Gregory Hines

The greatest tap dancer of his day, Gregory Hines (1946-2003) revitalized this creative tradition and inspired a new generation of performers. Hines's dancing career began when he was a child, performing with his brother and his father in an act billed as Hines, Hines, and Dad. As he later recalled, "I don't remember not dancing. When I realized I was alive... and I could walk and talk, I could dance." Beginning in the late 1970s, Hines emerged as a Broadway star, headlining such shows as Eubie, Sophisticated Ladies, and Jelly's Last Jam, for which he received the 1992 Tony Award for Best Actor. He also enjoyed a successful movie career, starring in The Cotton Club and alongside Mikhail Baryshnikov in White Nights. Robert Mapplethorpe's portrait shows the thirty-nine-year-old performer showing off his defining moves.