Ismay Andrews facts for kids

Ismay Andrews was one of the first important teachers of African dance in the United States. Her career lasted from 1929 through World War II.

Early Career as an Actor

Ismay Andrews started her career as an actor in stage plays in New York City. In 1929, she was in a musical comedy called Great Day. She also appeared in Ol' Man Satan in 1932. In 1934, she performed in Africana, which was a type of musical play. Andrews also acted in a movie called The Black King in 1932.

A New Look at African Culture

In the early 1930s, Andrews learned dance from Asadata Dafora. At that time, many people in the United States had wrong ideas about African people. Dafora helped change these ideas by showing the beauty and richness of African culture.

This new interest in African music and dance helped create a positive identity for Black people. It connected them to old traditions from Africa before it was colonized. This cultural movement was part of the Harlem Renaissance and the Négritude movement.

Teaching African Dance

After studying with Dafora, Ismay Andrews began teaching African dance herself. In 1934, she started teaching at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. This made her one of the first major teachers of African dance in the United States. Other early teachers included Efiom Odok and Dafora.

Andrews also taught at the Mother African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. This church was a very important place for African American culture in New York City. Some of her famous students were Chief Bey, Pearl Primus, and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson. Even though she never went to Africa, Ismay Andrews learned about African traditions by doing research in public libraries.

The 1940s and Beyond

In the 1940s, Andrews focused on dances from East Africa. She started and led her own dance group called the Swa-Hili Dancers. This group performed East African dances that Andrews had recreated.

They performed on stage at places like the Stage Door Canteen. They also performed in cabarets and for the USO during World War II. The African American community in Harlem strongly supported Andrews' cultural work throughout her career. She passed away in New York City.