Mildred danced at a Harlem cabaret in addition to Coney Island. There was sometimes work at the Lafayette Theatre, but unless you were an h.y., they wouldn’t look at you. H.Y.? Welcome to the Negro theatre. They schooled Mabel about the color code: d.c. = dark cloud/black (there was never a place for a dark-skinned girl in the chorus); s.j. = smokey joe/brown-skinned; h.y. = high yellow. Virtually all of the female leads and dancers at the fancy Harlem clubs for downtown folks were light, bright, and damn near white. r.b. = red bone.
