Ethel Symolon
Screenwriter
Ethel Symolon is a writer for stage, screen, and television. She has also published a book of poems and is in the process of completing a novel. For the past several years she has worked as a cataloguer and IT coordinator at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut.
| Woman recalls soft-shoe with Hines | ||||||||
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| NEW HAVEN — Helen Yutenkas listened to the little voice in her head
that said, "If you don’t go, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life," and
then experienced a dream moment — soft-shoeing with Gregory Hines, considered by
many to be the greatest dancer of his generation. The dream came true for Yutenkas on Sept. 30, 1995, when Hines — who died on Sunday at the age of 57 — was performing at the Shubert Performing Arts Center to benefit the St. Raphael Foundation Endowment. "I ran up on stage and out of all the dancers there Gregory Hines pulled me by the hand," said the energetic 82-year-old Yutenkas. She recalled he said, "You dance, I’ll follow you." Hines and Yutenkas then began to soft-shoe to the classic Irving Caesar melody "Tea for Two." "I shouted out, ‘I’m dancing with Gregory Hines!’ I was so excited. The crowd went wild," said Yutenkas, who served as an usher at the event. Upon reflection she said, "They (Shubert officials) could have fired me. Gregory Hines was there as the star of a fund-raiser the theater was having." Hines, a Tony Award-winning dancer and actor that helped pioneer leading roles for actors of color, died after a bout with cancer. While Yutenkas mourned his death, she is soothed by the fact that she shared a dance with the pioneering performer. "He was a very endearing man. I did not know he was sick, I could not believe it when I heard he had died. I lit a candle in church for him this morning, for someone that gave me such pleasure." Yutenkas, a State Street resident, is a member of the Twilight Tappers, a group of tap-dancing seniors that have been featured on the "Oprah Winfrey Show." She began tapping at age 70. Looking back on her moment in the spotlight with Hines, Yutenkas said "I was just thrilled. God’s been good to me to make me last this long, and enjoy the things that I have." In 1995, Hines helped raise $125,000 for the hospital endowment. Back then, he told the attendees that he first visited New Haven as a child performer in 1954. Jocelyne Hudson-Brown is a Register intern. |
| ©New Haven Register 2003 |
Helen & Gregory Hines
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