Choreographer, dancer, teacher, and activist Helen Tamiris recently received a posthumous award from Dance Magazine, honoring "the artistry, integrity, and resilience that dance artists" have exhibited. Born Helen Becker, she took the name Tamiris for the Massagetaen queen Tomyris, who defeated and killed Cyrus the Great and his invading army in 530 BCE.
Great to see the inimitable Hazel Scott getting a shout-out in Teen Vogue! Scott was a jazz pianist, performer, and media royalty of her time. Unlike traditional royalty, she was also a powerful voice for change before being blacklisted.
Great piece on Shirley Graham's opera, Tom-Tom, and other works by Black women composers.
Great article by Jacobin's Eileen Jones on Vera Caspary and the impact of anti-communism on film and television (grateful for the shout out to The Broadcast 41!).
Here's hoping that folks find this compilation of performer, writer, and activist Fredi Washington's World War II era columns from the People's Voice useful. Take some time to get to know Washington by reading Laurie Woodard's brilliant introduction!
Marsha Hunt, the longest-lived of the 41 women listed in Red Channels in 1950, died last week.
Along with Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Danny Kaye, John Huston, and Katherine Hepburn, Hunt joined the Committee for the First Amendment, a group the grew out of attacks on the Hollywood writers, producers, and directors who became known as the Hollywood Ten and challenged the House Un-American Activities Committee's attacks on progressives in the film industry.
Great review in Jump Cut about Being the Ricardos, the recent biopic about Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Of interest to those interested in gender and TV history is its treatment of Judy Holliday, apparently the object of Ball's criticism. Evidence that Hollywood still loves a catfight between powerful women, rather than telling the more complicated and interesting story of two women who had obvious political and artistic differences.
The March on Washington Film Festival is screening a documentary about Hazel Scott's art and activism. The film was produced by the Apollo Theater, narrated by Hazel Scott biographer Karen Chilton, and features performances by pianist Damien Sneed and saxophonist & vocalist Camille Thurman. Full information here.
A nice tribute to Judy Holliday, by film and video archivist and appraiser Audrey Kupferberg! Holliday was born 100 years ago today, and died tragically young of cancer, at the age of 44.
