Sydney King, Marion Cuyjet, and John Hines
Sydney King, Marion Cuyjet, and John Hines, all pupils of Essie Marie Dorsey, developed a friendship that meant King and Cuyjet could travel to New York and learn new techniques to bring home to their students (as Hines performed with Katherine Dunham and was acquainted with teachers willing to educate the two women). It was Hines who introduced the pair to the Dunham technique; Cuyjet said this regarding her first encounter with the discipline:
Hines came to our studio one night with a tambour under one arm. Neither of us had seen him in quite some time. We were just getting ready to leave. He gave us a half hour session. We were so excited (White-Dixon 28).
After his experiences training and performing in New York, Hines returned to his hometown of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a teacher at Judimar, Hines was considered a “local celebrity,” which drew men and boys to the school. Delores Browne said of Hines:
Mr. Hines was a very popular person. So we had more men in Judimar School than anybody in the country. We had 10 to 12 men at all times in the school. And that was from boys, from teenage boys to grown men, to young men. He was my first ballet partner in the recital.
Hines was hired to teach Dunham classes and to “direct” at the Judimar School. Though interest in the Dunham technique dwindled, Hines continued to teach Dunham-based African-Caribbean dance, the only instructor to do so during the late 1950s to the late 1970s (White-Dixon 29).
Hines was also a teacher of Judith Jamison, whose talents he recognized at the early age of six. His other students included Elmer Ball, John Jones, Carlos Shorty, and Donna Lowe.
Sources:
Sydney King and Marion Cuyjet, MoBBallet
And Still They Rose: Delores Browne, MoBBallet
And Still They Rose: Judith Jamison, MoBBallet
J. Hines Jr., dancer and instructor, The Philadelphia Inquirer
White-Dixon, Melanye. “The Legacy of Black Philadelphia’s Dance Institutions and the Educators Who Built the Tradition.” Dance Research Journal, vol. 23, no. 1, 1991, pp. 25–30. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1478695. Accessed 27 May 2021.
More about John Hines
Philadelphian John Hines trained in ballet, tap, and modern dance. While serving in World War II, Hines was a part of a trio who performed dance for enlisted men. Once back in the states, he trained at American Theater Wing and the Katherine Dunham School (on scholarship from 1945 to 1948), both in New York. In addition to performing with the Katherine Dunham Company, Hines created the John Hines Dance Company in 1960, which performed a variety of dance styles, and later the Johnny Hines Dancers, which was active in the 1970s.
Hines was said to have appeared in Broadway and off-Broadway shows, though there are no records of his casting. He served as choreographer, actor, and director of various productions at the Society Hill Playhouse in Philadelphia.
Hines died in September 1989. Just a year before he died, Hines struggled through pain in order to teach tap classes in Philadelphia.
Upon Hines’ death, associate professor of dance at Temple University Brenda Dixon said of Hines, “He really represented the first tier of Black modern dancers in Philadelphia.”
Sources:
And Still They Rose: Delores Browne
J. Hines Jr., dancer and instructor, The Philadelphia Inquirer
White-Dixon, Melanye. “The Legacy of Black Philadelphia’s Dance Institutions and the Educators Who Built the Tradition.” Dance Research Journal, vol. 23, no. 1, 1991, pp. 25–30. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1478695. Accessed 27 May 2021.
Written by Mad Crawford
