Dora Dean has definitely left her mark on this world, especially in the world of performance. She pushed the boundaries, and refused to stay in her so called “place”. She flaunted in front of white crowds in ways that were unheard of by an African American performer. Her forward thinking concepts, and the regal way in which she performed and carried herself will forever be evident in performing today. Her extravagant outfits are mentioned in multiple reviews because her and Charles were first to doTheir performance of the cakewalk transcended across all races, creating some universality at a time where there was little to none. She was the first black women at the time to perform in a costume on stage that cost one thousand dollars. Strobe lights are used in numerous settings for different purposes today, and she along with her partner introduced a version of them. 

 

      She broke the barrier of performing on a male-dominated stage, which provided this opportunity to black women to come, such as Josephine Baker. Josephine Baker had a career similar to Dora Dean’s which bloomed after Dora began. She too found her fame in Europe and held the title of “The Black Venus” as Dora did before her. Dean set another first by being the first African American women to be painted by a European artist, when she was painted in Germany. When she returned from Europe she even went ahead to start her own act with performers, and later in life she would star in a film called Georgia Rose (1930).  Dora also started a hat and dress company with one of her friends in an effort to settle down.  Also, Dean’s charm and intoxicating personality caused the famous vaudeville performer Bert Williams to write  a song about her called “Dora Dean the Sweetest Gal You Ever Seen”. This song was widely popular at the time and was coined “The Greatest Coon Song Ever Written”. It went like this:

      Say, have you seen Miss Dora Dean

      She is the finest gal you’ve ever seen

     I’m a-goin’ try  and make this gal my queen

     Next Sunday morning I’m goin’ to marry Miss Dora Dean

 

      Here are just a few reviews about them over the years:

"They call their dance a kinetoscope rag time dance, which is performed against a black background amid intermittent flashes of light. The ballet-like movements of the clever couple are thus illustrated in a way that give them something of the effect of a cinematograph picture. The audience on Monday evidently were interested in the graceful exhibition of both Miss Dean and Mr. Johnson, who did not lack encouragement, which came from all parts of the house." (The London Era)

 

“Dora dean of the comedy team Johnson and Dean, it can be plainly seen, is not very lean and as they have been living off the fat of the land while they were making a hot abroad it would be a big surprise to the patrons of the William and Morris, Inc., vaudeville house if she was lean” Vanity fair December 11, 1908

 

“Chas E. Johnson and wife, of Sam T Jacks CO., are doing a new grotesque song and dance” March 1895 The New York Clipper