Skippy Blair

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.^[4] She was also the founder of the Golden State Dance Teachers Association^[1] and a co-founder of the World Swing Dance Council.^[5][6][1]

Blair danced in the 1975 film Queen of the Stardust Ballroom.^[6][1]

In 1994, she was inducted into the National Swing Dance Hall of Fame.^[6] Her students include US Open champions Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollmann.^[7]

Blair created the Universal Unit System, a complete system of dance notation that allows dancers to "read" a dance much like musicians read music.^[6]

Bibliography

• 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.