Buddy Schwimmer

Buddy Schwimmer is an award-winning West Coast Swing dancer, choreographer and inventor of the Nightclub Two Step. He has also been known as "The King of Swing", and "The Man with a Thousand Moves". He was a performer on the 1977 television variety show "Dance Fever" with Lynn Vogen, as well as the 1992 show "Big Band Ballroom Bash".

Buddy is famous for inventing a new American partner dance, which he called "Nightclub Two Step." He developed this dance in 1965 while practicing dance with his sister and searching for a way to dance to popular slow ballads.

Schwimmer has founded his own swing competition, organizes the World Swing Championships in Las Vegas, and works as a dance teacher and coach. He had a dance studio in Costa Mesa for 22 years, and worked out of Moreno Valley for 10 years, teaching on the road. In the mid 1990s, he opened the "5-6-7-8 Dance Studio" in Redlands, California, though the studio suffered a fire on July 31, 2006 while Schwimmer was in Los Angeles watching his son compete on the program "So You Think You Can Dance." The studio, which holds both private lessons and classes with 5-25 students, is partially re-opened, and scheduled to resume full operations in Fall 2006.

Schwimmer's son, Benji Schwimmer (sometimes called the "Prince of Swing", after his father) as of 2006 is the reigning United States Champion of West Coast Swing, and the winner on the 2006 televised competition "So You Think You Can Dance"

Buddy also has a daughter, Lacey Schwimmer, who has won national dance championships and was a top-4 finalist in season 3 of "So You Think You Can Dance." Buddy also taught Jared Murillo who won national titles with Lacey Schwimmer. Murillo is trained in the west coast swing from Buddy Schwimmer.

References

* [http://www.lovemusiclovedance.com/niteclub.htm Original Interview with Buddy Schwimmer Regarding this creation of Nightclub Two Step (1995)]
* [http://www.dancevision.com/instructors/buddy_schwimmer/ Instructor profile]
* "So You Think You Can Dance" interviews, 2006
* [http://www.swingworld.com/photogallery/images/buddy.jpg1976 photo]
* "5-6-7-8 reopens, Benji considers offers", September 7, 2006, "Redlandsdailyfacts.com"
* "San Bernardino Sun", September 15, 2006