Maurice Hines on life and why he doesn’t tap in the morning
Print Edition
WHEN Maurice Hines tells a story about Sammy, he means Sammy Davis Jr. When he mentions Ella, that’s Ella Fitzgerald. He grew up among the legends of show business, dancing with his late brother, Gregory.
This interview catches up with the 72-year-old performer to ask all about it.
How did you start dancing?
My uncle told my mother, “Maurice is dancing around the house a lot. They have free dance classes on 125th Street. You should take him.” So she brought me and the teacher asked, “What can you do?” I said, “Well, I can turn around.” He said, “Turn around for me.” I did seven pirouettes. I was five.
Gregory was three and too young to join you. But you would teach him what you’d learned. How did he do?
He didn’t even have to practice. He would look at it and just do it. He had that ability for the rest of his life. Our teacher, Henry LeTang, said, “They work great together because I will teach them a routine, Gregory will have forgotten it the next day, but Maurice remembers it forever.”
What’s some good advice you got early on?
When we did the Apollo Theater, our father told us, “You’re going to start to meet very talented and important people. When you meet Nat King Cole or you meet Lena Horne, you got nothing to say because you don’t know nothing. You sit there and you listen.” I find the kids today got too much to say.
Tap’s richness isn’t always explored, is it?
People think tap is all one thing. They don’t think it has styles, but there’s all kinds of stuff — there’s the Busby Berkeley style, which is very airy. There’s the John Bubbles, which is closer to the floor. There’s all kinds of styles, but they treat it like a stepchild.
Is there a pet peeve you have as a dancer?
They always want us to tap in the morning. I don’t tap in the morning. I try to be nice and explain there’s metal on the bottom of my shoes so when you hit the floor the pain shoots up your leg and your hamstrings. It’s very important you warm up. I remember I was in a talk show and they wanted me to tap. I said, “Would you ask Baryshnikov to come in here and do a ballet at 9 in the morning? He’d look at you like you were crazy.”
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