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Born
Howard Sims was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas. In his later years, he claimed to not be sure of his birth year. When asked about his age, he would give answers such as ," It's a matter of a opinion" or "Any number can play." -
Moved to Los Angeles
Soon after his birth, Sims' family moved to the Los Angeles area, where he was raised for the rest of his childhood. He spent his time in Los Angeles dancing on the streets, and participating in dance challenges, where people would try to out do each others tapping. Despite this, and his various vaudeville performances, Sims never found much success in Los Angelos -
Began Tap Dancing
Sims began dancing as soon as he could walk. He started tap dancing when he was 3 years old, but never formally studied tap, or any other style of dance. -
Sims Starts Using his Trademark Sandbox
In his boxing days, people loved how Sims would dance in the rosin box. So he experimented with a lot of different ways to recreate that sound. He tried sand paper on the bottom of his shoes, or on the surface he tapped on, but both marked up the opposite surface too much. Eventually, he found his solution, which was loose sand sprinkled in a low lipped box. It produced just the right scraping sound he was looking for. -
Sandman
When asked about the origin of his nickname "Sandman," Sims says that when someone asked what he was dancing on, someone else replied, "thats sand, man." From then on, Howard Sims was known as Sandman, and some venues demanded he bring his sand with him, saying to not bother coming if he's not bringing his sand box. -
Moved to New York City
Sims tagged along with one of his boxing friends, Archie Moore, who was driving cross country. He settled in New York City, and continued to dance in the streets, but faced stiffer, more innovative competition. -
Harlem Amateur Nights at the Apollo Theater
Sims gained local notoriety by performing at the Apollo Theater on Wednesday nights, which were Amateur Nights. He won their Amateur competition 25 times, after which they changed the rules so if you won more than four times, you couldn't compete anymore. -
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Tap Decline
Throughout the 50s and 60s, tap dancing lost its popularity, and Sims struggled to find work in the industry. During this time, he focused on teaching dance, his more notable students being Gregory Hines and Ben Vereen. He also did outside work as a carpenter and mechanic. However, in the 70s and 80s, as tap dance picked up again, he had trouble keeping up with all the opportunities being offered to him in the dance industry. -
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Becomes the Apollo's "Executioner."
In the mid 1950's, Sims was hired as stage manager for the Apollo Theater. He took up the role of the "executioner" on Amateur nights, where he would chase people off stage when the crowd didn't like them. After which, he would always encourage the performers to clean up their act, work hard, and come back to try again. -
Sandman Sims Style
Never having formally trained, Sims learned most of what he knew from dancing on the street, and challenging dancers. One significant change in his style came after encountering "hoofers" in harlem. Hoofing focuses on using the whole foot for sounds, when tap usually just focuses on using the toe and the heel. By combining these styles, and the use of his sandbox, Sandman Sims had a reputation of having routines rich in sound and texture as well as steps. -
Best of Hoofers
Sims danced in this production at the Orpheum Theater. -
No Maps on My Taps
A documentary that featured Sims in a three way dance challenge against fellow tap dance legends, Chuck Green, and Bunny Briggs. -
National Endowment for the Arts grants Sims a $5,000 National Heritage Fellowship
Sims used the money from the grant to teach dance to children in Harlem. He used a parking lot, rather than a dance studio, to draw from his own experience of learning to dance in the streets. -
The Sand Dancer
Sandra Hochman pays homage to Sims' career in this play, where she equates him to a poet. This play was presented in New York in 1986, and featured a cameo from Sandman Sims himself. -
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Tours the World as a Cultural Embassador
Sims visits 50 countries in the span of 11 months with the U.S. State Department as a Cultural Ambassador. -
"Tap"
This fictional drama about tap dancing featured Sims along with dancers such as Gregory Hines, Sammy Davis Jr., and Savion Glover. -
Appears on the Cosby Show
Sims is featured in the Cosby Show, one of the most popular television programs at the time. He played a tap dance teacher and participated in a tap challenge. -
Died
Sims suffered from Alzheimers disease, Diabetes, and an ulcer. He died at the age of 86.