Tap Shoes, worn by Jeni LeGon: Museum Object and Cultural History
Tap Shoes, worn by Jeni LeGon: Date made: 1937. user: Twentieth Century Fox. Object Name: shoes, tap.
The object in the museum catalogue
Mary Jane-style red leather tap shoes worn by dancer Dr. Jeni LeGon in the Twentieth-Century Fox film Ali Baba Goes to Town (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.
LeGon was the first African American actor to sign a contract with a major Hollywood company. Ali Baba Goes to Town was nominated for an Oscar in Best Dance Direction.
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, Jeni Le Gon: Living in a Great Big Way, directed by Grant Greshuk and produced by Selwyn Jacob.
Materials, dates and provenance
- Date made: 1937
- user: Twentieth Century Fox
- Object Name: shoes, tap
- Physical Description: leather; textile; paint (overall material)
- Physical Description: metal (overall material)
- Physical Description: elastic (overall material)
- Measurements: overall: 3 in x 3 in x 10 in; 7.62 cm x 7.62 cm x 25.4 cm
- place made: United States: California, Los Angeles, Hollywood
- Subject: Dancers
- Subject: African American
- ID Number: 2002.0389.01
- accession number: 2002.0389
- catalog number: 2002.0389.01
- Credit Line: Gift of Dr. Jeni LeGon
- Data Source: National Museum of American History
Sources and reuse
Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.
Sources
More in Movies
Keep reading
