# @patricipettis12 on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DZkzWNTRAgp
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/66603701-patricipettis12-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/2e9188beaa.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-06-14T17:44:27.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Patricia Pettis (@patricipettis12) — https://gondola.cc/patricipettis12

## Caption

#Repost pop.culture.historian
...
Maurice Hines remembers the first time he went to The Apollo. 

“There was this woman there who was bossing everyone around,” he said in his show, “Tappin’ Thru Life.”

“She said, ‘I’ll put them on as a special treat, but they can’t compete ’cause they’re too cute and they’ll win. It’ll be unfair.’ She didn’t even know we could dance. I asked her who she was, and she said she was a comedian. Turns out it was Dinah Washington.”

Maurice told The Smithsonian that their teacher, Henry LeTang, gave them advice: “You got to dance, you got to flip, you got to jump around. You got to get the audience loving you so they have no decision to make. There’s no ‘Will I like them?’ No, no, no!”

So, that’s what they did. 

And they crushed. 

They were offered a regular spot, and they played The Apollo every other week, soaking up lessons from the legendary hoofers there like Charles “Honi” Coles, Howard “Sandman” Sims, the Nicholas Brothers, and Chuck Green. 

“It was the premier showcase,” Maurice told The Smithsonian. “If you didn’t play the Apollo, you hadn’t made it. You could play the Howard in D.C., the Uptown in Philly. All over the country, they had these wonderful African-American theaters for African-American audiences. But the prestige was the Apollo. 

“We were called ‘the Hines Kids direct from the Apollo Theater.’ We became big on that circuit because we came from the Apollo Theater.”

Being from the Apollo meant something. It was like The Cotton Club in the 30’s.  Except it was THEIRS. 

They had to make the most of it. 

(continues in comments…)

#popculturehistorian #tap #gregoryhines #mauricehines sammydavisjr

## Stats

- **Views:** 122
- **Likes:** 24
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- **Comments:** 3

## Tags

popculturehistorian, tap, mauricehines, gregoryhines, repost

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