Nicolas Brothers

Presentation by: Brookelyn Prince

Early Life • Fayard Nicholas 1914–2006 • Harold Nicholas 1921-2000.• The Nicholas Brothers grew up in Philadelphia, they were sons

to musicians, their mother on the piano and their father on the drums. They had their own band and they played at the Standard Theater.

• Fayard was always seated in the front row watching all the performers, especially the dancers.

Early Life continued.• After watching the famous

Vaudeville dancers like Alice Whitman, Willie Bryant and Bill Robinson Fayard would go mimic the dances to all the neighborhood kids.

• Once Harold was old enough he caught up to his brother and would dance along side of him.

• Nicholas Brothers Early Success • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4zHeVSQLoQ

Fast Success • Word soon spread through the city

about their unique dancing abilities, and they were first hired for a radio program called, "The Horn and Hardart Kiddie Hour”.

• Then they got hired from theateres, like the Standard and the Pearl. While at the Pearl Theater, the manager of the famous New York Vaudeville Showcase, The Lafayette, saw them dance. Overwhelmed by what he saw, he immediately signed them up for his theater. Ziegfeld Follies; 1936, Broadway.

Beginning of their career • From the Lafayette, the Nicolas

Brothers opened at the Cotton Club in 1932 and amazed their white audiences just as much as the residents of Harlem, slipping into their series of spins, twists, flips, and tap dancing to the jazz tempos of "Bugle Call Rag".

• After working in the Cotton Club for two years The Nicholas Brothers then journeyed to Hollywood in 1934 to appear in the films "Kid Millions", "The Big Broadcast" (1936), and "Black Network".

Filming in London• In a short film that they made in London during this period,

"Calling All Stars", (1937) they learned lots of ballet techniques. The impression that the Nicholas Brothers made upon Balanchine, the choreographer, was so unforgettable that he invited them to appear in the Rogers and Hart Musical, "Babes in Arms", for the 1937 Broadway season.

• The Nicholas Brothers had incorporated so many ballet moves into their tap routine that audiences were starting to believe that they were ballet dancers.

Busy Life Style• The nightclub and concert circuit

took over their career, and there were long tours of South America, Africa and Europe. In 1948 they gave a royal command performance for the King of England at the London Palladium.

• Later, they danced for nine different presidents of the United States.

Awards• The Nicholas Brothers have received many tributes and

awards, which include: A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, The Kennedy Center Honors and an honorary doctorate degree from Harvard University.

• They were also inducted into the first class of the Apollo Theater's Hall of Fame and the Black Filmmaker's Hall of Fame.

Nicholas Brothers Awards and Honors

• Dance Magazine Award; 1995• Gypsy Award presented by the Professional Dancers Society; 1994• Star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame; 1994• Flo-Bert Award; 1992• The National Black Media Coalition Lifetime Achievement Award; 1992• Kennedy Center Honors; 1991• Harbor Performing Arts Center Lifetime Achievement Award to Harold; 1991• Tony Award to Fayard for choreography of "Black and Blue"; 1989• DEA Award presented to Harold by the Dance Educators of America; 1988• "Ebony" Lifetime Achievement Award; 1987• Apollo Theater's Hall of Fame, First Class Inductees; 1986• Ellie Award presented by the National Film Society; 1984• Bay Area Theaters Critics Circle Award to Harold for Best Principal

Performance in "Stompin' at the Savoy"; 1981• Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame; 1978

Their Activities Continue• In April 1995, the Nicholas Brothers

received the "Dance Magazine" Award around the same time as the opening of Harold's latest film, "Funny Bones", and in April 1996 they completed a very successful residency at Harvard and Radcliff as Ruth Page Visiting Artists in Dance.

Filming• The Nicholas Brothers were contracted to the Twentieth

Century Fox studio in 1940 and made six films there. In all, they have made over thirty films, of which they themselves consider "Stormy Weather" (1943), their personal favorite.

• “Stormy Weather” features their now-classic, breathtaking staircase routine, their last appearance on film as a routine. Their first appearance on film as a team was on of the highlights of MGM's 1985 compilation, "That's Dancing!"

The Nicholas Brothers Filmography•

Night at the Golden Eagle (2002)• Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who

Were There(2002)Night at the Golden Eagle (2001)

• *Funny Bones; 1995, Suntrust Films• A&E Special, The Nicholas Brothers: We Sing and We

Dance 1992• *The Five Heartbeats; 1990. Twentieth Century• *Tap; 1989, Hoofer Films/Tri-Star.• That's Dancing!; 1985, MGM/UA • *That's Entertainment! 1974, MGM• *Uptown Saturday Night; 1974, Warner Brothers. • **The Liberation of L.B. Jones; 1970, Columbia.• *L'Empire de la nuit; 1963, UFA-Comacio, • Pathe News Reel; 1948• Botta e Riposta; 1951, Italian• The Pirate; 1948, MGM• Dixieland Jamboree; 1946, Vitaphone short subject• Carolina Blues; 1944, Columbia.

• *The Reckless Age; 1944, Universal. • *Take It or Leave It; 1944, Twentieth Century

Fox. • Stormy Weather; 1943• Orchestra Wives; 1942, Twentieth Century • Sun Valley Serenade; 1941, Twentieth Century

Fox. • The Great American Broadcast; 1941,

Twentieth Century Fox. • Tin Pan Alley; 1940, Twentieth Century • Down Argentine Way; 1940, Twentieth

Century Fox• Calling All Stars; 1937, British Lion. • My American Wife; 1936 MGM. • The Black Network; 1936, Vitaphone short

subject• Coronado; 1936, MGM. • The Big Broadcast of 1936; 1935, Paramount• The All-Colored Vaudeville Show; 1935,

Vitaphone short subject. • Kid Millions; 1934, Samuel Goldwyn. • Pie, Pie Blackbird; 1932, Vitaphone short

subject. *Harold Nicholas solo**Fayard Nicholas solo

The Nicholas Brothers Stage Credits

• *If These Shoes Could Talk; 1993, Milwaukee, WI.

• * My One and Only; 1992, Fayetteville, N.C.• *Sophisticated Ladies; 1992, Dallas, TX. • *Sophisticated Ladies; 1992, Houston, TX.• *Sweet 'n' Hot in Harlem, 1991, (choreography),

Buffalo, N.Y.• *Sophisticated Ladies; 1991, Sacramento, CA. • *The Nutcracker; 1990, San Diego, CA.• *Sophisticated Ladies; 1989, Long Beach, CA. • *My One and Only; 1989, San Diego, CA. • *My One and Only; 1989, San Bernadino, CA. • **Black and Blue, 1989, Broadway.• The Tap Dance Kid; 1985 & 1986, National Tour.

• *Waltz of the Storch Boogie; 1984, Off-Broadway.

• *Sophisticated Ladies; Las Vegas, NV.• *Stompin' at the Savoy; 1981, San

Francisco, CA.• *Evolution of the Blues; 1978, San

Francisco, CA. • Sammy on Broadway; 1974, Broadway.• *Free and Easy; 1960, Paris, France.• *Free and Easy; 1959, Amsterdam, Holland.• St. Louis Woman; 1946, Broadway.• Babe in Arms; 1937, Broadway.• Lew Leslie's Blackbirds; 1936, London,

England.• Ziegfeld Follies; 1936, Broadway.

*Harold Nicholas solo**Fayard Nicholas solo

Video Clips• Nicholas Brothers in Stormy Weather• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBb9hTyLjfM&feature=fv

wrel• Nicholas Brothers We Sing and We Dance• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3TyBfT-rqA