Hey Dance News BC readers! I know it's been awhile since I've written a new post, but today I got inspired after my dad showed me an article in the newspaper about the great dancer Dorothy Toy's passing at the age of 102 on July 10th. Previously, I had never heard of either her or her dance partner. However, upon learning that she was known as the Asian Ginger Rogers along with her dance partner Paul Wing I was instantly intrigued. Since for me, I find that unless I find a topic that I'm passionate/interested about, I find it difficult to write about. However, once I find one like I did today, the words come so much easier. I also thought it was such a shame to have never heard of such wonderful dancers that I wanted to help spread the word of their legacy for those of you who like me hadn't heard of the act before.
After reading the article I instantly began to look up videos of their act 'Toy and Wing' dancing together and I've added a few of my favourite routines down below. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of selection but from the few sources I could find it was easy to see how talented the two of them were. However, I was able to see a variety of clips and information through Rick Quan's film festival award winning documentary, "Dancing Through Life: The Dorothy Toy Story", which I highly recommend watching, if you'd like to see Dorothy Toy herself and learn more about her.
Through my research I learned that they were an American tap dance duo and eventually became compared to the likeness of a Chinese Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire act. I was inspired as I absolutely adore Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers' movies. Also in learning the numerous challenges that Dorothy Toy and Paul Wing faced in order to become known as a dance and vaudeville act during this era. I think one of my favourite things that I learned about Dorothy Toy was how her mother insisted on her being able to learn and pursue the art of dancing, especially given the backlash they received from other families at this time.
From my research, I learned how intitially they were a trio act known as "The Three Mah Jongs" along with Dorothy's sister, Helen. In reference, to the Chinese tile-based game that often involves 3-4 players. After meeting while filming the movie "Happiness Ahead" in 1934, and shortly after Helen left for a career in singing. Thereafter, calling their act "Toy and Wing" and were signed by William Morris Agency and went on to having to prove themselves to perform at bigger venues. They then went on to become the first Asian Americans to perform on Broadway in New York City.
Through multiple dance styles they became known for combining swing, ballet, and acrobatics, and even performed with Chico Marx (a Marx brother) and in the musical short "Deviled Ham" in 1937. They also went on to dance at the London Palladium, which made them the first Asian-Americans to do so. The act eventually married in 1940 and shortly after Paul Wing was drafted in to the Army.
During this time, it was difficult for Ms. Toy and her family, as she was actually Japanese but due to the timing of World War II and Pearl Harbour, she had altered her name from Dorothy Shigeko Takahashi to Dorothy Toy. Along with her dance partner who despite being Chinese used the stage name Paul Wing rather than his full name Paul Wing Jew to create their stage name "Toy and Wing". This was done to make both of their names easier to pronounce for English audiences and for Ms. Toy's name to sound more Chinese due to the largely apparent discrimination, prejudice, and racism. This would then allow her to perform in venues that otherwise she would've otherwise been refused. Along with that, this ended up helped protect her temporarily from being sent to the Japanese internment camps that unfortunately her parents were sent to. However, a dance team learned of her secret eventually alerted the government's authorities of her Japanese heritage out of jealous of her success. Fortunately, by that time she had already moved to a different state from California to New York. But unfortunatley, the damage was already done as newspaper gossip columns discussed this issue costing the duo jobs along with a Hollywood movie offer.
After Wing returned from the war they began to perform again, however, Ms. Toy found that he was no longer the same man and they eventually divorced shortly after. However, their act remained strong as they performed in the 60s at San Francisco's Forbidden City nightclub. Along with touring across North America and Eurasia as a part of an Asian tour group they put together. Along the way, Ms.Toy married a businessman named, Les Fong, and had two children together, but later on divorced.
Along the way, Dorothy Toy's daughter, Dorlie Fong, took up dancing professionally as well and danced with her onstage.
One of my favourite things I ended up learning about Ms. Toy was the purity of her love for dance. As she discussed her love of performing live and spreading the love through teaching others and encouraging especially those within the Asian community to participate as one of the most important aspects rather than focusing on money or fame. Later on, Toy eventually went on to becoming a pharmacy technician in California after retiring from a dance career of 40 years in 1971 and Wing continued to dance and later passed away at the age of 85 in 1997. Ms. Toy then continued to share her love of dancing through her dance school and taught up until the age of 95 when she broke her hip.
After learning about Dorothy Toy's story, it made me inspired to know that there were Asian dancers during this era. Since previously I hadn't seen/ heard much about it, but after watching them dance together, it became clear to me that no matter how styles of dance may change, the love for dance is all the same regardless of the era. In wrapping up this post, thank you for reading and I hope that you learned something new and enjoyed it, and I'll leave the last line for a quote by Dorothy Toy herself:
"When you're dancing, it's like you're in another world."
~Dorothy Toy (from Rick Quan's documentary, "Dancing Through Life: The Dorothy Toy Story")
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Video Clips of Dorothy Toy and Paul Wing
Dorothy Toy and Paul Wing from "Deviled Ham" (1937):
Toy and Wing's dance from "With Best Dishes":
"Dancing Through Life: The Dorothy Toy Story" Trailer:
A videoclip of Rick Quan's documentary of Dorothy Toy Fong:
Information Sources:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/dorothy-toy-chinese-ginger-rogers-found-stardom-amid-world-war-n692226
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/01/arts/dorothy-toy-dead.html
http://www.rafu.com/2019/07/dorothy-toy-fong-half-of-toy-and-wing-dance-duo-dies-at-102/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/dorothy-toy-dazzling-dancer-known-as-the-asian-ginger-rogers-dies-at-102/2019/07/27/73722096-b08b-11e9-bc5c-e73b603e7f38_story.html?utm_term=.85257503ca94
http://www.yehoodi.com/blog/2019/7/24/dorothy-toy-the-asian-ginger-rogers-passes-away-at-age-of-102 (This article has the link to the full documentary)