''Dancing Man'' is the name given to a photograph of a man who was filmed dancing on the street in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. On 15 August 1945, a cameraman, Jim Pearson, took note of a man's joyful expression and dance and asked him to do it once again. The man consented and was caught on

motion picture film Film stock is an analog medium that is used for recording motion pictures or animation. It is recorded on by a movie camera, developed, edited, and projected onto a screen using a movie projector. It is a strip or sheet of transparent ...

in an Australian edition of the newsreel

Movietone News Movietone News is a newsreel that ran from 1928 to 1963 in the United States. Under the name British Movietone News, it also ran in the United Kingdom from 1929 to 1986, in France also produced by Fox-Europa, in Australia and New Zealand until 197 ...

. The film and stills from it have taken on iconic status in Australian history and culture, and symbolise joyous elation to the war's end.

Identity

There has been much debate as to the identity of the dancing man. Frank McAlary, a retired

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

, claims that he was the man photographed pirouetting in

Elizabeth Street, Sydney Elizabeth Street is a major street in the central business district of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The street continues south of the central business district (CBD), through the inner city suburbs of Surry Hills, Redfern and Waterlo ...

, on 15 August 1945. A

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

, Chester Porter, and a former Compensation Court judge, Barry Egan, both claim to have seen McAlary being filmed dancing."Who is the dancing man?."
Macy, Richard. ''

Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' 8 December 2004 The television programme '' Where Are They Now?'', produced by Australia's

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

, attempted to solve the mystery of the dancing man's identity. The network hired a

forensic Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...

scientist who examined the film reel and picture and came to the conclusion that it was indeed McAlary. The

Royal Australian Mint The Royal Australian Mint is the sole producer of all of Australia's circulating coins and is a Commonwealth Government entity operating within the portfolio of the Treasury. The Mint is situated in the Australian federal capital city of Canberr ...

, however, chose to portray Ern Hill as the dancing man on a 2005 issue

$1 coin $1 coin may refer to: * Australian one-dollar coin * Loonie, the Canadian $1 coin * New Zealand dollar coin * Dollar coin (United States) The dollar coin is a United States coin with a face value of one United States dollar. Dollar coins have been ...

commemorating 60 years since the World War II armistice. Hill has made a statement: "The camera came along and I did a bit of a jump around." The coin, sculpted by

Wojciech Pietranik Wojciech Pietranik (25 March 1950—) is a Polish artist and sculptor best known for his design work for coins and medals. Pietranik was born in Gdańsk, Poland, and he achieved a Masters in Sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts. He did freela ...

, does not bear any name. Rebecca Keenan of Film World Pty. Ltd., says the dancer may be Patrick Blackall. Mr. Blackall has claimed, "I'm the genuine dancing man," and has signed

statutory declaration A statutory declaration is a legal document defined under the law of certain Commonwealth nations and in the United States. It is similar to a statement made under oath, but it is not sworn. Statutory declarations are commonly used to allow a pe ...

s that he is the man in the film. These remain not alone as many others maintain a claim to the moment, it is not conclusive and may never be. Frank A. Epton, a retired Chartered Accountant living in

Alstonville, New South Wales Alstonville is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, part of the region known as the Northern Rivers. Alstonville is on the Bruxner Highway between the town of Ballina (13 km to the east) and city of Lismore (19 km to the ...

before he died in February 2013, claimed that he was one of the soldiers in the background of the still image of the dancing man (the soldier without a hat). Papers and photos found in his possession during the administration of his estate support his assertion.

References

{{reflist

External links

"Dancing man still got the moves." St George Leagues Club, ''Leagues Club Journal.'' 25 July 2005
* Movietone clip with teacher's notes on ttp://australianscreen.com.au/titles/movietone-special-peace/clip2/ australianscreen online Aftermath of World War II History of Sydney People from Sydney Newsreels 1945 photographs 1945 in art Black-and-white photographs World War II photographs Australian photographs People notable for being the subject of a specific photograph Unidentified people Australian folklore

Identity

See also

References

External links