction to Films of Her Dancing In '30s and '40s". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "Watch 102-Year-Old Former Star See Footage Of Her Young Self Dancing For The First Time". HuffPost. 2015-04-22. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
- ^ www.familysearch.org https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/LY8F-2MB. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ Lewis-Smith, Christopher (2016-12-01). "A brief history of the dancer/camera relationship". Moving Image Review & Art Journal (MIRAJ), the. 5 (1–2): 142–156. doi:10.1386/miraj.5.1-2.142_1. ISSN 2045-6298.
- ^ "Soundies and the changing image of Black Americans on screen : one dime at a time | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
- ^ News, A. B. C. "See 102-Year-Old Alice Barker's Sweet Reaction to Films of Her Dancing In '30s and '40s". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "Soundies and the changing image of Black Americans on screen : one dime at a time | WorldCat.org". search.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
- ^ www.familysearch.org https://www.familysearch.org:443/. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ News, A. B. C. "See 102-Year-Old Alice Barker's Sweet Reaction to Films of Her Dancing In '30s and '40s". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Regan, Helen (2015-04-22). "102-Year-Old Watches Herself on Film as a Young Jazz Dancer". TIME. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
- ^ Regan, Helen (2015-04-22). "102-Year-Old Watches Herself on Film as a Young Jazz Dancer". TIME. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
- ^ "Alice Barker". Alice Barker. 2018-04-28. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
- ^ "The Video". Alice Barker. 2015-05-11. Retrieved 2024-11-17.