I have stumbled upon this beautiful photo and was instantly captivated by it but had no idea who this person was: a subsequent internet search unearthed a few more details about the identity of this lady. She was indeed a very famous vaudeville dancer Ida Forsyne who had reached the peak of her success before WW1 and was later more or less forgotten. I just found this photo so beautiful that I needed to find more about her.
Apparently Ida starred in a travelling show led by celebrated "Black Patti" Sissieretta Jones so we are talking about earliest opportunities for black performers - she also toured Europe, where she had far bigger success and respect than back home. She even managed to pick up a few Russian dance steps, which created her a dancing sensation and was probably a novelty to see an energetic black lady doing something so exotic on a stage. However, after WW1 she had returned to US just to find her fame slowly disappearing and job offerings diminishing - new fashion trends in Harlem meant that nightclubs prefferred light skinned girls and Forsyne was not fashionable enough. She even went trough gruelling tours with Blues queens Mamie Smith and Bessie Smith where she had a chance to reprise her famous Russian dance routines but experience left her traumatised and she wowed never to tour the South again. Rather than facing the racism, she opted for work outside of show business - later she worked as domestic and elevator girl, living up to 100 years and dying in Brooklyn 1983. In her time, Ida Forsyne was known as "Queen of the Cakewalk".
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