According to tap dancer Howard “Stretch” Johnson the word “Shim” was a contraction of the term “she-him”, a reference to the fact that the female chorus line dancers at the 101 Ranch were played by men At the Savoy Ballroom, some lindy hoppers did the shim sham as a group line ...
A TAP-DANCING pioneer, Leonard Reed was an accomplished exponent of both tap and eccentric dancing, a champion Charleston performer and one of the creators of the popular Shim Sham Shimmy dance step. He was also a producer of shows, both on Broadway and at the Cotton Club, a record ...