[1] Her first professional engagement was in a Broadway musical revue Black Birds of 1928 where she started out as chorus girl.
[citation needed] She was often on the stage with Ethel Waters, the Nicholas Brothers, Eubie Blake, Noble Sisle, and Lena Horne.
[3] She left for Paris briefly around 1935 along with other African American entertainers of the time as they were treated better and more appreciated among Europeans.
[citation needed] She returned to a chorus job at Harlem Apollo Theatre where she worked together with singer George Dewey Washington.
[4] Among other notable dancers who worked in the chorus line during the 1930s were Ristina Banks, Carol Carter, Marion Evelyn Edwards, Elaine Ellis, Myrtle Hawkings, Temy Fletcher, Cleo Hayes and others.
[citation needed] The film draws the portrait of her personality showing her current life and memories from the 1930s when she danced in the Cotton Club working with Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong.