Josephine Baker, aka Freda Josephine McDonald, was born on June 3, 1906, and lived a life of poverty in St. Louis, Missouri. There she learned to dance and at the age of 13, went to Broadway with dreams of finding success as a music hall dancer, and accomplished her dreams. Following a move to France in the 1920s, she found more fame and became one of the highest-paid, most popular performers of all time.
In France she met and married Willie Wells, but the marriage lasted a few weeks only. Josephine continued to hone her dance skills with street performances and in clubs and by 1919, she was touring the United States with a comedic group, "Jones Family Band" and "Dixie Steppers".
In 1923, Baker earned a chorus member role in the musical Shuffle Along and she became a hit with audiences with her own brand of comic touch. Soon Josephine found herself performing with Ethel Waters in New York City at the Plantation Club in the play Chocolate Dandies. Again, Josephine quickly became popular with the audiences
She traveled to Paris in 1925, at a time when France was obsessed with exotic things and American jazz. Baker performed at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She made an impression by wearing only a feather skirt as she danced with Joe Alex in Danse Sauvage. From the feather skirt to the famed banana skirt the following year, Josephine's career hit a high point as Paris audiences went wild with her performance and her outfit.
She traveled to Paris in 1925, at a time when France was obsessed with exotic things and American jazz. Baker performed at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She made an impression by wearing only a feather skirt as she danced with Joe Alex in Danse Sauvage. From the feather skirt to the famed banana skirt the following year, Josephine's career hit a high point as Paris audiences went wild with her performance and her outfit.
Ms Baker's banana skirt, which was literally a skirt made of a string of artificial bananas, went through various stages of development, starting in Paris, circa 1926 and had its final performance in New York circa 1936. Some say that her banana skirt was a personification of a contradictory character Ms. Baker was known for. It brought constant dialectics between the civilized and the savage, between glamor and humor. It offered a childish naiveté and unconscious self-creation that when mixed together created a sexual desire.
She became one of Europe's most famous performers and earned the admiration of many popular figures such as E.E. Cummings, Ernest Hemingway and Pablo Picasso. With over 1,000 marriage proposals she became known as "Black Pearl" and "Black Venus".
Throughout the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and up until her death in 1975, she was active in fighting racism and worked towards equal rights for all of mankind.
Once asked about her scant costumes, Ms. Baker replied "I wasn't really naked, I simply didn't have any clothes on."
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