Nicholas Brothers

Fayard and Harold Nicholas were American tap dancers and entertainers renowned for acrobatic, rhythmically precise performances. Their work joined tap technique with flips, splits, and other demanding movements.

Jumpin' Jive: A 1943 musical number featuring the Nicholas Brothers dancing to Cab Calloway and his orchestra in the film Stormy Weather. Its stairway sequence is among the brothers’ best-known filmed performances.
Tap dance: A dance form in which shoes fitted with metal plates produce rhythmic sounds through footwork. It supplied the percussive vocabulary at the center of their performances.
Fayard Nicholas: An American tap dancer, choreographer, and actor who performed with his brother Harold as the Nicholas Brothers. He choreographed and performed the duo’s technically demanding routines.
Minneapolis: A city in Minnesota where Fayard and Harold Nicholas were born and began performing as children. The brothers’ family and early performance years were rooted there.
Mikhail Baryshnikov: A Soviet-born ballet dancer and choreographer who became one of the most acclaimed dancers of the twentieth century. He publicly praised the brothers’ extraordinary athleticism and artistry.
Stormy Weather (film): A 1943 musical film starring Lena Horne, with music and dance performances by leading Black entertainers. The film preserves the brothers’ celebrated performance of “Jumpin’ Jive.”
African-American vernacular dance: A diverse body of dance practices developed in African-American communities and performance traditions. The brothers’ tap drew on a larger tradition of rhythmic movement and improvisation.
Harold Nicholas: An American tap dancer and actor who performed with his brother Fayard as the Nicholas Brothers. His speed and precision complemented Fayard’s acrobatic choreography.
Harlem Renaissance: A flourishing of African-American arts, literature, and music centered in Harlem during the 1920s and 1930s. Their rise began amid the era’s expanding Black cultural and entertainment scene.
Michael Jackson: An American singer, songwriter, and dancer whose performances shaped popular music and dance. He cited the Nicholas Brothers among the performers who influenced his dancing.

Linked from 4 pages