| Josie Woods | |
| Birth Name: | Josephine Lucy Wood |
| Birth Date: | 16 May 1912[1] [2] [3] |
| Birth Place: | Canning Town, London, England, UK |
| Death Place: | California, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Dancer, choreographer |
Josie Woods (16 May 1912 – 28 June 2008) was a Black British dancer, choreographer and activist.
Woods was born Josephine Lucy Wood in Canning Town, London, in 1912.[1] [2] Her father, Charles Wood, was from Dominica, and her mother, Emily, had Gypsy ancestry.[1] [2] As a teenager, Woods worked as a seamstress.[1] [2] In 1927, Belle Davis held auditions for a dance troupe in the East End of London, and selected Woods and her brother, Charles or Charlie.[1] [2] They trained with a clog dancing group, The Eight Lancashire Lads.[2] [4]
Davis created a group called the Magnolia Blossoms with several girls, including Woods.[1] [2]
The Magnolia Blossoms worked in Paris with Louis Douglas, and became part of his show Black People.[2] Woods appeared in , replacing Josephine Baker.[1] [2]
Woods worked in France for two years before returning to Britain in 1932 as part of the group Eight Black Streaks.[1] The group toured music halls and were successful, being described as "the first established dance troupe of black Britons".[1] [2] They appeared in the film Kentucky Minstrels (1934).[1]
Woods also toured with Cyril Lagey and Ken "Snakehips" Johnson.[2] During the Second World War, she worked with Eddie Williams.[1] [2]
Woods taught dance.[1] [2] She was one of the first people to introduce the jitterbug to Britain.[1] After the Second World War, she set up an act with one of her students, Willie Payne, and they appeared in clubs as Ken Ross and Lucille.[1] [2] They were guest stars in the film Nitwits on Parade (1949).[1] Later she worked with Cab Kaye as an act called Two Brown Birds of Rhythm.[2]
Woods was a community activist in Brixton, and taught people about Black British history.[2]
When working as an extra on the film Old Mother Riley's Jungle Treasure (1951), she organised a strike over pay.[1]
In 1997, a television documentary was made about Woods by the BBC, for the programme Black Britain.[1] [2]
Woods is part of the Black History Tube Map set up by the Black Cultural Archives and Transport for London.[5]
Her biography was included in the Knowing Newham Hero Hunt, a children's theatre production developed for Newham Heritage Month in 2021.[6]
Woods was married in the 1930s; her husband was abusive.[2] In 1956 she had a son with an American soldier who was stationed in the UK.[2] Her son, Ralph Moore, became a saxophonist in America.[1] [2] Woods moved to California in 2001.[1] [2] She died in 2008 aged 96.[1] [2]