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Pat Davis was the most popular, most loved, most remembered, and most asked about dancer in Soul Train history. Pat Davis was of the original Soul Train gang and she caught Soul Train viewers attention and won their hearts with her scintillant, wowing, vivacious, lively, tantalizing dancing, added with a touch of grace, sass, and a sense of humor. All these qualities put Pat Davis in a class of her own making her a Soul Train legend and one of the most favorite of all the female dancers in Soul Train history, and even to this day, Pat is still a favorite and winning a whole new generation of fans thanks to re-airings of Soul Train.
Pat emerged as Soul Train's first dancing star because of her exceptional dancing, magnetic personality, and being a true entertainer. Pat Davis dancing went along perfectly with any music she was dancing to. Her dancing help tell the music story. She used every inch of her body to dance. Pat didn't just dance she told a story with her dancing animated with humorous facial expressions and gestures. She was like a beautiful clown. Pat wasn't the stereotypical tall, long-legged dancer, she was a small size lady but a powerhouse who proved excellent dancers come in all sizes. The highlight of Soul Train was always the Soul Train line and Pat would always shine dancing down the line. In her 8 to 10 seconds she would do a clever, fast, but articulate dance that would be one of the most memorable, or style and profile, or catwalk down the line in a way only she could. Her most memorable line performance was when she impersonating a China Doll, with fan and all. Her props while dancing didn't stop short of baby bottles and lollipops. Pat had the talent to make the simplest dance moves look amazing. Davis created dances that became popular dances that many emulated. One could see Pat Davis influence on other dancers dancing on Soul Train and dancers all around the world.
Soul Train came along in the right time. In the 1970's Soul Train was more then just a dance show it represented the new generation of black beauty, black power, and black culture that was in vogue then. Young blacks around the world look to Soul Train to teach them new dances, styles, songs, and to see the hottest groups, but most importantly to see young black people who looked like them in positive, influential images and settings. Pat Davis contributed more then just dancing and entertainment to Soul Train, she was an positive influence and a role model to young black girls around the world as well. She wasn't only entertaining but a trend-setter. She created her own styles of clothes corporating different styles of different eras together. She wore colorful, stylish attire and wore butterflies, roses, and gardenias in her hair making her stand out from all the rest and making her easily recognizable. She help popularize the wearing of butterflies and flowers in women's hair. All these facets was what made Pat Davis an unforgettable TV dance star. As much as the Soul Train viewers enjoyed seeing the popular singers, viewers wanted just as much to see what new dance inventions and styles Pat and the gang would come up with next. In a short time Pat went from being an unknown high school dancer to a popular TV dancer who in a short time had a fan following which resulted in her being one of the covers of popular black magazines like Right On! and had articles featured on her by popular demand, only few dancers attained star status on Soul Train, and Pat was one of the special ones. Pat was one of the few female dancers to gain popularity and notoriety on a dance show. The Soul Train gang helped make Soul Train the popular, successful show it was and is as much as the singing groups that appeared on there.
Pat appeared on Soul Train approximately from 1971 to 1976 and disappeared from Soul Train, but the Soul Train fans never forgot her. When Pat left Soul Train, fans figured they would see more of her elsewhere. She had a fan base that knew of her talents and would have had interest in her other work. Outside of Soul Train, Pat appeared in a blaxploitation film called "Disco 9000" a.k.a "Fass Black" as a dancer who pops out of a cake and dances a sexy dance to Johnnie Taylor's "Disco Lady" that was synonymous with Pat. "Fass Black" appeared to be the last of her dancing on television and film. Pat was engaged in different walks of entertainment, she was a background dancer for popular singers, she was in a dance group called "Something Special," and then she became a premier elite body builder during the 1980's. She appeared on various made-for-TV movies and various aerobic and body building films but the public at large didn't know of her work. Pat seemed destined to be a big star because she had the charm, sense of humor, personality, and of course talent to become a popular mainstream dancer on the stage or in music videos, or a prominent choreographer, or even a TV or movie star, she could do it all and should have become like a Debbie Allen but for whatever reason Pat didn't receive mainstream success and recognition deserving her and very little was heard about Pat Davis after Soul Train.
Arguably, Pat Davis was one of the greatest female dancers of her time due to her originality, creativeness, zest, energy, and magnetic spark. She did all the dancers and made up some. Pat Davis set the prototype of what a Soul Train female dancer should be like personality-wise and talent-wise but not many female dancers have filled her shoes. Because of Pat Davis and The Soul Train Gang's talent and involvement with Soul Train, Soul Train became the hit show it was and always will be.
Pat Davis is said to be living in Austria and still in entertainment, singing and in the theater. Every now and then she attends the Soul Train gang reunion. Hopefully more information will surface on what became of one of a kind Pat Davis who proved big sensations come in small packages.
