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Dean Collins (dancer)
Dean Collins (born Sol Ruddosky; May 29, 1917–June 1, 1984) was an American dancer, instructor, choreographer, and innovator of swing dance. He is often credited with bringing the Lindy Hop from New York to southern California. Collins worked in over thirty films and performed live and on television. Biography Collins grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and at age 13 learned to dance from his two older sisters. He participated in amateur dance contests in New Jersey. He danced at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem, New York. In 1935, he was named Dancer of the Year by ''The New Yorker'' magazine. Collins moved to Los Angeles in 1936. During the day he worked as a janitor at Simon's Drive-In Diner, and at night he danced at the Diana Ballroom and Casino Gardens. Worried that his Jewish name would hinder his career, he adopted the name "Dean Collins" from a wallet he found. He won his first major dance contest in California at the Palomar Ballroom with his Savoy dance style. The Savoy s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Choreographer
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who creates choreographies by practising the art of choreography, a process known as choreographing. It most commonly refers to dance choreography. In dance, ''choreography'' may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. Dance choreography is sometimes called ''dance composition''. Aspects of dance choreography include the compositional use of organic unity, rhythmic or non-rhythmic articulation, theme and variation, and repetition. The choreographic process may employ improvisation for the purpose of developing innovative movement ideas. In general, choreography is used to design dances that are intended to be performed as concert dance. The art of choreography involves the specification of huma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sylvia Sykes
Sylvia Sykes is an American swing dancer, instructor, judge, and choreographer. She is known for reviving the swing dance style balboa. Career Sykes and her dance partner Jonathan Bixby started dancing together when she was fourteen years old. They were staff dancers for the television show ''Shebang'' during the 1960s. From 1981 to 1984, they studied with Dean Collins, who recommended Maxi Dorf for learning balboa. They were students of Dorf from 1984 to 1987. Sykes has performed with Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, and Les Brown. She has appeared on the television shows ''American Bandstand'' and ''Gotta Dance''. She and Bixby represented the U.S. in the World Boogie Woogie Championships in Grenoble, France. She has been head judge for many national swing events as well as being a teacher on how to judge. Following the retirement of Bixby, Sykes taught in Santa Barbara, California, and at workshops around the world including Herräng Dance Camp. In August 2008, she jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Choreographers
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Swing Dancers
American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, people who self-identify their ancestry as "American" ** American English, the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States ** Native Americans in the United States, indigenous peoples of the United States * American, something of, from, or related to the Americas, also known as "America" ** Indigenous peoples of the Americas * American (word), for analysis and history of the meanings in various contexts Organizations * American Airlines, U.S.-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas * American Athletic Conference, an American college athletic conference * American Recordings (record label), a record label previously known as Def American * American University, in Washington, D.C. Sports teams Soccer * Ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1984 Deaths
Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). * January 10 ** The United States and the Vatican (Holy See) restore full diplomatic relations. ** The Victoria Agreement is signed, institutionalising the Indian Ocean Commission. *January 24 – Steve Jobs launches the Macintosh personal computer in the United States. February * February 3 ** Dr. John Buster and the research team at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center announce history's first embryo transfer from one woman to another, resulting in a live birth. ** STS-41-B: Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' is launched on the 10th Space Shuttle mission. * February 7 – Astronauts Bruce McCandless II and Robert L. Stewart make the first untethered space walk. * February 8– 19 – The 1984 Winter Olympics are held i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1917 Births
Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's Desert Column. * January 10 – Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: Seven survivors of the Ross Sea party were rescued after being stranded for several months. * January 11 – Unknown saboteurs set off the Kingsland Explosion at Kingsland (modern-day Lyndhurst, New Jersey), one of the events leading to United States involvement in WWI. * January 16 – The Danish West Indies is sold to the United States for $25 million. * January 22 – WWI: United States President Woodrow Wilson calls for "peace without victory" in Germany. * January 25 ** WWI: British armed merchantman is sunk by mines off Lough Swilly (Ireland), with the loss of 354 of the 475 aboard. ** An anti- prostitution drive in San Francisco occurs, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from 191,719 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Los Angeles County and the List of largest California cities by population, 24th-largest city in California. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. Glendale lies in the Verdugo Mountains, and is a suburb in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The city is bordered to the northwest by the Sun Valley, Los Angeles, Sun Valley and Tujunga, Los Angeles, California, Tujunga neighborhoods of Los Angeles; to the northeast by La Cañada Flintridge, California, La Cañada Flintridge and the unincorporated area of La Crescenta, California, La Crescenta; to the west by Burbank, California, Burbank and Griffith Park; to the east by Eagle Rock, Los An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942 Film)
''Ride 'Em Cowboy'' is a 1942 film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, Dick Foran, Anne Gwynne, Johnny Mack Brown, Ella Fitzgerald (in her first film appearance), Samuel S. Hinds, Douglas Dumbrille, Morris Ankrum, and directed by Arthur Lubin. The film focuses on Abbott and Costello as they play the role of two peanut vendors on the run from their boss. Despite their lack of knowledge in the trade, they get jobs as cowboys on a dude ranch. The film is set in the West. Plot The author of best-selling western novels, Bronco Bob Mitchell, has never set foot in the west. A newspaper article has exposed this fact to his fans, and his image is suffering because of it. He decides to make an appearance at a Long Island charity rodeo to bolster his image. When a steer escapes while he is riding a horse nearby, he is thrown. Not knowing what to do, a cowgirl, Anne Shaw, comes to his rescue and saves his life by bulldogging the steer. During the rescue, she is injured and c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buck Privates
''Buck Privates'' is a 1941 musical military comedy film that turned Bud Abbott and Lou Costello into bona fide movie stars. It was the first service comedy based on the peacetime draft of 1940. The comedy team made two more service comedies before the United States entered the war (''In the Navy'' and ''Keep 'Em Flying''). A sequel to this movie, ''Buck Privates Come Home'', was released in 1947. ''Buck Privates'' is one of three Abbott and Costello films featuring The Andrews Sisters, who were also under contract to Universal Pictures at the time. Abbott and Costello performed a one-hour radio adaptation of the film on the ''Lux Radio Theatre'' on October 13, 1941. Plot Slicker Smith and Herbie Brown are sidewalk peddlers who hawk neckties out of a suitcase. Chased by a cop, they duck into a movie theater, not realizing that it is now being used as an Army enlistment center. Believing that they are signing up for theater prizes, they accidentally enlist. Meanwhile, spoile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewel McGowan
Jewel McGowan (1921-1962) is best known as a dancer of Lindy Hop, a form of swing dance, in the 1940s and 1950s. She also danced in other, non-swing films, and with modern jazz dance pioneer Jack Cole. She is known among dance aficionados as the frequent partner of dancer Dean Collins. McGowan was considered by her fellow Los Angeles dancers to be the best female swing dancer who ever lived. In addition to their social dancing, Collins and McGowan appeared together as dancers in films of the era. They were partners for 11 years. McGowan is especially known for her hip swivels. Selected filmography *''Buck Privates'' (1941), partner Dean Collins *'' Playmates'' (1941), partner Dean Collins *''Dance Hall'' (1941), partner Dean Collins *'' Ride 'Em Cowboy'' (1942), partner Dean Collins *''Springtime in the Rockies'' (1942), partner Dean Collins *'' The Talk of the Town'' (1942), partner Dean Collins *'' Always a Bridesmaid'' (1943), partner Dean Collins *''Young Ideas'' (1943), jitte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shim Sham
The Shim Sham Shimmy, Shim Sham or just Sham originally is a particular tap dance routine and is regarded as tap dance's national anthem. For today's swing dancers, it is a line dance. History In the late 1920s, when Leonard Reed and Willie Bryant were with the Whitman Sisters troupe on the T.O.B.A. circuit in Chicago, they created a tap dance routine they called "Goofus" to the tune Turkey in the Straw. The routine consisted of standard steps: eight bars each of the Double Shuffle, the Cross Over, Tack Annie (an up-and-back shuffle), and Falling Off a Log. In early 1930s, the Shim Sham was performed on stage in Harlem at places like Connie's Inn, Dickie Wells's Shim Sham Club, the 101 Ranch, the LaFayette Theatre, and the Harlem Opera House. At the end of many performances, all of the musicians, singers, and dancers would get together on stage and do one last routine: the Shim Sham Shimmy. Tap dancers would perform technical variations, while singers and musicians would shuffl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hollywood-style Lindy Hop
The Lindy Hop is an American dance which was born in the Black communities of Harlem, New York City, in 1928 and has evolved since then. It was very popular during the swing era of the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lindy is a fusion of many dances that preceded it or were popular during its development but is mainly based on jazz, tap, breakaway, and Charleston. It is frequently described as a jazz dance and is a member of the swing dance family. In its development, the Lindy Hop combined elements of both partnered and solo dancing by using the movements and improvisation of African-American dances along with the formal eight-count structure of European partner dances – most clearly illustrated in the Lindy's basic step, the swingout. In this step's open position, each dancer is generally connected hand-to-hand; in its closed position, leads and follows are connected as though in an embrace on one side and holding hands on the other. There was renewed interest in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
