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Bye, Bye Hollywood Sign... at Least Temporarily [Updated]
Photos: Laundry Day in L.A.
One Way to Take Care of Business
Every once and a while, a group of cinephile friends and I sit around and get into a heated discussion about all of the great artists we wish someone would make a movie about. Today that discussion centered on the fabulous Nicholas Brothers, maybe the two most dynamic tap dancers who ever lived. I was never a very starstruck person, even as a younger man, but Harold (d. 2000) and Fayard (d. 2006) Nicholas were always two people I wanted to meet in person, and I was devastated that both artists passed before I had an opportunity to make that happen.
The Nicholas brothers are most known for this dynamic scene from the 1943 film Stormy Weather in which they make an appearance at the end of a music number by Cab Calloway (who I would also love to see a film about) and steal the movie with one of the most incredible tap dance sequences ever seen on film:
The sequence is still amazing to this day, and it's difficult to think of any living hoofers who might be able to replicate it (sorry Savion). Even the late Gregory Hines openly doubted anyone could repeat the moves of the Nicholas Brothers, and to this day, no one has. The two diminutive dancers grew up in Philadelphia and became one of the premiere attractions at the fabled Cotton Club while they were still children. Coming up in the shadow of great dancers like Bill Robinson and Fred Astaire, the duo would go on to eclipse both of them (and many others) during a life that included six wives between them. Harold's first wife was Dorothy Dandridge, but in the 1999 HBO film Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, his character only made a brief appearance (though well played by Obba Babatunde) and there wasn't even a hint about how great an artist he or his brother were. Hollywood producers, somebody needs to get on telling this story...stat!
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damn!
Yes! I would love to see that film. Fayard visited one of our dance classes when I was a student at UCLA. He was by far one of the coolest people I have ever met.
Those cats were awesome... Totally eclipsed Gene Kelly in The Pirate.
there's only one living hoofer that could possibly duplicate that sequence.....ardie bryant. he was close friends with the nicolas brothers. he's known as the ambassador of tap and now teaches tap at calstate la. he's amazing, check out his myspace page http://www.myspace.com/ardiebryant.
I can't believe the choice was made for the audience to elicit only politely enthusiastic applause at the end of that spectacular display. 1943 reserve be damned; those people should have been up out there seats in amazed appreciation! I was.
-Will Campbell
pretty much the single reason why they couldnt make this film:
no one that young dances like that anymore
Very cool. Anyone who likes this should check out Tip, Tap & Toe's performance in Pardon My Sarong (sorry, no link).
The reason no one dances like that anymore is because the Nicholas brothers destroyed their bodies doing it. They both had several hip/knee replacements. Most modern tap dancers are a little bit more careful of their bodies' limits and the possibilities of a long-term career.
I disagree with the earlier post. It is narrow-minded to simplify these artists' sacrifice by saying the Nicholas brothers "destroyed their bodies" dancing the way they did.
The Nicholas brothers gave their bodies to what they loved deeply, their art form. They made a sacrifice, and they are remembered for it, as the BEST who ever danced. Those "conservative" dancers you are talking about, who remembers them? Maybe you got negative things to say about cheerleaders injured doing what they love? Or football players? The greatest tightrope walkers or bullfighters probably eventually paid for their greatness with their life. Everyone takes risks to get rewards. The greater the risks, the greater potential reward. That's life friend.
The Nicholas' were professional athletes in a sense, and they used their bodies to the limit, and with unparalleled skill. They may have paid a physical price, like so many greats do, Muhammad Ali comes to mind, but I believe they do not regret giving their all to what they loved and being remembered as the best who ever did it. Do you think, before they started, if a prophet foretold their hip/knee problems, and also foretold their timeless greatness, they would change a thing? I don't think so.
You also forget their times. They were trying to take advantage of one of the precious few opportunities available to blacks. So precious and few you clearly do not understand. Do you think for one minute, if they were anything less than super sensational, they would have gotten anywhere in Hollywood? They had the black man's burden of that era of having to be so many times better than their white contemporaries to get the same opportunities. So they made sure they were. And they opened many doors for others. So, I think they saw it as worth it.
Unless you can show me them complaining about it, then it is their body to give and you and I can simply appreciate the beauty of their artistic expression and the tremendous sacrifice it took to make it happen, or not.