1. What was Coles’ first big break?
2. What defining moment fueled Coles’ passion to perfect his technique in the early 1930s?
3. Name one of the two great bandleaders Coles worked with.
4. What partnership boosted Coles to fame during the golden age of tap?
5. What do many people believe to be Coles’ most important contribution to tap?
6. What helped rekindle Coles’ tap career in the 1970s?
7. Name one of Coles’works that helped bring tap to the world of concert dance.
8. Name two of the universities at which Coles taught tap in the 1980s.
9. For what Broadway hit did Coles receive a Tony?
10. What award was Coles given in 1991, crowning a lifetime achievement in dance?

Answers:
[1.] His 1931 New York City debut as one of The Three Millers; [2.] Being cut from the act of The Three Millers; [3.] Count Basie or Duke Ellington; [4.] His work with Charles “Cholly” Atkins; [5.] His approach to phrasing; [6.] His work with Brenda Bufalino; [7.] Morton Gould’s Tap Dance Concerto (accompanied by the Brooklyn Academy Orchestra) or The Joffrey Ballet production of Agnes de Mille’s Conversations on the Dance; [8.] Duke, Yale or Cornell; [9.] My One and Only; [10.] The National Medal of the Arts

Photo caption: Honi Coles in the Gershwin musical My One and Only; Credit: Kenn Duncan/Courtesy of Dance Magazine Archives