In my 1st blog I mentioned Honi Coles , and I talked about our relationship, and how he impacted my life. I won't attempt to rewrite his bio here, instead I want to tell you how we met. In 1976, a national touring company of BBS was formed. I was cast in this production as the swing dancer. I drove to NY from DC to audition for the company , when I learned they were casting. I , along with many others, auditioned as dancers . Many were let go.. and I, and a few others . were ask to stay, and sing. When my time came , I asked the pianist , if he knew the Shaeffer beer song. He said yeah, and started playing. I eased on stage and began to sing the commercial song, but, I also incorporated some of the choreography that we had just been taught. When the producers, Billy Wilson, the choreographer, and the rest of the casting group, recognized the song, they fell out laughing......and applauded when I finished. .....I got the job.... The swing dancer is responsible for covering ALL the male dance choreography in the show. Honi was also cast as in the production as The Time Man. In our 4th week of rehearsal on the Friday, before our Tuesday opening in Chicago, we had a full run thru. At the conclusion of the run-thru, we were given notes. Notes, are the criticisms, given by the director and the choreographer after a run-thru. Billy Wilson was not happy. He got on the principals, or the stars, especially hard. They weren't "clean" as he expressed it. Keep in mind that all the people he was criticizing were all in their 60's, and had never studied ballet in their lives. These elder statesmen and women of the industry came up in another time, when improvational dancing determined the measure of your skills. The balletic turns in the chorography were causing them problems. They recieved some blistering criticism. We broke for lunch. After I had changed into my street clothes, the gentleman playing The Time Man, came up to me in the hallway and said.." Hey Smoke...(that's what he called me) I want to ask you somethin..can you show me how to do that turn in the finale? I said sure...now mind you, this is my 1st b'way show, I didn't know who he was, I did know that he was smooth, elegant and graceful. I don't know why he approached me. I wasn't even going to be on stage when the show opened, because I was the swing. Anyway I said sure, let's go in the rehearsal room. I said, ok...what you need to do, so that you don;t fall off your turn, is to spot,,,let your head whip around and your body will follow. Then I demonstrated a single piroette turn, and finished. I said ,spot...pick a place or object, whip your head and finish ,looking at the same spot or object. He tried it once, then he did it again and it was perfect. He did a single piroette first, and then he tried a double , he sort of fell out of it, but , he concluded it with some tap steps, but he knew , and I knew , that he had the turn. After doing it successfully 4 or 5 more times, he said,"give me five" , and said..."you my man..you stick with me" , and that's how the legend "Charles Honi Coles", and I became friends It was then that he introduced me to all his buddies in "The Copesetics". Mr Cookie. first, then Stump, Mr, Brownie, and. in Philadelphia, he introduced me to John W Bubbles, before he died, In every city we went, everybody knew Honi Coles, and it was fascinating meeting his friends and sharing quality time together as we toured the country in "BUBBLING BROWN SUGAR"
Ronald Smokey Stevens
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