Josephine Baker and the Charleston

In "Trochemoche,"* chapter 29 of Caramelo, we meet Freda MacDonald, stage name Josephine Wells, nickname Tumpy, the mixed-race cabaret dancer who steals Narciso Reyes's heart during his stay in Chicago during the nineteen-teens. We also learn that Narciso works (somewhat) hard at his Uncle Old's upholstery shop during the day and plays hard at "the black and tan clubs on South State Street" at night, "during the time the Charleston was outlawed in some US cities" (p. 140).

Freda aka Tumpy is none other than the infamous Josephine Baker, just before she leaves Chicago to "marry Billy Baker, abandon Billy Baker for New York, abandon New York for Paris, dance with a banana skirt, and well, the rest everybody knows is history" (p.142).

If you're not familiar with the history behind Jo Baker and the Charleston, here are a few resources to begin your education:

First Baker's famous banana dance, originally called "le Danse Sauvage," at the Folies Bergère in Paris, France some time around 1927:

Next, a modern (made to look vintage) example of the Charleston, the dance that truly did cause a major uproar and led not only to moral consternation and handwringing, but (in a few instances) to riots started and laws passed:

Last, a film clip featuring Baker herself doing the Charleston. The film is sped up, so the steps are harder to make out, but you get a sense both of Baker's frenetic dancing style and her comic flair. Baker was, as Caramelo describes her, "a born comedienne... Her act was part pantomime, part acrobat, part dance. She laughed and winked, crossed her eyes, put her hands on her hips, pouted... and nearly killed Narciso" (140).

Josephine Baker is worth learning more about, so check out one or two summaries of her life and career. She became an international superstar, lived in Paris for most of her life, became an outspoken supporter of the American Civil Rights movement, and adopted and raised fourteen children from a variety of racial and national backgrounds. She collectively nicknamed her family "the rainbow tribe" and raised her many children for much of their upbringing as a single mom (albeit a single mom with a mansion and a large household staff).


* Trochemoche, by the way, is a Mexican Spanish word, thought to have Nahuatl origins, meaning "half-assed" or crappy. Narciso uses it on page 138 to describe Uncle Old's home and shop.