Jeni Le Gon

Happy Birthday, Jeni Le Gon...August 14, 1916-December 7, 2012..."I danced like a boy-I did flips and knee drops and toe stands and all that kind of business. That Michael (Jackson) fella, they say he invented toe stands. All the girls from my era did that." Jeni Le Gon was one of the first African-American women to develop a solo career in tap dancing. She distinguished herself by wearing pants and low-heeled shoes which allowed her to showcase her acrobatic, energetic style, performing mule kicks and flying splits with excellent rhythm and precision. Growing up in Chicago, she learned the fundamentals in her neighborhood, getting her first job at the age of 13 in musical theater then moving on to be a chorus girl for Count Basie's orchestra when she was 16.

Shortly after, Le Gon joined the Whitman Sisters, the most successful act on the TBOA circuit. The all-black, women owned company gave a start to hundreds of young female dancers and Le Gon was a stand out. In 1935, while in Los Angeles performing with the company, Le Gon was offered her first role in a film in "Hooray for Love" appearing along side Bill "Bojangles" Robinson and Fats Waller. Waller was so taken by her talent that he hired her as a vocalist and dancer with his band. In 1936 she traveled to Britain to perform in the review "Follow the Sun" and appeared as a cabaret dancer in the British film "Dishonor Bright" later that year. It was an eye-opening experience for a young woman who was used to the injustices of segregated America. "I experienced being a real person for the first time. On board the ship and in Europe I was referred to as Miss Le Gon and that had never happened to me before."

Le Gon went on to make 20 films for Hollywood, most of them cast as a maid. She played a maid in the Fred Astaire vehicle "Easter Parade" and remained angry with him for decades after he refused to acknowledge her on the set even though they shared a rehearsal studio a few years before. "I played every kind of maid, that's all I ever did," she stated, "I was an East Indian, West Indian, African, Caribbean and black American." Eventually the roles dried up by the early 50's.

She appeared on Broadway periodically and made guest appearances on the television show "Amos and Andy". In 1953 she quit Hollywood and began a serious study of African and Caribbean percussion instruments. She formed her own band, playing her own style of music she called Jazz Caribe. While on tour in Canada in 1969, she found the enthusiastic fans and community a welcome change from her struggles in the States and moved there permanently. Her work with Toronto's Pelican Players Neighborhood Theater as a dancer and choreographer brought her back to Britain in 1985 for theater and television appearances. Her last stage appearances in the United States came after a 20 year absence in the review "Jazz Tap!" with the Nicholas Brothers in 1989 at the age of 73. "I made a living as a tap dancers as a youngster. And now it looks like I'm going to be making my living again at tap. It's come full circle."


In 1999, The National Film Board of Canada released the documentary "Jeni Le Gon: Living in a Great Big Way." Le Gon continued to teach tap dance in Canada. She died in Vancouver at the age of 96.