Skippy Blair

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Skippy Blair (March 15, 1924 – June 30, 2021)[1][2] was an American ballroom dancer credited with popularizing "West Coast Swing."[3] Blair was a member of a group that successfully lobbied the State Legislature in 1988 to have West Coast Swing designated as the official State Dance of California.[citation needed] She was also the founder of the Golden State Dance Teachers Association[1] and a co-founder of the World Swing Dance Council.[4][5][1]

Blair danced in the 1975 film Queen of the Stardust Ballroom.[5][1]

In 1994, she was inducted into the National Swing Dance Hall of Fame.[5] Her students include US Open champions Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollmann.[6]

Blair created the Universal Unit System, a complete system of dance notation that allows dancers to "read" a dance much like musicians read music.[5]

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Skippy Blair on Contemporary Social Dance: Disco to Tango and Back/Plus Teacher's Breakdown for the Universal Unit System. Golden State Dance Teachers Association. 1978. ISBN 978-0-932-98001-4.
  • Dance terminology notebook. Alterra. 1995. ISBN 978-0-932-98011-3.
  • Dance Power: Own the Experience. Golden State Dance Teachers Association. 1999. ISBN 978-0-932-98024-3.
  • Retro Swing: Dancing to the Big Band Sound. Human Kinetics. ISBN 978-0-736-03244-5.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Stevens, Tamara; Stevens, Erin (2011). Swing Dancing. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-37517-0. Retrieved May 11, 2016 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Skippy Blair obituary
  3. ^ Kassing, Gayle (2007). History of Dance: An Interactive Arts Approach. Human Kinetics. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-73606-035-6. Retrieved May 11, 2016 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Bekkache, Carine (April 3, 2015). "DOSSIER. Quelle danse vous sied au pied dans l'agglomération raphaëloise?" [FOLDER. What suits you dance in front in raphaëloise agglomeration?]. Var-Matin (in French).
  5. ^ a b c d "Skippy Blair", National Swing Dance Hall of Fame webpage
  6. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGQzWKlY-ZQ Tribute to Skippy Blair with statements by both dancers attesting to Skippy as their teacher retrieved 9.2016


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