Clarice White Pruitt

Clarice White-Pruitt was a student of Sammy Dyer and an original member of the Dyerettes, Dyer’s all-female performing troupe. Founded in the 1950’s, this company of six “triple-threat” performers gained recognition in Chicago's Bronzeville nightclubs, movie theaters, and on the Chitlin Circuit, and served as the house openers at the Apollo Theater from 1954 to 1958. Following Sammy Dyer's death in 1960, when Shirley Hall Bass assumed the role of director at the Sammy Dyer School of Dancing (renaming it the Sammy Dyer School of the Theatre), White-Pruitt danced in school’s re-formed act, "The Vashonettes,” thus building on the legacy of tap, dance and theatrical production indelibly associated with the Dyer School. Pruitt also performed as a comedian over the course of her career; she now resides in Atlanta, Georgia.