“Don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing!” she quipped. Born in 1912, the New York native danced at clubs such as the Apollo, Cotton Club and Zanzibar Club throughout her career. Some of her performances included dancing with stars like Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, and Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Barker also appeared in several television commercials and films throughout her career, including Legs Ain’t No Good (1942) and King For a Day (1934).
Jazz historian Mark Cantor was able to find several clips of Barker dancing and shared them with her, the original YouTube video from TenFresh’s caption read. The hunt for these clips was difficult, especially since Barker was misspelled as Baker.
Once her friend and filmmaker David Shuff was able to figure out this roadblock, he was able to find several performances of her, and shared them with Barker on her 102nd birthday. “It was one of those things as soon I saw it I was like, ‘oh, that’s her,’” he said, according to the New York Post.
Since the video of her reaction was uploaded on YouTube in 2015, it has gandered over 29 million views.
When asked about how many years she danced for, Barker revealed, “that was all I ever did! The was it.” She also watched herself shimmy in a skimpy costume, and tapped along to the music onscreen.
The centenarian also said the clip made her wish she could get out of her bed and do it all over again. “It’s just fabulous, fabulous to see these” she said after she took it all in. Although she couldn’t remember all the details of her dancing days, she was eager to see the footage.
“I used to often say to myself I am being paid to do something that I enjoy doing and would do it for free because it just felt so good doing it,” Barker added, as per The New York Post.
According to a website set up for Barker’s archival footage, she died on April 6, 2016 in Brooklyn, New York. Barker was 103 years old.
