Legacy

This chapter begins with the Nicholas Brothers’ 1998 Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award citation, and continues with a descriptive summary of the classic style of jazz tap dancing created by the Nicholas Brothers and the several themes that recur in their work. The chapter then makes several assertions. First, The Nicholas Brothers were the greatest dancing duet of all time on film, and the medium of film was perfect for their signature style: synchronized precision movement that became the equivalent to the pas de deux in classical ballet, which challenged its partners to execute the highest degree of controlled precision while moving together with smooth effortlessness. Second, the Nicholas Brothers were role models in the black community; resisted black stereotypes in their professional and private lives; and were a persistent embodiment of nonviolent activism. Third, there is no more illustrative proof of the dance legacy of the Nicholas Brothers than their long-standing influence on future generations of tap dancers. Finally, the chapter enumerates the talents of Harold and Fayard Nicholas that did not reach fruition—because of both their devotion to dancing as a duo and to the narrow constraints that were imposed on them as African-American musical artists. This discussion does not bemoan this imposition but envisions the opportunities that should have been presented to them.