[5] By his late teens, after years of learning and practicing tap-dancing on the streets of Philadelphia, Coles was determined to make a career in show business.

He practiced alone for a year to enhance his skill set, including speed, number of taps per beat, and complicated patterns.

[2] In 1931, Charles "Honi" Coles made his debut at the Lafayette Theater, a popular black venue at that time, in New York City as one of the Three Millers.

[2] However, his partners hired another dancer to replace him, so Coles moved back to Philadelphia with a determination to perfect his fast-step style.

[2] After spending time improving his technique, Coles returned to New York City in 1934 and performed at the Harlem Opera House and Apollo Theater.

[6] Lucky Seven Trio was a group tapping on large cubes that looked like dice and going through ten costume changes during their act.

[6] Through the tour with the big swing bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington, Coles polished his technique, successfully combining high-speed tapping with an elegant style.

[7] "Honi" Coles's specialty was precision and fast-rhythm steps, while Atkins was an expert wing dancer known as "the man with the moves".

In 1946, after the war ended, they combined their unique techniques and styles to form the class act of Coles & Atkins and were hired to perform at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

[1] Coles and Atkins soft-shoe was a masterpiece in adagio dancing, but their most significant achievement was the assemblage of tap dancers in a class act with a set musical arrangement coming from the bands.

[8] The duo loved working with Jo Jones because he showed respect for dancers and knew how to accompany and provide music support for tap.

[8] During the summer of 1947, they performed with The Ink Spots, in which Johnny Otis was a band leader, in a "slow-motion acrobatic dance, using jazz movements".

[1] In 1949, their creation of the show-stopping Mamie is Mimi, a part of the Broadway musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at the Ziegfeld Theater, went uncredited by the show's choreographer Agnes de Mille.

[1] By the time Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ended in 1952, Coles and Atkins found that jobs were scarce as the integration of a new style of Broadway ballet became more popular than tap dance.

"[1] Additionally, Coles served as the president of the Negro Actors Guild and continued his association with the Copasetics, a club for musical and tap artists to preserve the memory of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.

[2] During the 1950s and 60s, the Copasetics played an important social force in the Harlem community as "Polo theater", with annual balls and charitable performances to raise funds for children.

[2] Members of the Copasetics mentored and performed with the proceeding generation of female tap pioneers, including Brenda Bufalino, Jane Goldberg, and Deborah Mitchell.

[2] After the success of the documentary Great Feats of Feet in 1977, Coles joined Brenda Bufalino in their duet concert of The Morton Gould Tap Concerto and toured the United States and England.

"[1] When being asked about the reason he taught his tapping skill to a white woman, specifically Bufalino, Coles responded to his peers, "Because no blacks want it, and she does, and because nobody else can do it, and she can.

[1] The show was produced by Pamela Koslow and directed by Mercedes Ellington, featuring the guests Cookie Cook, Marion Coles, Buster Brown, Chinky Grimes, and Beverly Wasser.

[2] The 1963 Camera Three television program showcased Coles and Atkins' Soft Shoe and Over the Top with Bebop, which was narrated by jazz historian Marshall Stearns.