Goodbye Fayard

One of the greatest dancers of all time has died.  Fayard Nicholas, half of the acclaimed Nicholas Brothers has finally joined his brother Harold in heaven.  Such an incalculable loss – when I heard the news I cried.  Now, when they do get around to filming that story, there will be no one left to tell exactly how it was.  You don’t know The Nicholas Brothers?  Not your fault – the blame lies with white obsessed movie aficionados.  The Nicholas Brothers have been all but ignored whenever the greats of dance are lionized.  Astaire, Kelly – Fayard Nicholas.  He belongs right up there – first, in fact.  He was choreographer and dancer, gymnast and artist.
Whatever innovation you can think of – Fayard Nicholas did it first.  Dance-off’s?  Done – with The Berry Brothers at The Cotton Club.  Dancer vs. Musical instrument?  Yup – 1940, Down Argentine Way.  Moonwalking?  Did that first too – where do you think Michael Jackson got the idea?  Flash and control.  Quicksilver with legs – that’s what Fayard Nicholas was.  The late, great Gregory Hines once said that in any film of The Nicholas Brothers lives, the dances would have to be computer generated – because no one could possibly duplicate them.  They were electrifying dancers – athletes first; but with a subtle artistry that was sheer genius.  Harold always deferred to his older brother – “he was a poet”, the younger Nicholas said – “talking to you with his hands and feet”.  Yet this magician, this brilliant, beautiful man was only gifted with two major awards before the end of his life.  He won a Tony for his choreography of the musical Black & Blue, and he and his brother were granted Kennedy Center Honors before Harold died in 2000.

I could catalog the signature moves for you – and what later artist stole it; no-hands splits, that even Balanchine praised as beyond balletic perfection.  Astaire likened their gravity defying `Stormy Weather’ number to “tap-dancing with the fearless exuberance of children stone-hopping across a pond”.  All you have to do is look at the unbridled joy on Fayard’s face to see it was true.  God – what a loss!  And no mention of his death anywhere.  Where are the hour specials, the career retrospectives, the God-damn marching bands?  What – is his death to be relegated to some half-assed memorial at the tag end of this years Oscar death reel?  Well – I remember you, Mr. Fayard Nicholas – I remember you and your brother, and I thank you for the countless hours of entertainment you brought me.  And if anyone else out there is curious – rent Stormy Weather or Down Argentine Way and allow yourself to be amazed.  

God bless you, and keep you safe, Mr. Nicholas.  Both you and your brother.

Author: The Fat Lady Sings

Artist, writer, observer of all things human.