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Items Interview with Margot Webb

Interview with Margot Webb, 1978

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LIBRARY DIVISION
Jerome Robbins Dance Division

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COLLECTION
Dance Audio Archive

This Item

Interview with Margot Webb

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Title
Interview with Margot Webb, 1978
Names
Webb, Margot, 1910- (Interviewee)
Gottschild, Brenda Dixon (Interviewer)
Collection

Dance Audio Archive

Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1978-04-17
Library locations
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Shelf locator: *MGZTCO 3-338
Topics
Norton, Harold
Webb, Margot, 1910-
Norton and Margot (Dance team)
African American dancers
Segregation -- United States
Ballroom dancing -- United States
Racism and the arts
Discrimination in public accommodations
Genres
Interviews
Notes
Citation/reference: For transcript of interview, see *MGZMT 3-338.
Content: Title supplied by cataloger.
Venue: Recorded by Brenda Dixon-Stowell [later Brenda Dixon Gottschild] 1978, April 17 New York (N.Y.)
Funding: The conservation and cataloging of this recording was made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The support of the National Endowment for the Arts is also gratefully acknowledged.
Physical Description
Audiocassette
Extent: 1 audiocassette (approximately 1 hr., 3 min.) : quarter-track; 1.875 ips.
Sound quality is good.
Description
Interview with Margot Webb conducted by Brenda Dixon-Stowell [later Brenda Dixon Gottschild] on April 17, 1978 in New York (N.Y.). The contents of this interview are reflected in Dixon-Stowell's article: Dancing in the Dark: The Life and Times of Margot Webb in Aframerican Vaudeville of the Swing Era, in Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 17, No. 1, Black Theatre Issue (Spring, 1983), pp. 3-7. Streaming audio file (approximately one hour and three minutes). Margot Webb speaks with Brenda Dixon-Stowell [later Brenda Dixon Gottschild] about performing during the 1930s, on tour and in night clubs [with Harold Norton as the ballroom dance team, Norton and Margo]; the typical structure of the productions in which their act, known as a "unit", appeared; segregation in the theaters and the clubs; the almost complete absence of black agents and managers; the lack of adequate backstage facilities; the cost of lessons; her gowns; alternating touring and working in clubs; a run of one week at a given theater as typical; more on segregation; typical compensation including the disparity between that received by white and by black dancers; the invitation to dance in Russia [former Soviet Union] and its withdrawal; their repertory which included a "toe dance" solo for Webb and an African dance for Norton; Norton's ballet training; more on their repertory including boleros, waltzes, tangos, and rumbas; other black ballroom dancers; performing at the Palladium Theatre in London, England; performing at the Amytis Theater in St. Louis, Missouri thanks to the sponsorship of a wealthy individual; living and performing in Berlin, Germany under the National Socialist regime; the abrupt halt to their tour, in 1937; Harold Norton as a dancer including his versatilityy; their school [ends abruptly].
Type of Resource
Sound recording
Languages
English
Identifiers
RLIN/OCLC: 81455115
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b12118146
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): fec6e7c0-c316-0133-2c71-60f81dd2b63c
Rights Statement
The copyright and related rights status of this item has been reviewed by The New York Public Library, but we were unable to make a conclusive determination as to the copyright status of the item. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.

Item timeline of events

  • 1978: Created
  • 2018: Digitized
  • 2024: Found by you!
  • 2025

MLA Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "Interview with Margot Webb" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1978. https://qa-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/02cfa7f0-c317-0133-d789-60f81dd2b63c

Chicago/Turabian Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "Interview with Margot Webb" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed November 22, 2024. https://qa-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/02cfa7f0-c317-0133-d789-60f81dd2b63c

APA Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. (1978). Interview with Margot Webb Retrieved from https://qa-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/02cfa7f0-c317-0133-d789-60f81dd2b63c

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://qa-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/02cfa7f0-c317-0133-d789-60f81dd2b63c | title= (sound recording) Interview with Margot Webb, (1978)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=November 22, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

Interview with Margot Webb