Theatre & dance / Music
Cholly Atkins
1913–2003 · dancer, choreographer
Tap dancer turned Motown house choreographer who created the stage moves of the Temptations, Supremes and Four Tops.
- Born
Pratt City, Alabama- Died
Las Vegas, Nevada
aged 89- Birth name
- Charles Sylvan Atkinson
- Detroit years
- 1964–1970s
- Field
- Theatre & dance, Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Atkins made his name in the 1940s as half of the tap team Atkins & Coles, touring with the big bands and appearing on Broadway in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. In the 1950s he began teaching steps to vocal groups, developing what he called vocal choreography: gestures and moves that fit the harmonies. After freelancing for the Miracles in 1962, he was hired by Berry Gordy in 1964 and worked in Motown's artist development department, whose rehearsal rooms were in the houses along West Grand Boulevard next to Hitsville. There he drilled the Temptations, the Supremes, the Four Tops, the Marvelettes and Gladys Knight & the Pips, building the synchronized routines that became part of the Motown image. He kept working with Motown acts into the 1980s and won a Tony Award in 1989 for the Broadway revue Black and Blue.
Highlights
- Half of the tap duo Atkins & Coles
- Motown house choreographer from 1964
- Created routines for the Temptations, Supremes and Four Tops
- Tony Award for Best Choreography, Black and Blue (1989)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1964–1972
Motown Museum
Motown's artist development department, where he ran rehearsals as house choreographer, was housed next to Hitsville on West Grand Boulevard.