Clorindy: The Origin of the Cakewalk
Clorindy, or The Origin of the Cake Walk is a one-act musical by composer Will Marion Cook and librettist Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Playbill from 1898 showing Edward E. Rice's Production of Clorindy featuring the song "Darktown is Out Tonight"
William Mercer Cook, better known as Will Marion Cook, was an American composer, violinist, and choral director. Cook was a student of Antonín Dvořák. In 1919 he took his New York Syncopated Orchestra to England for a command performance for King George V of the United Kingdom, and tour. Cook is probably best known for his popular songs and landmark Broadway musicals, featuring African-American creators, producers, and casts, such as Clorindy, or The Origin of the Cake Walk (1898) and In Dahomey (1903). The latter toured for four years, including in the United Kingdom and United States.
Cook in 1910
Will Marion Cook
Playbill from 1898 showing Edward E. Rice's production of Cook's Clorindy, featuring the song "Darktown is Out Tonight"