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James Hibbard

Photo courtesy Ron McDougal

James Hibbard, famous choreographer.

Photo courtesy BearManor Media

‘Can’t Stop Dancing’ author lives his dream

By Jim Gordon and Leeta Liepins

Published 12:43 PDT, Fri July 4, 2025

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Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have your dream job? We sat down with a wonderful guest on Our City Tonight who certainly epitomizes this concept. This man has had an incredible career: he is a choreographer, a dancer, a writer, a teacher, and now an author. The talented James Hibbard joined us to talk about his new book called Can’t Stop Dancing.

OCT: James, you are the perfect example of finding something you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life.

JH: It’s not work when you play all day and you have a good time all of the time.

OCT: Your book is very interesting and we really enjoyed your one reference—getting good parents is like a life lottery. You grew up in Idaho, which is not exactly dance territory, but you had a really supportive mother and, I sense, a father that really didn’t understand what you wanted to do, yet he still got the money together somehow to help you with your chosen way. What a gift that must’ve been and it must have really helped you to have this support.

JH: Yes, it was wonderful. I call my mother my first and everlasting angel because she made it possible for me to have the opportunity to realize my dreams even though my dad wanted me to be a logger (a major industry in Idaho).

OCT: Which makes sense from where you were growing up.

JH: Absolutely and I even tried to be a logger when I was 16 years old. I drove a logging truck and cut trees down and bucked them, but I knew immediately that was not for me.

OCT: It’s a remarkable beginning but it’s not to say, that you didn’t have challenges. Your mom, of course, had to make sure that you got to your dance lessons in Boise a distance from where you lived, but it paid off because you found yourself in Hollywood and really quickly, you found other angels there to assist you. This was in the early 50s or mid 1950s and other people came into your life that helped you along. Not that it was easy, but you seem to have great serendipitous moments in meeting people that assisted to get you to the next level.

JH: This luck just never seemed to stop, and this was from the moment we had a collection of classes at the studio and we didn’t have enough money to pay for the whole thing. So, my dad suggested that we should only stay for two weeks. Then my mom and I walked down the street, and I noticed a placard saying Gene Nelson was teaching tap and jazz dance classes and I said let’s go into this studio. We went in and the owner of the studio was Nico Charisse, husband of Cyd Charisse. Right away, he sussed out the situation and he gave me a ballet scholarship for the month. And he said, all you have to do is pay my guest teachers. And we still didn’t have enough money, so my mother and I went for lunch. We went across the street to the old Rexall drugstore and there was a sign saying waitress needed. My mom approached the manager and got the job as a waitress and that’s how we were able to afford the entire month.

OCT: And at this point you were becoming an educated dancer and you’re learning from the best in the 1950s at the height of the big lavish musicals. The musicals are in colour and for people who may not recognize some of the names, this impressed us. Your first TV gig was with Jack Benny on his show and if you had a Mount Rushmore for comedians of the 20th century, he could arguably be on it. That’s stepping up into some very high-level areas of entertainment for your first show.

JH: Gene Nelson sent me there to audition for his wife, Miriam Nelson, who was choreographing the show. So, I went there, and I auditioned and I got the job.

OCT: The people that you taught or worked with you or helped during the 1960s were some rather prominent names. You taught the legendary Frank Sinatra how to do a 60s era dance for the movie Marriage on the Rocks. You worked and helped Jean Simmons, the suburb actress, in the movie Elmer Gantry. And there was Elvis, let’s talk about him.

JH: I loved Elvis. He was obviously a mega star, and we all know that. But he was also the kindest, most respectful and polite person for someone of that level that I’ve ever met.

OCT: Another person that you worked with and fortunately is still with us is Ann-Margret. I bring this up for a number of reasons, I don’t think I ever saw anybody have better chemistry with Elvis than Ann-Margret in the movie Viva Las Vegas. Did you see that up close?

JH: We felt it and it was electric. They were definitely attracted to each other.

OCT: James, you definitely have a fascinating story to share and we want to thank you for coming by the studio and talking with us today about your book and your journey. One last thing, we understand that you now live in Okanagan Falls, British Columbia.

JH: Yes, we sold our North Vancouver home of many years and now we have a beautiful place up there in the mountains overlooking the lake.

OCT: Thank you to Ben at BearManor Media for bringing us together.

James Hibbard’s book is available now and you can listen to an extended version of this interview on our PODCAST at ourcitytonighttv.com