Sandman sims biography

Happy feet tap dancer Howard "Sandman" Sims (January 24, – May 20, ) was an African-American tap dancer who began his career in vaudeville. He was skilled in a style of dancing that he performed in a wooden sandbox of his own construction, and acquired his nickname from the sand he sprinkled to alter and amplify the sound of his dance steps.

Sandman sweep off stage Howard "Sandman" Sims may have been born on January 24, , in Los Angeles, California, though he said he was uncertain about the year of his birth. His age, he maintained, was "a matter of opinion." He learned to dance from his father, a barber, as did his 11 brothers and sisters, who all became talented dancers.

Tap dancing brothers

Howard "Sandman" Sims was a tap dancer, a practitioner of a style of dance in which a beat is loudly, clearly tapped out by a dancer sporting specially-made hard-soled shoes with metal plates, or taps, on their heels or toes.

Hines brothers dancers In the s, African-American tap dancer Sandman Sims (–) broke out as a favorite at Harlem's famed Apollo Theater. Within a decade, tap dancing's prominence declined. Sims worked tirelessly to revive it as a form of art and entertainment, helping bring about a tap renaissance in the s and early s.

Apollo theater executioner Howard "Sandman" Sims, a distinctive and influential tap dancer who gained his nickname from dancing on the sand he sprinkled on a tap board or across the stage floor, has died.

Showtime at the apollo sandman In , Sims began a career at the renowned Apollo Theatre in Harlem. He danced at the Apollo for seventeen years and was acclaimed for his distinctive tap style, which combined the tradition of dance with some of the movement skills he had learned as a boxer.

Apollo crowd Biography Howard "Sandman" Sims was a distinctive and influential tap dancer who gained his nickname from dancing on the sand he sprinkled on a tap board. Sandman Sims was famed for the range of percussive sounds his sand-dancing could produce - from the sweetest brushing to the most abrasive grinding.

Apollo night Howard “Sandman” Sims January 24, – May 20, , was an African-American tap dancer who began his career in vaudeville. He was skilled in a style of dancing that he performed in a wooden sandbox of his own construction, and acquired his nickname from the sand he sprinkled to alter and amplify the sound of his dance steps.