overall: 3 in x 3 in x 10 in; 7.62 cm x 7.62 cm x 25.4 cm
Object Name:
shoes, tap
Place made:
United States: California, Los Angeles, Hollywood
Date made:
1937
Description:
<p>Mary Jane-style red leather tap shoes worn by dancer Dr. Jeni LeGon in the Twentieth-Century Fox film <i>Ali Baba Goes to Town</i> (1937). Holes in the toe plates to enable the dancer to stand on a nail embedded in the stage set floor to keep balance during a comedy dance scene requiring the dancer to lean as far forward close to the floor as possible.</p>
<p>LeGon was the first African American actor to sign a contract with a major Hollywood company. <i>Ali Baba Goes to Town</i> was nominated for an Oscar in Best Dance Direction.</p>
<p>Jeni LeGon (born Jennie Ligon, 1916– 2012), also credited as Jeni Le Gon, was an American dancer, dance instructor, and actress. She was one of the first African-American women to establish a solo career in tap dance. In 1999, the National Film Board of Canada released a documentary film about her life, <i>Jeni Le Gon: Living in a Great Big Way,</i> directed by Grant Greshuk and produced by Selwyn Jacob.</p>