Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Tenfresh
Topics: Music
Ben Thompson
It's nice to take a trip down memory lane - even more so when that trip takes you back well over seventy years.
And this is what happened to Alice Barker, a former chorus dancer who worked during the Harlem Renaissance of the 1930s.
This period saw a revival of African American music, dance and art, originating from Harlem, New York City.
Lasting from the 1920s until the 1930s, this period saw African Americans migrating north from the southern states seeking economic and creative opportunities.
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Harlem was their primary destination, and a revitalisation of Black music followed.
Barker was one such dancer who made a name for herself in this environment.
She would live to be 103, and sadly passed away on April 6, 2016.
Throughout her career, she danced at clubs such as The Apollo, Cotton Club, The Zanzibar Club, and even made appearances on Broadway.
She appeared alongside big names within the industry, including Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra.
But stunningly, she had never seen footage of herself performing.
That all changed with a heartwarming visit in 2015.
A volunteer at her home, David Shuff, and recreational therapist, Gail Campbell, had set themselves the tasks of acquiring Barker's old work.
Thanks to jazz historian Mark Cantor, they were able to track down some of her 'soundies'.
Soundies meaning short films set to music - essentially the music videos of their day.
With these films in tow, the two paid Barker a visit and showed her some of her past work which had been uploaded onto YouTube by channel Tenfresh.
Barker, who was 102 at the time, watched her younger self dance and gave some commentary.
She even confirmed that she'd acquired a nickname during her dancing days - Chicken Little.
"That's because every time we go somewhere, they say 'What do you want to eat?'" Barker said fondly. "I'd say 'Chicken', so they called me Chicken Little."
It was clear that this nostalgia trip meant a lot to Barker, as she was clearly overcome with emotion as she asked to watch her clips again.
"Don't mean a thing if you ain't got that swing," she remarked.
When she was asked how it felt to seen herself on film, Barker replied: "Making me wish that I could get out of this bed, and do it all over again."
The footage clearly touched a lot of people, who shared their thoughts online.
One person wrote: "Young her didn’t even know that her 102 year old self would be watching , so cool to think about, what a pure soul."
Another commented: "Everyone commenting how sad this is but this video isn’t sad at all. She is 102 with her wits still with her and she seems to have lived a long fulfilling life full of adventure and doing what she loved. This isn’t sad this is a happy video."