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Constance Valis Hill

Brotherhood in Rhythm: The Jazz Tap Dancing of the Nicholas Brothers Hardcover – March 30, 2000

by Constance Valis Hill (Author), Gregory Hines (Introduction)

4.5 41 ratings

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They were two of the most explosive dancers of the twentieth century, dazzling audiences with daredevil splits, slides, and hair-raising flips. But they were also highly sophisticated dancers, refining a centuries-old tradition of percussive dance into the rhythmic brilliance of jazz tap at
its zenith. They were Fayard and Harold Nicholas, two American masters masterfully portrayed in this new dual biography by Constance Valis Hill.
In Brotherhood in Rhythm, Hill interweaves an intimate portrait of these great performers with a richly detailed history of jazz music and jazz dance, both bringing their act to life and explaining their significance through a colorful analysis of their eloquent footwork, their full-bodied
expressiveness, and their changing style. Hill vividly captures their soaring careers, from Cotton Club appearances with Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Jimmie Lunceford, to film-stealing big-screen performances with Chick Webb, Tommy Dorsey, and Glen Miller. Drawing on a deep well of research and
endless hours of interviews with the Nicholas brothers themselves, she also documents their struggles against the nets of racism and segregation that constantly enmeshed their careers and denied them the recognition they deserved. And to provide essential background to their career and the
development of their art, she also traces the three-hundred-year evolution of jazz tap, showing how it emerged in the Southern colonies in the 1700s, as the Irish jig and West African gioube mutated into the American jig and juba.
More than a biography of two talented but underappreciated performers, Brotherhood in Rhythm offers a profound new understanding of this distinctively American art and its intricate links to the history of jazz.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

March 30, 2000
Dimensions

6.2 x 1.3 x 9.4 inches
ISBN-10

0195131665
ISBN-13

978-0195131666
Lexile measure

1510L
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is a lovingly researched and thoughtfully created portrait of Fayard and Harold Nicholas, whose spectacular dance routines have captivated stage and screen audiences from the Depression era to current times. Hill's infectious admiration will inspire even those not well acquainted with the pair to locate Down Argentine Way or Sun Valley Serenade and enjoy their performances. In his introduction, Gregory Hines praises the one-of-a-kind routines the brothers developed, which included intricate steps, breathtaking splits, and impeccable timing. Their style was outstanding, but so was their highly professional approach to the mercurial world of show business, with its particularly disturbing racial issues. Exceptionally clear and useful descriptions of the elements of early jazz, the evolution of the minstrel show, and the components of various dance forms provide background on the forces influencing the performance world of the time. A natural for dance enthusiasts, this is also essential reading for anyone interested in entertainment history.
-Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Hill takes the high road in presenting the work more than the lives of Fayard and Harold Nicholas, whose graceful and athletic dancing continues to astound viewers of the otherwise often humdrum movie musicals in which they appeared. Hill furnishes just enough about the brothers' theater-musician parents, Fayard's precocious choreographical mind and Harold's aptitude for speed-learning movement, black dancers in vaudeville, and vaudeville's transition to stage and film to prepare readers for her analysis and appreciation of the Nicholases' art. She doesn't trade in gossip, instead giving move-by-move breakdowns of the brothers' classic numbers and discussing what films of them rehearsing at home and performing in theaters and New York's legendary Cotton Club also reveal. Stressing the joyousness of their work, she imparts just how they achieved it, which makes the book an ideal companion for dance and film buffs intent on inspecting the Nicholases' sometimes impossible-seeming foot-and bodywork--their death-or-grievous-injury-defying splits, for instance. Invaluable dance-term glossary included. Ray Olson

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; First Edition (March 30, 2000)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0195131665
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195131666
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1510L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.2 x 1.3 x 9.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,283,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #366 in Dance Music
- #643 in Jazz Musician Biographies
- #722 in Dancer Biographies

Customer Reviews:
4.5 41 ratings

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DDD2244

The title & cover are deceptive. This is a dissertation of dance history.

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2022

Verified Purchase

DON'T waste your money!!! Most of the book isn't about the Nicholas Brothers. It has very little personal information about them. The book is almost completely the author's dissertation for graduate school (with 415 footnotes.) The author describes it "...a profound understanding of this distinctly American art & it's intricate links to the history of jazz." An expert reviewer writes " A peerless jazz-tap biography and an example of dance history writing at it's best. " - Mindy Aloff. The cover wouldn't sell the book if it rightly stated that it's subject is types of dance history. On page 2 she writes about the year 1910. On page 163 she's writing about the 16th Century. The sample pages provided here allow you to read a number of them before you buy the book. Check them out. They prove my point.
After looking at how they got started, the Nicholas Brothers performances are discussed to technically explain their movements & connections with forms of prior types of dancing. You need to be a dance scholar to understand many of the descriptions.
As examples of the Brothers' importance in the book, the following events are each given one sentence: their father's death, their marriages (one is missing), their deaths (I saw no mention of their mother's passing.) You'll get a few song lyrics. Most are wrong. The pictures are grainy. The author writes that Harold Nicholas was at an event that took place on Aug 2000. He had died in July.
I could say more, but I'll end with this. Go to Wikipedia. Go to YouTube. Almost every dance they performed for movies is there. There are a couple of documentaries and numerous interviews with Fayard Nicholas. You see them accepting awards, performing on TV, etc. There are many small gems, (like
live interviews with the late Gregory Hines.) The best quality video for their amazing Stormy Weather dance is labeled "Jumpin Jive Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers."

3 people found this helpful

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Adam J. Richardson

Five Stars for Brotherhood in Rhythm

Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2013

Verified Purchase

"Brotherhood" met all of my expectations. The writing is excellent, the narrative is easy reading, and the story of the Nicholas family is well researched. It is loaded with historical tidbits, laced with little known facts, and interesting behind the scenes coverage. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only troublesome thing for me had nothing to do with the book itself; it is truth-telling at its finest. Here is my problem: The acrobatic, creative, energetic, stylish, classy, graceful dancing of the Nicholas Brothers was stymied only by racism, not by their enormous ability. All the more a reason to celebrate their capacity to be creative and to joyfully dance in the face of systemic racial prejudice.

8 people found this helpful

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Lucas Newman

Brilliant synthesis

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2013

Verified Purchase

I ordered this book to help in the writing of a research paper on the career of the Nicholas Brothers. It is an astonishingly brilliant piece of work. Not only does it provide an intelligent and empathetic look at the lives and careers of the Nicholas Brothers themselves, but it also weaves in insightful narratives about the various intersecting traditions of which the Nicholas Brothers were a part. If you are looking for a panoramic and scholarly understanding of the history of black tap dancing in America, as well as an incredibly detailed and informed examination of the Nicholas Brothers, this is a wonderful book.

3 people found this helpful

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V. WEAVER

Two of the best dancers who ever lived!

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2015

Verified Purchase

A well-done and enjoyable account of the lives and accomplishments of two of the best dancers who ever lived and of the times in which they performed. Informative and entertaining. It gave me more insight into the era during which my father, too, performed, but as a ballroom dancer ("Dancing in the Stars: Carroll Webster, International Luminary of Vaudeville and Hollywood"). I know that my father met the brothers, and after reading this book I feel as if I, too, knew them. Thank you.

3 people found this helpful

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Linda

Oxymoron

Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2018

Verified Purchase

Without watching YouTube videos of the Nicholas Brother dancing in all the movies described by the author, I would not have been able to make sense of Brotherhood in Rhythm. I should have known that a book on dancing is an oxymoron.

One person found this helpful

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Doug S.

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2013

Verified Purchase

If you're a fan of the Nicholas Brothers or tap dancing or musical films of the thirties and forties, you will enjoy this book. A superb review of their career. Worthy of the extraordinary talent of the subjects.

One person found this helpful

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Buddy Lee

Brotherhood in rhythn: The Jazz Tap Dancing of the Nicholas Brothers

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2013

Verified Purchase

I haven't finished reading it but so far it is great. The Nicholas Brothers were the greatest Jazz Tap Dancers that ever were or ever will be.

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2016

Verified Purchase

A great history of old Hollywood and jazz dance.

One person found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Catherine White

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on October 17, 2015

Verified Purchase

excellent book

marion

Exellent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2015

Verified Purchase

Excellent. Someone should make a film.

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Brotherhood in Rhythm: The Jazz Tap Dancing of the Nicholas Brothers Hardcover – March 30, 2000

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Constance Valis Hill

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