Charles Honi Coles

Charles "Honi" Coles was born in Philadelphia in 1911 and learned to dance through observation, practice, and competitive cutting sessions on the city's streets—a community-based education that sharpened both his rhythmic invention and his ability to answer another dancer in real time. In 1931 he performed at New York's Lafayette Theatre with the Three Millers, an acrobatic pedestal act, before returning to Philadelphia to refine his speed and control.

Back in New York, Coles worked Harlem venues and toured in the orbit of major swing bands. While performing as a soloist with Cab Calloway's orchestra around 1940, he met Charles "Cholly" Atkins. After wartime service, they formed Coles and Atkins, a partnership distinguished by tailored presentation, precision unison, soft-shoe refinement, and contrasting specialties: Coles's dense rhythmic speed and Atkins's movement range. In 1949, Coles became a founding member of the Copasetics, organized in memory of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.

When tap employment contracted in the 1950s and 1960s, Coles worked as an Apollo Theater stage manager and remained a keeper and transmitter of repertory. His collaboration with Brenda Bufalino helped bring jazz tap into concert settings, teaching, and a new intergenerational community. He also appeared in Broadway productions including *Bubbling Brown Sugar* in the 1970s and dance-history projects associated with Agnes de Mille and Joffrey Ballet presentation.

In 1983, Coles played Mr. Magix in the Broadway musical *My One and Only*, and his duet with Tommy Tune became the production's celebrated tap encounter. He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical that year. He later appeared on screen in *The Cotton Club* and *Dirty Dancing*, while continuing to teach and lecture. In 1991 he received the National Medal of Arts.

Coles died in New York City on November 12, 1992. His legacy survives in archival footage, the repertory of Coles and Atkins, works such as the "Coles Stroll," the teaching of artists he mentored, and institutions devoted to tap history. His career offers a particularly clear bridge between street practice, swing-era show business, Broadway, concert presentation, and modern tap pedagogy.