Sanding (dance) the box of rosin before matches to improve his grip. Sims' popularity as a tap dancer and career at the Apollo certainly made him one of the most if not the most influential sand-dancer of all time. Sand dancing was also used by the popular comedic vaudeville trio, Wilson, Keppel and Betty. They spread sand over the stage in one of their most well-known numbers, "Sand Dance". In their performance, there was no allusion to African American heritage; rather to the sandy environs of Egypt, a clear inspiration for their number. In spite of this deviation from the African American
The 20th Century Fox Mambo of TV Is My Pacifier describes the song's importance to the plot in The Callback, "For [Ivy and Karen's] audition, Derek choreographed a dance to “20th Century Fox Mambo,” and we focus mostly on Karen having a hard time with the choreography...When Friday’s final callback finally arrives, Ivy and Karen are both nervously waiting to go in and audition. When Tom and a few backup dancers go sit with Ivy to support her, Julia turns to Karen and offers her some supportive words. We [then] get to see the complete staged version of “20th Century Fox Mambo” performed by Karen."