Aurora Borealis Greely (1905 – 1983)[1] was an African American dancer and choreographer from the 1920s through the 1940s.[2]

Biography

Greely was born in Jacksonville, Florida in 1905.[3] In 1922 she was a student at Wadleigh High School for Girls and was performing in Irvin C. Miller's play "Liza" which was on Broadway.[4] She started in the chorus, and then moved into leading roles.[3][5] In 1929 she opened a dancing school in Los Angeles,[6] and in 1932, she took a break from dancing because she suffered from "rheumatic leg".[7] Greely returned to dancing an in 1935 she was described as a "popular dance team" when she danced with Leroy Broomfield.[8] In 1933, she and Broomfield danced before King Gustaf V of Sweden while in Shanghai.[9]

At the Cotton Club in Culver City, California, Greely selected the dancers from her dancing school for the shows,[10] and was herself dancing in shows.[11][12]

References

  1. ↑ "Aurora Greeley". National Museum of African American History & Culture. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  2. ↑ Bracks, Lean'tin L.; Smith, Jessie Carney (2014). Black Women of the Harlem Renaissance Era. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-8108-8542-4.
  3. 1 2 Goodwin, Ruby Berkley (November 7, 1931). "Aurora Greely, Dancer". The Afro-American. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  4. ↑ Howard Dodson (2000). The Black New Yorkers. Internet Archive. John Wiley. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-471-29714-7.
  5. ↑ "The Commentator". California Eagle. 1928-05-25. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  6. ↑ "Dancing school opens". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1929-11-30. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  7. ↑ "Clipped From The Pittsburgh Courier". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1932-07-30. p. 16. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  8. ↑ "Ace dance team heads east". newspaperarchive.com. December 7, 1935. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  9. ↑ "Twinkling toes!". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1933-08-12. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  10. ↑ Brothers, Thomas David (2014). Louis Armstrong, master of modernism. Internet Archive. New York : W. W. Norton. p. 379. ISBN 978-0-393-06582-4.
  11. ↑ "Scoring at Cotton Club". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1929-08-10. p. 15. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  12. ↑ "Lincoln adds dance team". The Pittsburgh Courier. 1943-05-08. p. 21. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
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