 Class act, the jazz life of choreographer Cholly Atkins.
Author: Atkins, Cholly Published: 2001 Cholly Atkins' career has spanned an extraordinary era of American dance. He began performing professionally in travelling shows, nightclubs, and vaudevilles in the 1920s, and later, with his partner Honi Coles, toured the country performing with such jazz masters as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and Count Basie. As tap reached a nadir in the 1950s he created the new specialisation of 'vocal choreography', teaching rhythm-and-blues singers how to perform their music by adding rhythmical dance steps drawn from the full range of American tap dance. Class Act tells of Cholly's boyhood and coming of age, his performance triumphs and personal tragedies, and the career transformations that won him gold records and a Tony for choreographing Black and Blue on Broadway. |
