Very rare footage indeed. The Nicholas Brothers were one of the best, if not the best, dancing duo's in the 20th century. They danced for nine presidents. As was the "custom" of the time, in this clip Cab Calloway, all his band, the brothers, and the audience are all black.
Enjoy
Jumpin' Jive
Enjoy
Jumpin' Jive
The clip was from Stormy Weather.
Fred Astaire once told the brothers that the "Jumpin' Jive" dance number in Stormy Weather was the greatest movie musical sequence he had ever seen.
One of their signature moves was a "no-hands" splits, where they went into the splits and returned to their feet without using their hands. Another one of their signature moves was to dance down a huge flight of broad stairs, leapfrogging Stormy Weather
In that famous routine, the Nicholas Brothers fearlessly and exuberantly leap across the music stands of the orchestra and dance on the top of a grand piano in a call and response act with the pianist.
They became the featured act at Harlem's Cotton Club in 1932, when Harold was 11 and Fayard was 18. They were the only entertainers in the African American cast allowed to mingle with white patrons.
over each other and landing in a complete split on each step. This move was performed in the finale of their most famous performance, the movie
Eventually, the Nicholas Brothers taught master classes in tap dance as teachers-in-residence at Harvard University and Radcliffe as Ruth Page Visiting Artists. Among their known students are Debbie Allen, Janet Jackson, and Michael Jackson.
Gregory Hines declared that if their biography was ever filmed, their dance numbers would have to be computer generated because no one could duplicate them.
Ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov once called them the most amazing dancers he had ever seen in his life
Fred Astaire once told the brothers that the "Jumpin' Jive" dance number in Stormy Weather was the greatest movie musical sequence he had ever seen.
One of their signature moves was a "no-hands" splits, where they went into the splits and returned to their feet without using their hands. Another one of their signature moves was to dance down a huge flight of broad stairs, leapfrogging Stormy Weather
In that famous routine, the Nicholas Brothers fearlessly and exuberantly leap across the music stands of the orchestra and dance on the top of a grand piano in a call and response act with the pianist.
They became the featured act at Harlem's Cotton Club in 1932, when Harold was 11 and Fayard was 18. They were the only entertainers in the African American cast allowed to mingle with white patrons.
over each other and landing in a complete split on each step. This move was performed in the finale of their most famous performance, the movie
Eventually, the Nicholas Brothers taught master classes in tap dance as teachers-in-residence at Harvard University and Radcliffe as Ruth Page Visiting Artists. Among their known students are Debbie Allen, Janet Jackson, and Michael Jackson.
Gregory Hines declared that if their biography was ever filmed, their dance numbers would have to be computer generated because no one could duplicate them.
Ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov once called them the most amazing dancers he had ever seen in his life
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