While tap dancers Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and Eleanor Powell were major Hollywood stars, and the rhythms of Black male performers such as the Nicholas Brothers and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson were appreciated in their time, Black female tap dancers seldom achieved similar recognition. Who were these women? The author sought them out, interviewed them, and documented their stories for this book. Here are the personal stories of many Black women tap dancers who were hailed by their male counterparts, performed on the most prominent American stages, and were pioneers in the field of Black tap.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Edwyna ""Salt"" Evelyn and Jewel ""Pepper"" Welch learned to tap dance on street corners in New York and Philadelphia. By the 1940s, they were black show business headliners, playing Harlem's Apollo Theater with the likes of Count Basie, Fats Waller and Earl ""Fatha"" Hines. Their exuberant men's-style tap performed in men's attire earned the respect of their male peers and the acclaim of audiences, though they were paid less than black male dancers. Based on extensive interviews with Salt and Pepper, this book chronicles for the first time the lives and careers of two overlooked performers who succeeded despite the racism, sexism and homophobia of the Big Band era.