How Did Gregory Hines Impact Society

Gregory Hines Taps To A New Rhythm

Forty films, Broadway shows, Emmy awards, a Tony award, and countless other awards earned in just 57 years, a phenomenal artist's life, ended by liver cancer (Dunning par 1). Before we get there, let’s start at the beginning. Gregory Hines was a tap dancer and performer in the 50s through the 90s. As I am also a tap dancer, Gregory’s impact greatly affects me and dancers alike as his work revolutionized the world of tap by his use of rhythm. Life in America affected Gregory as he had to face racism as an African American and other challenges starting at just 11 years old when he faced discrimination from an audience member in an Atlanta show yelling slurs(Brennan par. 18). However, he still greatly influenced

Gregory Hines was born an African American male in 1946, and racism was ever-present in his life. He faced racial discrimination growing up starting from a very young age. He took this emotion and horrible experiences and turned them into art, spreading awareness about the racism faced in everyday life. An example of this is when Gregory made his first film “White Lie”. The film centered around his character’s family member dying from hate crimes, the father of the character was a victim of lynching (Brennan par. 4). His own experiences allow him to portray his character in a new depth. Hines talks about his personal experiences when talking about his role. One particular experience Hines recalls is when he was performing in an Atlanta show when an audience member started calling him racial slurs, “That was the first time I was confronted with discrimination, in 1957. I was 11 years old ”(Brennan par. 18). He was grateful to have received the role so he could use his real life experiences in America and transfer them into art. This blend of art and experience shows the impact of life in America and what it means to be an artist in America. As we in modern day live through the current BLM protests, it is

He showed young performers that you didn’t have to be white to be a star. He also made tap more accessible with his TV show “Gregory Hines Tap Dance in America” and his countless other films he brought tap into (Valis Hill par 5). Some people who previously were not interested in tap got a preview of what it is trhough his films, most famously “White Nights”, which featured both jazz and tap. Hine’s influence on American culture is important to consider because in addition to impacting many, those who admired him went on to inspire others creating an endless spiral of motivation, art, joy and role models. He inspired other dancers including Savion Glover, Dianne Walker, Ted Levy, and Jane Goldberg (Valis Hill par 6). He introduced thousands to a new world; a world of escape, entertainment and exploration. Maurice Hines, Gregory Hines’ brother, in an interview talked about how dance was also their escape, specifically their escape from racism, ”We loved dance because we were so young and we were experiencing those first signs of racism. And in dance it was very clear to us even though nobody had to tell us that dancers have no racism. All they cared about was if you can dance.”(Nichols par 10). Hines showed the world what it meant to be an artist and how you can express yourself and cope through art, and break the traditional