Civil rights champions such as the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and W.E.B.Dubois garner the bulk of the attention during Black History Month. Yet they certainly aren’t alone among worthy contributors.
Take Norma Miller.
She was honored in 2003 with a National Heritage Foundation Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts for contributions made to the creation of the dance the lindy hop. The spunky Miller sure appreciated the award.
"The fact that $20,000 went along with it was a gas," Miller, 88, said.
Miller will appear at the Abingdon Cinemall during Feb. 4 and five showings of "Queen of Swing," a documentary on her life in particular and jazz in general. Presented by Emory & Henry College, the film offers and Miller will bring a bevy of rich stories. As the title suggests, Miller forged her career as a dancer during the early days of jazz.
"I used to go from one dance rehearsal to another and watched them when I was a child growing up in Harlem," Miller said by phone Thursday from her home in Fort Myers, Fla. "I decided that’s what I wanted to do, to dance."
Emory & Henry tennis coach and filmmaker Jim Barker will host Miller during her stay in the Mountain Empire.
"I wanted to bring her up for Black History Month," Barker said on Thursday. "When you see the film you’ll see how much black history is within the film. She’s been there and personally experienced it."
"There" for Miller was Harlem, New York during the birth of what became known as the Harlem Renaissance. Dancing was everywhere, she said, and so she too danced.
"I’ve always danced," Miller said. "I’ve done it since I was a little kid dancing during house-rent parties that my mother had."
House-rent parties were thrown to raise cash to, as the term suggests, help pay the often hard to come by monthly rent.
"I’d dance for a scoop of ice cream and dance on cue," she said. "I was surrounded by it and came up in an era when everybody danced."
Miller parlayed her childhood exposure to dancing into her livelihood. She landed her first major dancing gig while still a teenager at Harlem’s famed Savoy Ballroom.
"Queen of Swing" tells her story from her early dancing days and involvement with jazz. Barker, a longtime friend of the film’s director John Biffar, said everyone should see the film and by all means grasp the opportunity to hear directly from and actually meet Miller.
"It’s such a great story," Barker said. "This area is very fortunate to have somebody like her to come in and share their stories."
Expect stories aplenty from Miller’s Harlem days. Harlem circa 1920s and ’30s was a creative Mecca into which stirred unencumbered ideas and approaches to all things art and from which emerged titans of literature, music, comedy and such visual arts as dance and painting.
"If you were black, you went to Harlem. You walked, drove, road, whatever it took to get there," Miller said. "Harlem was a beacon."
Consider whose talents took root during the Harlem Renaissance. Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway offered jazz. Langston Hughes crafted vivid portraits of poetry. And Redd Foxx made folks laugh until they cried.
"(Hughes) wrote about the people who were all around him in Harlem," Miller said. "I would see him every day when I went to work. He’d sit at the bar and I’d walk by and say hello."
She knew Armstrong much better.
"Louis Armstrong was one of my best friends. He was just the best," Miller said. "He went around the world and is credited with making jazz popular around the world."
Meanwhile dancing brought Miller to the silver screen. She appeared in the Marx Brothers’ film from 1937, "A Day at the Races" and 1941’s "Hellzapoppin’." Much more recently Miller can be seen in such films as Spike Lee’s 1992 epic "Malcolm X" and 1995’s "Captiva Island."
Miller said that she owes her career’s longevity to Redd Foxx. Foxx, best known for his role as Fred G. Sanford in 1970s television sitcom "Sanford and Son," opened a door into the world of comedy for Miller in 1964.
"Redd offered me a job at his club, the Redd Foxx Club in Los Angeles," Miller said. "There were no dancing jobs. He said to get up on stage and learn how to talk."
Comedy apparently fit Miller well. About a decade later Foxx opened another door for her with the roles of Dolly and Jackie on his show "Sanford and Son."
"I was Grady’s lady," Miller said. "Redd said to put her in and I was in. I never had to audition. I was part of the show."
And to be sure, Miller will also be a part of the show at Emory & Henry. Barker said to look for something special from her.
"With this film, she has developed a little routine," Barker said. "After we show the film, I’ll introduce her and she’ll put on a little skit."
But will she dance some?
"Of course," Miller said. "You’ll have to come and see."
IF YOU GO
What: Showing of the documentary "Queen of Swing," based on the life of Norma Miller, who will attend
When: Feb. 4-5, 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Where: Abingdon Cinemall, 721 E. Main St., Abingdon
Info: (276) 623-2121
Web: www.normamillerswings.com
TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at features@bristolnews.com
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