Дин Коллинз: Пионер свинг-танца и хореограф Голливуда

American dancer, instructor, and choreographer
the actor with the same name

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 and influencing the development of West Coast Swing. Collins worked in over thirty films and performed live and on television.

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. 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 danced in or choreographed nearly forty Hollywood movies, including an appearance in Hellzapoppin' (1941), “Dance Hall” (1941), “Playmates” (1941), “Buck Privates” (1941),”Ride Em’ Cowboy” (1942), “Springtime in the Rockies” (1942), “The Talk of the Town” (1942), “Always a Bridesmaid” (1943), “Kid Dynamite” (1943), “Junior Prom” (1945), and “Living It Up” (1954). In the 1950s and 1960s, he taught swing dancing in Los Angeles. His students included Shirley Temple, Joan Crawford, Cesar Romero, Abbott and Costello, Jonathan Bixby, Sylvia Sykes, Lila Desatoff and Arthur Murray. Collins's wife, Mary, believes that he contributed a smoothed out style that eliminated the bounce. According to jazz dance researcher Peter Loggins, Dean's style changed over decades, returning toward the end of his life to the Lindy Hop he learned in the Savoy Ballroom in the 1930s. The Collins style seen in Hollywood films was the source for what became known in the 1990s as Hollywood style Lindy Hop. Dean Collins and his style of Lindy Hop would help elaborate and define other styles like Houston Push, Dallas Whip, St. Louis Imperial Swing, Washington D. C. Hand Dancing, Carolina Shag, Collegiate Shag, St. Louis Shag, Balboa and Bal Swing, Ballroom Swing, East Coast Swing, Jitterbug, Jive and Ballroom Jive. He created a version of the Shim Sham which was meant as a three man performance and was not taught or shared. Jack Arkin and Johnny Mattox were the performers with Collins. Later, Bobby Hefner and Bart Bartolo performed it as well. Jewel McGowan, who was called by her contemporaries the "greatest female swing dancer", was his dance partner for eleven years. She appeared with him in Buck Privates (1941) and Ride 'Em Cowboy (1942). Together, they were known as “Fred and Ginger of Lindy Hop.” In the 1960s and 1970s, they danced to all styles of music, just as long as it “Swung.”

Dean married and moved to Glendale, California where he was very active in the Swing Dance Community right up until his death in 1984. Dean Collins married his wife, Mary, who believes that he contributed a smoothed out style that eliminated the bounce. When Mary Collins was asked if her husband was responsible for the emergence of West Coast Swing, she replied, “Dean insisted that there were only two kinds of Swing dancing – good and bad.” According to jazz dance researcher Peter Loggins, Dean's style changed over decades, returning toward the end of his life to the Lindy Hop that he learned in the Savoy Ballroom in the 1930s. The Collins style seen in Hollywood films was the source for what became known in the 1990s as Hollywood style Lindy Hop. Another quote from Dean Collins is “Young people in those days took their dancing very seriously. They spent much time with their partner, learned the steps, invented new ones. It was more than a hobby; it was a real passion.”