Free Class Act: The Jazz Life Of Choreographer Cholly Atkins Ebooks To Download
Cholly Atkins's career has spanned an extraordinary era of American dance. He began performing during Prohibition and continued his apprenticeship in vaudeville, in nightclubs, and in the army during World War II. With his partner, Honi Coles, Cholly toured the country, performing with such jazz masters as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and Count Basie. As tap reached a nadir in the fifties, Cholly created the new specialization of "vocal choreography," teaching rhythm-and-blues singers how to perform their music by adding rhythmical dance steps drawn from twentieth-century American dance, from the Charleston to rhythm tap. For the burgeoning Motown record label, Cholly taught such artists as the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Marvin Gaye to command the stage in ways that would enhance their performances and "sell" their songs.Class Act tells of Cholly's boyhood and coming of age, his entry into the dance world of New York City, his performing triumphs and personal tragedies, and the career transformations that won him gold records and a Tony for choreographing Black and Blue on Broadway. Chronicling the rise, near demise, and rediscovery of tap dancing, the book is both an engaging biography and a rich cultural history.
File Size: 3012 KB
Print Length: 280 pages
Publisher: Columbia University Press (August 7, 2012)
Publication Date: August 7, 2012
Sold by: Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B008UX2UZW
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting: Not Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #2,320,461 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #17 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Arts & Photography > Dance > Jazz #53 in Books > Arts & Photography > Performing Arts > Dance > Jazz #455 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Musical Genres > Dance
I loved this book on Mr. Atkins. Here is one of my favorite excerpts from him:"I had an authentic jazz background. What I mean by `authentic jazz' is what they basically now call street dancing - things that black black neighborhoods came up with. We've been doing those moves forthousands of year.Tap dancers basically use portions of authentic jazz dance so they'll look good as well as sound good. I am talking about dances like the Suzie Q, Charleston, and the Black Bottom; things that created excitement as soon as we came up with them. Now, right away there were adaptations of these dances and they were claimed by other people and presented in places where we weren't permitted to go. But we all know where they came from.A lot of the moves that the young kids are doing now are very familiar. They have a different beat and all that, but you look closely and you see steps there from African traditional dances."I was prompted to read more about Cholly Atkins after reading Jacqui Malone's Steppin' on the Blues, in which she dedicates a chapter to him. The book was an enjoyable read, and I learned more about Mr. Atkins and people that touched his life, especially his tap partner and life long friend, Honi Coles. I was also touched by his revelations of some very painful events in his life.I had always been vaguely aware of how important Mr. Atkins was to the development of Motown artist. But I knew nothing of his life before Motown. He was at least 50 when he became a part of their team. But most of his life he was a rhythm tap dancer. What struck me is when he said the best and most innovative tap dancer since his time is Savion Glover. Now when the master says something like that, I must take note.
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