SAN FRANCISCO — “Dancing Through Life: The Dorothy Toy Story” will be screened Saturday, Jan. 20, at 1 p.m. at the Chinese Historical Society of America, 965 Clay St. in San Francisco.
Join award-winning reporter and filmmaker Rick Quan for a screening of his documentary. 100-year-old Dorothy Toy Fong is a living dance legend. During the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s she teamed up with Paul Wing to become the most famous Asian American dance duo in this country’s history. Toy and Wing were pioneers, performing on Broadway and in Hollywood films.
Toy, whose real last name is Takahashi, continued to perform during World War II, although her parents and relatives were sent to an internment camp in Topaz, Utah. From the 1960s to the mid-’70s, she managed and performed with her Oriental Playgirl Revue, which traveled throughout the U.S, Canada, Europe and Japan. She also ran a dance studio in the basement of her Oakland home, where she taught hundreds of children how to dance. She still lives in Oakland with her daughter.
Admission to this event is included in regular museum admission prices, which includes entry to the “Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion” exhibition at CHSA.
Seating is limited. To reserve your seat, you must register for this event by clicking here.
Watch the film trailer at https://youtu.be/1NDbA9agUUE