Fred Astaire. Gene Kelly. Everyone, classic film fan or not, knows those names. But lesser-known are the incredible dancing talents of the Nicholas Brothers, Fayard and Harold.
With no formal dance training, they learned in part by being surrounded by African American vaudeville performers, including the iconic Bill Robinson, as children.
It is a shame that the Nicholas Brothers are not more of a household name, as they should be. Obviously this has to do partly with the prevalent racial attitudes and prejudices at the time, and I suppose as well being a brother act would not have lent itself as well to higher-profile leading roles as a single dancer would, even if the prejudices had not been a factor. Regardless of either of these, Fayard and Harold should be recognized as the incomparable talents they were.
In watching the two perform, it is apparent that Harold (b. 1921) benefited from older brother Fayard's (b. 1914) experience, experimentation with different dance steps, and mentoring. Growing up, Fayard would learn or work on variations of moves, and Harold would pick them up quickly by mimicking. They formed a perfect team of athleticism, timing, and elegance, despite an age (and height!) difference of 7 years. See what you think...
They have quite a few great performances to view... Here they are performing Down Argentine Way from the 1940 film of the same name starring Betty Grable and Don Ameche - sit back and marvel:
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