What is the main setting in the poem, The Harlem Dancer?

Although the setting is not explicitly specified, it is implied that the poem takes place in a nightclub in Harlem. However, the only indication of this is in the poem’s title, The Harlem Dancer. In this way, the title could possibly indicate that the dancer is from Harlem but performing elsewhere. That said, Harlem is the subject matter of most of McKay’s poems. Because the setting is ambiguous, the racial make-up of the audience is also uncertain. During segregation, the period in which the poem takes place, Black people were often only allowed into white spaces as performers or employees. Combined with the way the crowd objectifies her and throws “coins in praise” at her, the crowd is likely white, although McKay does not rule out the possibility that they are Black or multiracial (10).