Enjoy this 10 minutes clip of several rare Tap and Jazz Dance flash acts from this 1933 song and dance Short – Smash Your Baggage by Vitaphone, directed by Roy Mack.
It features Small’s Paradise Entertainers, by appearance jazz dancer Henry Rubberlegs Williams, the tap dance duo Ace and Eddie and Danny Alexander Jump Rope Tap.
The 1930’s era is full of Shorts with tap dancing acts. These tap dancers and tap dancing acts did not make it to the fame circuit, but they are true and true contributors to the art form.
Small’s Paradise was opened on 22 October 1925 by the nightclub owner Ed Small. Located in a large basement, the club could accommodate about 1500 patrons and featured a big band with floor shows.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Small’s was considered one of the Big Three Nightclubs in Harlem, with The Cotton Club and Connie’s Inn. Though unlike the others, Small’s was always integrated.
Charlie Johnson and His Orchestra were the house band up to the mid 1930’s. Musicians from Harlem and downtown stopped by after their gigs to jam, and the Sunday night jam sessions became legendary.
In the 1960s, basketball great Wilt Chamberlain bought Small’s and renamed it Big Wilt’s Small’s Paradise. The club finally closed in 1986.
Sit back and enjoy their tap dancing and their flash act.