On Friday, dancers and Soul Train lovers are invited to a free awards ceremony, dancer testimonials and music for the popular show, courtesy of CAN-TV, to honor Clinton Ghent, a childhood friend of host Don Cornelius and assistant on Soul Train.
“I’ve been telling people who were on the television show with him or worked with him that (CAN-TV) is doing this event, and they’re so psyched to see him because they haven’t heard from him in years,” said CAN-TV producer, Jake Austen, who had a cousin dance on the show. “I really wanted (Ghent) to hear what all these people are saying about him.”
Although history-making Soul Train started in Chicago in 1970 and was relocated to Los Angeles in 1971, the Chicago version of the show aired until 1976 on WCIU-Ch. 26. Ghent, now 66, was the host of the Chicago location.
Ghent started off dancing socially, but while he was in college, his playfulness paid off. Heading to basketball practice, he’d pass the drama class and dance in front of the door, only to run and hide when the professors saw him. Once the instructor saw Ghent’s talents, he was offered a seat in her class and a six-month scholarship to Julliard where he received a choreography certificate. A mix of street dance and trained dance made others take notice of him, including Cornelius, who asked him to be on the pilot show.
After the show was picked up, Ghent disappeared only for Cornelius to find him two weeks later and ask him to come back to the show as a regular.
“I was helping him as just a friend. He called me about two weeks later and said, ‘Man, where you been?’ From that point on, that’s how it happened,” Ghent told the Defender. “I never was a dancer. I used to be the host and producer so sometimes the camera would catch me moving and dancing around, but I wasn’t actually a dancer on Soul Train.”
“Their style of dancing wasn’t my forte. They were in high school. I had did three years of college…in my early 30s…so we were on a different level altogether,” Ghent said. He said his style of dancing was bopping, walking, the Monkey, the Uncle Willie and the Watusi.
After moving to L.A. in 1976 to help with Soul Train until 1984, Ghent didn’t care for the city and returned home.
“I moved back (to Chicago), and then I started going back into sports…and I was still teaching choreography,” Ghent said. He went on to work with groups like the Jacksons, the O’Jays, the Spinners and the Temptations.
When asked how often he dances now, he said, “It’s just like driving a car…you never forget it. If I feel like dancing, I’ll dance.”
Click Historic Soul Train party rolls through Chicago to read about the event. Check our Events Calendar for showtimes and dates when the three-part special airs live.
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