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 Landt Trio to read any music, and all their arrangements had been written in a shorthand they developed for their own use. They tried out several pianists, including Vi Mealy, and other musical accompaniments. Through this transition, they were rapidly losing sponsored programming, and within a year they had no radio work in New York. However, in the mid-30s, the Landt Trio had begun to do advertising work for George Nelson of the Leighton and Nelson Advertising Agency. Nelson offered them work on radio in Schenectady, New York and the opportunity to barnstorm in the area. They saw this offer as a