Harriet Browne

Harriet "Quicksand" Browne (August 7, 1932 – September 1, 1997) was an American tap dancer, educator and choreographer who was best known for her innovation in sanding. Browne got a job dancing in the chorus but shortly afterwards got pregnant and had a son, which put a temporary stop to her dancing career. After the birth of her son, she resumed dancing as a soloist and as a member of the chorus in clubs around Chicago. During the 1950s, she toured with Cab Calloway's band. After she got a job in the chorus at a club in Greenwich Village, although she continued to tour, she settled in New York City. She began teaching at the Bronx Dance Theatre during the 1970s. She opened her own studio during the 1980s and founded the Aristaccato Tap Company. Browne specialized in sanding. She appeared on stage with performers such as Flip Wilson, Betty Carter, Dinah Washington, Della Reese, T-Bone Walker, Sister Sledge and The Pointer Sisters. She performed with tap dancers including Bunny Briggs, Charles Cook, James "Buster" Brown and The Silver Belles. She married Edward Browne during the 1970s. Browne died at the age of 65 in Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx. In 2016, she was named to the International Tap Dance Hall of Fame. Early life Browne was born on the south side of Chicago, Illinois to her parents Ruby and Reuben Jordan. Her entire immediate family was musically inclined as her mother was a hotel worker and amateur musician; her father was a pharmacist, shoe salesman, and self-taught dancer; and her elder sister, Marquita, was a singer.