Skippy Blair (March 15, 1924 – June 30, 2021)
was an American ballroom dancer credited with popularizing "
West Coast Swing
West Coast Swing is a partner dance with roots in the Lindy Hop. It is characterized by an elastic look that results from its extension-compression technique of partner connection and is danced primarily in a slotted area on the dance floor. The ...
." 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. She was also the founder of the Golden State Dance Teachers Association
and a co-founder of the World Swing Dance Council.
["Skippy Blair"]
National Swing Dance Hall of Fame webpage
Blair danced in the 1975 film ''
Queen of the Stardust Ballroom
''Queen of the Stardust Ballroom'' is an American musical television movie directed by Sam O'Steen and produced by Roger Gimbel, from the teleplay by Jerome Kass. It was broadcast by CBS on February 13, 1975. Maureen Stapleton, Charles Durning, ...
''.
In 1994, she was inducted into the National Swing Dance Hall of Fame.[ Her students include US Open champions Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollmann.][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]
Blair created the Universal Unit System, a complete system of dance notation that allows dancers to "read" a dance much like musicians read music.[
]
Bibliography
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References
1924 births
2021 deaths
American ballroom dancers
Dance notators
Dance teachers
American female dancers
West Coast Swing
20th-century American dancers
Dancers from California
20th-century American women
21st-century American women
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