Print of Cab Calloway dancing at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white photograph of Cab Calloway dancing for an audience while another man plays the piano. Calloway is pictured in the center of the image, standing on an open dance floor. He wears a plaid tuxedo jacket, dark colored pants, a white shirt and a dark colored bow tie. He is stepping with his proper right heel on the floor, his proper left leg slightly bent at the knee and his left toes on the floor behind his right foot. He holds a white cloth in his proper left hand, waving it in front of him. He is looking down, with his mouth slightly open. To the right of Calloway, a man is seated playing a piano which is only partially in the frame. He wears a dark colored suit jacket, light colored pants, and a floral patterned tie. His face is turned to look towards Calloway, while the rest of him faces the piano, hands on the keyboard and proper right foot on the pedals. The audience is seated or standing around white cloth covered tables at the edges of the room, around the dance floor. A note adhered to the back of the photograph reads [Hotel / National / in / Cuba].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1950s
• Photograph by: Unidentified
• Subject of: Cab Calloway, American, 1907 - 1994
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 4 7/16 × 6 7/16 in. (11.2 × 16.4 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 4 15/16 × 7 1/8 in. (12.5 × 18.1 cm)
• Place captured: Havana, Cuba, Caribbean, Latin America, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Conductors (Musicians)
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2013.237.6
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Cabella Calloway Langsam
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.